You all know what I mean. A light stun on a critter isn't even something you can notice. One move to the next they act as if nothing happens. A light stun on a player and you better watch out.

A long-fanged warcat lashes out with large, velvet-padded claws extended at you. You deflect little of the claw with a bastard sword. The claw lands a heavy strike that cuts open the left forearm from elbow to wrist, lightly stunning you.
[You're beat up, very badly balanced with opponent overwhelming you.]
>
A long-fanged warcat sniffs the air carefully, as if searching for something.
>ass
A long-fanged warcat crouches low, its eyes whirling hypnotically.
>
* A red bear orc bandit claws at you. You slap away little of the claw with a bastard sword. The claw lands a hard hit that lightly cuts your forearm as you stumble slightly.
[You're very beat up, extremely imbalanced with opponent overwhelming you.]
>
You are still stunned.
>retreat
You are still stunned.
>retreat
You are still stunned.
>retreat
You are still stunned.
>retreat
You are still stunned.
>retreat
You are still stunned.
>retreat
>retreat
You are still stunned.
>retreat
>
* A red bear orc bandit feints to the side at you. You repulse little of the scimitar with a bastard sword. The scimitar lands a brushing hit to your chest.
[You're very beat up, extremely imbalanced with opponent overwhelming you.]
>
* A long-fanged warcat lashes out with large, velvet-padded claws extended at you. You turn aside most of the claw with a bastard sword. The claw lands a good strike that rips through most of the left wrist and leaves the hand dangling by a tendon, lightly stunning you.
[You're badly hurt, extremely imbalanced with opponent overwhelming you.]
>retreat
The long-fanged warcat stalks out of the area.
>
You are still stunned.
>
* A red bear orc bandit claws at you. You knock aside nearly all the claw with a bastard sword. The claw lands a light hit to your chest.
[You're badly hurt, extremely imbalanced with opponent overwhelming you.]
>
You are still stunned.
>retreat
You are still stunned.
>retreat
You are still stunned.
>retreat
You are still stunned.
>retreat
You are still stunned.
>retreat
You are still stunned.
>retreat
You are still stunned.
>retreat
You are still stunned.
>retreat
You are still stunned.
>retreat
You are still stunned.
>retreat
You are still stunned.
>retreat
You are still stunned.
>retreat
You are still stunned.
>retreat
You are still stunned.
>retreat
You are still stunned.
>retreat
You are still stunned.
>retreat

Whatever.

I'll get over it, I know it won't change.

---

As Farluk touches the shimmering surface of the Moongate, both he and the portal disappear in an eyeblink.

Could have been worse. The warcat might have struck gold with an open roll exploding your chest ;) Yeah, it probably won't get changed. Stuns are meant to tank your balance which will result in more stuns too. Stamina and Discipline will help you. Even Reflex to avoid the hits. Get enough of those stats, and you can lose a leg without flinching.

-Ghodbane

>but I notice a disparity in PC v. critter stuns.

The critters probably have better defense stats than us which reduces the length of their stuns. I do notice the same disparity between them and us with stuns. Critters have it hard enough with their limited AI. Give them a bone! ;)

-Ghodbane

I thought stamina also affected duration of stuns. It's also well known that critters have much, much more stamina than characters hunting at their level.


Vinjince

---

"There are five possible operations for any army. If you can fight, fight; if you cannot fight, defend; if you cannot defend, flee; if you cannot flee, surrender; if you cannot surrender, die."

- Sima Yi

>As Vinjince said, its the stamina that they have.

Great, yet another stat I will need to raise.

Looks like it's 30 and still climbing

---

As Farluk touches the shimmering surface of the Moongate, both he and the portal disappear in an eyeblink.

> Players and creatures go through the exact same code. ~ Ssra

I believe that, since it would be silly to code two separate stun systems. However, the "reality" I experience is that stuns on a PC last a great deal longer then a stun on a critter. I can't think of a way to compare my stamina and discipline to critters I hunt at level so maybe those stats are far below what the critters I hunt have and as such they shake off stuns much easier than Hanryu does.

~Ranger Hanryu, Sword of House Calibanor
Keeper of the CEC
http://www.kynevon.info/CombatEquipmentCompendium.xls

There is nothing that reduces the duration of stuns.

