Re: (TFT) An Even More Radical Re-Imagining of TFT...

["Ty Beard" <tbeard@tyler.net>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Neil Gilmore" <raito@raito.com>


> I could see allowing a figure to reduce their DX in order to reduce
> opponent's DX, but not increase it. If you don't have the technique, going
> all out does NOT guarantee that you'll throw an effective blow.

No, but all out aggressiveness and a willingness to take a shot probably
does. It does in martial arts (my only area of experience) at any rate.

We call it the all-out blitz rule and it's very popular with my players.

> > Also, it's very hard for highly skilled fighters to cut down large
numbers
> > of faceless hordes ala the Conan movies.
>
> Personally, I don't see this as a problem. Read "On Thud and Blunder"
> www.sfwa.org/writing/thud.htm, for the reasons why.

Yes, I read that in a collection of articles about R.E.H.'s Conan some years
ago. It was also reprinted in the Thieve's World RPG supplement by Chaosium.

But sometimes I want to simulate epic fantasy, not reality. I'm proposing
this rule for more cinematic campaigns.

> > 2. Roll 1d20 for each figure and add the figure's DX and any applicable
> > modifiers. Do this for all figures that are (a) attacking; (b) casting
> > spells; (c) doing any action requiring a roll. Each figure makes a melee
> > "attack" on every enemy figure in its front hexes. A figure's melee
attack
> > succeeds if his roll equals or exceeds the roll(s) of the target(s).
> Combats
> > can be handled in groups where convenient. A missile attack, spell
casting
> > attempt or other task succeeds if the modified roll is 21+.
>
> Too many dies rolls.

No more than would occur in a normal TFT fight.

> It removes the simple elegance of a single die roll for
> combat.

Well, the system actually seems to play quicker than normal TFT fights -- 
but this is based on my internal playtesting. I've not tried it with
players.

> It is, however, a good way to do opposing rolls. This can be quicker
> than the usual TFT alternative, where both figures involved roll until one

> fails, or one gets a critical success. This can take quite a long time if
> the figures involved have high applicable abilities.

Agreed.

> > Options and Comments
> >
> > 1. Of course, the math can get flaky. One solution would be to express
the
> > attribute as a + or - number, with a 0 being the current equivalent of
10.
> > So a fighter with an adjDX of 12 would have a +2 modifier. Success for
> > missile spells and attacks happen on an 11+. That makes the calculations
a
> > bit easier.
>
> Personally, I dislike the d20 system (for TFT anyway), because I rather
like
> the bell curve of 3d6 (though I do recognize the problems with extreme
> abilities). In both d20 and 3d6, an score of 10 represents 50% chance of
> success. But in d20 11 represents 55%, and in d20 60-some%.
>
> In my (real-world experience, if that can be said to apply), the 3d6
system
> more closely models reality. At the rarified upper levels of skill, a
point
> difference makes much less difference than a point at the mid-level. And
at
> the low level, nobody's hittig anybody.

My reasons for preferring the d20 have been discussed before -- the archives
have them, so I won't bore everyone with the same stuff again. Except to
note that a d20 allows for very high attribute characters to be more
meaningful (and very low attribute characters as well). A 2d10 approach
would produce less of this benefit, but preserve the bell curve. Personally,
I see no real benefit in a bell curve for its own sake.

> > 2. On a d20 system, critical hits occur on a natural 20 (then roll 1d6
1-3
> > automatic hit; 4-5 double damage; 6 triple damage) and failures on a
> natural
> > 1 (then roll 1d6 -- 1-3 automatic miss; 4-5 drop weapon; 6 break
weapon).
> > For 3d6, simply make 16, 17, and 18 work like 3, 4 and 5 (and vice
versa).
>
> Your crits happen with slightly more frequency than with 3d6 -- 10/200 vs
> 10/216, and within that 30/60, 20/60, 10/60 vs 36/60, 18/60, 6/60 (numbers
> massaged to make it easy to compare them). But you knew that.

<shrug>

Yep -- some distortion will inevitably occur when moving from 3d6 to d20.

> > 5. A defending figure adds 5 (or 3 if using 3d6) to his roll, but never
> hits
> > a foe.
>
> This definitely messes up the bell curve.

Howso? If you use 3d6, the bell curve is preserved and 3 is a close
approximation of the effect of adding a 4th die. Is the 4d6 bell curve
really all that fabulous?

--Ty
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