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RE: (TFT) Spellcasting, Fatigue, Wounds and Arrows



Hi Nocstar,

it sounds like you have a good system. I quite agree with your comments on removing arrows, and knives. Thrown knives might also fall out after striking in many cases, too.

Not to pester, but just as an academic heads up, your original rules say the opposite of your explanation of them in two other places, as well. That is, you just wrote:

1) "First we have never interpreted the rules to say a wizard receives a -2 penalty for casting a spell that takes 5 or more strength."

But your original post reads:
"Fatigue will slow you down (-2DX if 5 points accrued in 1 turn; -3DX if you are within 3 of Total Fatigue)."


2) You also just wrote: "At that point the wizard will have 1 fatigue and 3 health. His DX penalties will total -6, -3 for the fatigue and -3 for the wounds."

But your original post reads:
"Penalties from fatigue do not combine with penalties from wounds. If you are within 3 of total fatigue and within 3 of dying, you only have a penalty of -3DX not -6DX."


I guess all of these were details of your first version of the rules, but since then you've changed those two points, as well as the point where you already said so.


PvK

At 09:28 PM 11/23/03 -0500, Nocstar wrote:
Hi Peter,
Thanks for your response. I'll address your questions and comments more clearly than my original post.


If a wizard decides to remove his own arrow, how many empty hands and how many turns are required? If more than one and one, do you have a modifier for yanking out in one turn using one hand?

I assume a wizard can't inflict more damage on himself than would reduce


We have always played "one hand, one turn". If you don't know what you are doing, the number of turns doesn't matter much. As to the damage, yes it is possible for the arrow to do more damage coming out than it did going in. It is very risky to wiggle, yank or twist a barbed object that is impaling you. Envision an arrowhead. It is designed to penetrate easily but resist removal. A physicker taking the full five minutes to treat a person can remove the arrow without injury. An untrained individual removing an arrow during a five second turn has little chance of doing so without injury. Removing the arrow is not something to take lightly. Removing a thrown dagger does not cause damage unless a critical failure is rolled. Daggers as a rule aren't barbed since they are meant to exit easily for repeated stabbing.




As I reread my post I realize I wasn't quite clear (hazards of posting in a hurry). The rule as we play it mandates that if you use your health to power the spell, you must use all your remaining fatigue.

Your original post actually says you don't have to, i.e.:

You wrote:
Because of the nature of self-preservation, no wizard can do this unless he is already within 3 of Total Fatigue. The remaining fatigue can be combined with the wounds for the total spell cost if the wizard desires but the wound penalty will still accrue. Also if as a result Total Fatigue occurs, the wizard will pass out.


When we originally modified this rule, that was how we played it. It caused a problem when high DX wizards would reach the 3 fatigue threshold and switch to wound-power. The DX penalties weren't serious enough for them to forgo the benefit of having the extra power. The wizard would elect to use wounds only until he reached an equilibrium between wounds and fatigue. This didn't play well and didn't "feel" right. So we changed the rule to state the wizard had to use his fatigue. This resulted in the wizard using his health as a last shot because he knew he was going to pass out. We also restricted the amount of health the wizard could use. He could only use the amount of positive health he had left. He couldn't wound himself to death.

So to address and expand your example.

So say a wizard has ST 10, no fatigue and no injury, and casts a 7-ST fireball, giving himself 7 fatigue, and causing a -2DX penalty on his next turn for losing 5 or more fatigue in one turn. The next turn, he wants to cast a spell using injury for spell power. The total penalties would be -3 for having only 3 fatigue left, -2 for using injury to cast a spell, and -2 for last turn's use of more than 5 fatigue in one spell, for a total of -7 DX, correct?

First we have never interpreted the rules to say a wizard receives a -2 penalty for casting a spell that takes 5 or more strength. Since many of the higher spells cost 5 or more strength a wizard would be operating under a -2 penalty constantly or falling to the ground if he cast an 8 point or higher spell.

Let's say our wizard has ST 10, no fatigue and no injury, and casts a 7-ST fireball, giving himself 7 fatigue and unfortunately missing his target. He is now at a -3 DX penalty for only having 3 fatigue left. He knows escape is impossible and his death is imminent. In desperation he reaches deep, expends the last 3 fatigue he has along with 7 health to cast a Little Death spell (cost 10) on his attacker. His DX penalty is (-3 fatigue) + (-2 self wounding) + (-1 per hex to target). The wizard collapses unconscious from fatigue and with 3 health left. If his spell is successful, his target will be the victim of the Little Death and will be lying there 15 minutes later when the wizard regains a fatigue point and wakes up. At that point the wizard will have 1 fatigue and 3 health. His DX penalties will total -6, -3 for the fatigue and -3 for the wounds. He is in bad shape but he is alive. Of course if his spell failed....

We have found this works well for the wizards and doesn't greatly overpower them. Our wizard players aren't too keen on passing out around enemies. The -4 DX penalty for casting magic while having iron on your person has also given them pause. Unfortunately it has increased the mortality of our archers. };-)
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