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Re: (TFT) Re: TFT Digest V3 #699
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark Tapley" <mtapley@swri.edu>
To: <tft@brainiac.com>
Ty accused me:
Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 16:53:20 -0500
From: "Ty Beard" <tybeard@sbcglobal.net>
.... This is where you guys come in. I want to run some good
old TFT adventures with his rules and I'm confident that you rules
lawyering
chiselers will stress the rules in ways that the designer could never have
foreseen.
Guilty as charged.
1) When designing a character, why would I ever take Axe+1 or Sword+1,
instead of adding that point to ST instead? I get to use a bigger Axe or
Sword, *and* I am harder to kill, if I take the ST.
The weapon skill becomes advantageous as ST increases. The skill only costs
10 ep, while ST will cost the new level in EP (a ST of 15 costs 15 ep). So
the sword skill would be a little cheaper than raising ST from 14 to 15, for
instance.
There's a little mathematical problem in the system as well.
The "ep cost" of attributes is equal to the value of the attribut. So, a
ST:11 "costs" 21 ep (assuming that ST:9 is the baseline). Thus, a ST:11,
DX:11, IQ:11 character has 63 ep worth of attributes. A ST:9, DX:15, IQ:9
character has 75 ep worth of attributes, yet uses the same number of
attribute points. The math rewards characters who max out a single
attribute. The bonus isn't spectacular; it works out to about 1 attribute
point.
And the bonus *may* be offset by the fact that such characters are often
less useful than more rounded ones. Consider a thief or fighter with DX15
and a 9 in everything else -- he'll be wimpy in a fight and will be easy to
kill. A wizard with IQ:15 would lack the ST to power many of the spells. And
so on.
A fix -- if necessary -- would be to change the attribute costs from
attribute points to ep:
Attribute Starting Cost
7 -17
8 -9
9 0
10 10
11 21
12 33
13 46
14 60
15 75
16 91
17 108
18 126
19 145
20 165
A recalibrated chart, with 5 being the base attribute level:
AttributeStarting Cost
5 0
6 6
7 13
8 21
9 30
10 40
11 51
12 63
13 76
14 90
15 105
16 121
17 138
18 156
19 175
20 195
And now, we're well on our way to recreating GURPS...
2) Using Ty's modifications #4, if I'm designing a new, flexible
character, I have the option to spend one character point for "Wizard"
(and get *all* spells up to my IQ) or spend *two* character points for
individual spells. I know which *I'd* choose.
Hmmn. Yes, I can see the issue. Rather than buy a single spell for 2 points,
you'd be better off buying the Wizard skill for 1 point, then that spell for
1 point. <shrug> Well, I'm not sure that this is a real problem. Either way,
it will be expensive and difficult to be a fighter-mage or even a
thief-mage. And the game world explanation could be that the Wizard skill
represents training by a member of the Wizard's Guild, which is expensive
and requires a 3 year apprenticeship or a *big* pile of cash. Buying just
the spell at 2 points (or 20 ep) represents a self-taught ability.
The apprenticeship/cash requirement -- also applicable to the Thief skill I
think -- would also prevent PC's from cheaply buying the skill later in the
game.
As an alternative, the price of starting skills could be raised from 1 to 2
points (but you still get the first one free).
To that end, I am preparing a Great New Dungeon. It is known as Carn's
Dungeon
of Despair and Hopelessly Vile, Bloody Death. The first level has 140+
rooms,
which perhaps will give you some idea of my megalomania. Obviously, you
have
no chance of survival.
"What are we waiting for?"
Can I get in on this? I'm assuming it's PBEM?
Sadly, no. It's a FTF game in Tyler, Texas.
--Ty
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