Increased stamina will help prevent stuns from occurring. With sufficient stamina, for example, you can lose a leg and not be stunned.

The reason players and critters have effectively different duration stuns (and the reason why players can be stunlocked and critters cannot) is because critter actions work off the same timer that determines the length of a stun.

Let's say critter A, a goblin, gets stunned for 6 seconds. Every second, the goblin attempts to perform an action. At the sixth second, the goblin is no longer stunned and can attack or retreat or whatever critters do. Since the goblin acts immediately at the same time the stun is lifted, it's impossible to keep the goblin stunlocked as you can't stun the goblin while it is already stunned (normally) and the same instant the stun is lifted the goblin acts.

Now, Player B, a not-goblin, gets stunned for 6 seconds. At the sixth second, the stun is lifted but the odds of B's command actually getting through at the same time are virtually nil. When player B is unstunned, all of the critter actions for that second occur at the same instant that Player B gets unstunned, which means if Player B is getting the crap kicked out of him, he's probably going to get stunned again. Because he is unstunned and the critters attacking perform their attacks at the same tick, players can be stunlocked by critters.

Critters, on the other hand, can't be stunlocked by players the same way. It may be technically equal from the system standpoint, but you have to be aware that the nature of the system is that players and critters won't always act equal even if it looks like they should.

There's a couple ways that this could be remedied if it were considered problematic enough to do so.

1.) Critters, upon recovering from a stun, are subjected to a 1 second roundtime (or AI pause or whatever it actually is behind the scenes). This prevents critters from escaping stunlocks by virtue of their ability to act immediately out of a stun. Or:

2.) Players (and critters), upon recovering from a stun, cannot be stunned for 1 second immediately afterwards. This prevents players from being stunlocked while allowing critters the same grace period.

I doubt, however, that the percieved discrepancy between player stuns and critter stuns is enough to warrant this kind of change, especially as it is probably not a simple one. After all, if critters and players run through the code, where's the problem?

> However, the "reality" I experience is that stuns on a PC last a great deal longer then a stun on a critter.


The reality I've experienced is that most players -- especially those in combat-heavy guilds -- tend to overhunt slightly if not a lot. What this usually means is that the critters are in a better position to dish out stuns and likewise be less affected by them since there is a skill/stat disparity between the critter and the player in the critter's favor. The players tend to use superior items and special abilities/spells (or stealth) to compensate, which works fine until whammo! a stun lands.


- GM Dartenian

"So he buckled right in with a trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried, he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled that thing
That couldn't be done and he did it."
- Edgar Guest

I started this thread, and am I glad I did.

I've learned alot about the system. I now see the system is fine. I understand much more why it seems my stuns are longer.

Thanks one and all for the great explanations.

---

As Farluk touches the shimmering surface of the Moongate, both he and the portal disappear in an eyeblink.

>>I mean is there some website with a cut and paste copy of DR code or something somewhere that I am missing?

HEH

-Galren Moonskin

!>You hear the distant echo of a savage Horde screaming in barbaric approval of your deeds.

>It's funny you mention that...There was a copy of the DR code up on a website once. It was a very bad thing.

Interesting, I've never heard of that.

>As to how other players can speak with such authority? You've got two sorts. The first are the kind who make up stuff and talk out their butt. The second are the kind who spend painstaking hours testing and retesting dozens of different variables. Doing tedious things with fresh characters out of the CM and favor orbs. So, there are some things that they feel like they've got a pretty good handle on.

There is a third type of player that actually reads GM announcements and remembers what they say. This type seems to be as rare as the second type you mention.

from sitting infront of the war mage guild for a large part of my time playing I can tell you this...if you want to not get stunned...train discipline.

the effects of discipline on stun is awesome, where you can be basically critted within an inch of your life and not die.

granted this was an upper tier of discipline..but i've seen it.

its just this basic logic I guess..If you want to worry less about random stuns, train discipline.

another one I like, quoted from the karate kid.

I believe daniel-san asks mr. miagi what he should do before the big tournament, mr. miagi simply replies "what you should do...No get hit".

Cobra Kai! SAAAAAY IT!

I wonder if a red name can comment... I've heard that it does affect it, but I am not sure.


Retta licks a bug-legged rum-soaked apple.

You exclaim to the cougar, "You egg-shell! Die!"