Arena Rex Forums

Apologies if these ideas have already been posted.

Reaction: Dodge Hazard
Cost: 1 Fatigue
Trigger: When an enemy performs a Push that would move this model into base contact with a Hazard.
Effect: Instead of placing this model 1" directly away from the Attacker, this model performs a Reposition.

I just think that a ready model getting pushed into a pit would do something to avoid it. If a Reposition is too much then I suggest a 1" shift in any direction.

Reaction: Anticipate
Cost: 1 Fatigue
Trigger: When an enemy model Fatigues down to Ready while engaged with this model.
Effect: Before the enemy model Fatigues down, this model may immediately perform a move.

Not so sure about this, but I think a way to retreat would be helpful, and using an attack to trigger it would not work.

That's it for now.

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Bentley Hunter from the Kickstarter.

I like the sentiment but I think it's got to cost more since it's such a powerful reaction. Avoiding an insta-death pit for example ought to be worth a Favor or two at least IMO.

Maybe spend two Favor and you're able to do a R: Counterattack - if you still lose, in you go... But if you succeed then you are able to do a reposition instead, with the bonus of earning back one of the Favor you spend (because the crowd loves you defying death).

That may be true. Playing Devil's advocate, I would say that you still suffer the damage, must be Ready to do it and end up Fatigued (so you can't instantly push the enemy in the pit). I would prefer to either rmake it a 1" shift for 1 Fatigue, leaving you still engaged and potentially open to further pushes, or (and my preference) would be that it costs 2 Fatigue for a Reposition, leaving you Exhausted if you remain engaged, or Fatigued if you are unengaged at the end of the Reposition. I think the latter represents the exhaustion of desperately trying to avoid death; you could then have an athletic gladiator with the ability - Death Defier: When this model performs a Reaction: Dodge Harard, it gains 1 Favour.

Only testing will tell, but either way I feel Ready models should stand some chance of escaping death.

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Bentley Hunter from the Kickstarter.

Haven't completely wrapped my head around the mechanics just yet, but a ready model that is attacked by another model would almost always counter-attack, no? This would reduce the odds of it being pushed around drastically, but not completely.

That said, to then dodge a push into a hazard they'd have to go from fatigued (due to counter attack) to exhausted, and that would be two reactions to the same action, which is not allowed by the rules.

I do see where you are coming from though, and especially in a pit-heavy arena there is a potential for a lot of brutality if the dice gods will it to be so. The favour idea would be something to consider, but it would have to cost a lot of favour to save your gladiator from the jaws of death.

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http://alladinsbazaar.blogspot.ca - very much a work in progress...

It's not always wise to Counter Attack. It reduces the chance of both sides hitting each other, therefore is better used when it's more important to avoid wounds than deal damage.

As for the cost of this reaction, all costs have been either Favour or Fatigue:

Option A - If you use Favour as the cost, you get:

Player 1 - Successful attack, including a Push which brings Player 2 in base contact with a Lethal Hazard.
Player 2 - 1, 2, 5 Favour, no matter, Reposition behind Player 1.
Player 2 - activate your model and Push the now Fatigued/Exhausted Player 1 into the pit, unless they use Favour then it's rinse and repeat until someone gives up.

Option B - If you use Fatigue it goes:

Player 1 - Successful attack, including a Push which brings Player 2 in base contact with a Lethal Hazard.
Player 2 - 2 Fatigue to Reposition, ending unengaged therefore saving 1 Fatigue. Both model are now fatigued. If they remained enaged for whatever tactical reason, they would be Exhausted.
Player 1 - activates another model, Fatigues down the previous model
Player 2 - does the same.
Player 1 - activates now Ready model, moves away from the pit to either try and get round to try again, engage from a safer postion or move on to someone else.

Option A favour those who can generate a lot of Favour, which I believe is already an issue in the game's balance. Option B lets you live, but doesn't give you any substantial advantage beyond survival.

There's always Counter-Attack, for those with Reposition and Pushes in their Damage Tree, though due to the nature of it Favour would likely be required to ensure enough net successes.

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Bentley Hunter from the Kickstarter.

There's also Reaction: Movement. If you're fresh enough to react, you can just leave before they start swinging.

That's true. I admit I'm only just getting my head fully around reactions. I think what can be so confusing is remembering that you can't react to a reaction, and the specifics of what triggers what. It's clear enough in the rules, it's just part of the learning curve.

An alternative idea:

Reaction: Resist Push
Cost: 1 or 2 Fatigue
Trigger: An Attacker declares one or more pushes against this model.
Effect: This model may resist one Push for every Fatigue spent.

I think this is a slightly more elegant way of achieving what I wanted while also incorporating a different strategy to Reaction: Movement (i.e. you want to fight, but you would rather stand your ground).

However, this does bring to my attention that while models struggle to push larger models, larger models don't find smaller models easier to push.

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Bentley Hunter from the Kickstarter.