MRPG Threat Old
This page covers how Threat is calculated and determines when enemies attack who. For full combat rules, you will also need to reference Combat and Magic and Combat Instances and Rounds.
Threat generation, or hate, determines how enemies in the game respond to player characters in combat. It governs how they prioritize targets. The WorldShaper is encouraged to play very fast and loose with this system or to ignore it all together. But if you need a rule set, it works out like so.
Threat is based around a point system. In simplest terms, the character with the most "points" is generating the most threat.
Contents
Sources of Threat
Attack Value
For every 10 points of AV, a character earns 1 point of Threat, similar to attack dice. Note that characters can earn additional attack dice without increasing their AV. This is why.
Character Level
Every level adds 1 point of threat. If the entire party is the same level, this has little impact.
Weapon Size
Large weapons are much more threatening than small ones.
| Size | Threat Modifier |
| Small | -1 |
| Medium | +1 |
| Large | +4 |
| Vary Large | +10 |
| Immense | -5 |
Why do Immense weapons actually reduce Threat? Because characters can't attack with them, units consider them less imposing.
Armor
Characters in Plate armor get 5+(Rank x 3) Threat. Other armor types do not add to Threat. Use this calculation only if they are wearing at least the chest piece or any three other pieces of plate.
Weapon Quality
Fancy weapons are obvious. A character wielding a flashy, expensive-looking sword probably knows how to use it. Poor and Simple weapons make no difference, but Fine gets another 3 and Very Fine earns you 10. Enchantments aren't visible, but Runes on a weapon add and additional 5.
Spellcasting
If a character has just cast a spell, they get an extra 5 Threat. If they are actively slow-casting a spell, its 15 + (RANK x 5). Knowing your enemy is going to cast something makes them a pretty clear target.
Combat
This section covers how enemies prioritize player characters in combat.
Threat Level
This is not a straight-ahead "highest threat gets targeted first". Enemies prioritize based on level and relative location, E.G. who is closest and causing the most threat. Enemy units will average out the characters threat levels, rounding up, and then attack the character who is closest and most threatening.
Character Type
This one is not a numeric value but just a general rule. There are three different character types: sword, sorcery, and hybrid, this applies to the mobs as well. All other things being roughly equal, sword units will go after sword characters, and sorcery mobs will go after sorcery characters. Hybrids get the bum's rush here as they count as both.
This is not a rule the player characters have to follow, but rather the mentality of the game units.
Attacking
Any unit that is the target of an attack will immediately attempt to locate the perpetrator and counter attack. This may not always be successful, and if a player character's Threat is low enough, they may not realize that character was the attacker.
Whenever an enemy unit is attacked, it will look for the attacker. If two characters are close by, and one has at least 50% lower threat level than the other, the enemy unit will attach the character with the higher threat level.
Stealth
Rogues(and anyone who felt like trading for it) have have the Stealth special proficiency. Stealth is a passive effect that permanently lowers Threat. It can effectively reduce it to zero, which means a mob will never attack unless actively attacked by the rogue.
Stealth is tough as it relies on speed, inteligence, and dexterity. In simplest terms, it is making yourself look small, unimposing, or blend into the background all together. While there are no "stealth checks" there are instances where stealth is ignored.
In simplest terms, every point the character has invested in Stealth reduces their Threat by 1 point. However, this does not affect all sources of Threat. Character Level and AV-based calculations are included. Weapon size and quality are not.
A character wearing a single piece of Plate armor cannot use the Stealth proficiency.
MPnP Suggestions
Since there's a lot of math in here, the WorldShaper is encouraged to take some latitude. Feel free to use approximations or to just punish uppity players. There is no I in Team, but there is a meat, as in your are dead-meat if you don't play as a team. That being said, try to look at class roles and some basics. Rogues, for example, are all about being non-threatening.
