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Re: (TFT) Starting character point levels.
Sorry but I totally disagree. Scott said it was a one shot game. Some 
of the absolutely very best times I have had playing Melee has been 
using high point teams in combat with other high point teams. Very 
powerful characters wielding great swords one handed vs. wizards 
summoning 4 hex dragons in a free for all arena combat is a great way 
to spend an evening. Starting with low point, beginning characters are 
great if you are playing a role playing style campaign game, but I 
always thought many people were missing a great way to play this game 
by only playing that way. (As a side note I've also run Melee this way 
at many conventions tournament style with great success.)
This system gives you a lot of strategy planning your team. Do you 
spread your bonus points evenly across all of your characters or do you 
pump all of your points into one super hero and leave all of you other 
characters as cannon fodder? And when you play with wizards it even 
gets better with squads of summoned gargoyles fighting bears and 4 hex 
dragons. You can also do creative things with the arena such as a king 
of the hill scenario or have many obstacles to move around in and hide, 
always good for the archers.
Here's how my group picks characters for a one nighter:
Procedure: Pick 5 characters from below. (Example: 3 Men and 2 
Dwarves.) Note that all races either have special abilities and/or 
limitations. Lightly write down their starting scores for STR, DEX, and 
IQ. Also write down their MA.
Add to each character the Individual Extra Points for that character. 
Add these points however you wish to STR, DEX, and IQ, but not MA. You 
can not transfer these points to your other characters. (Example: When 
finished with this step the total of STR + DEX + IQ for each human 
character on your team would now total 32 points.)
Add up the listed Total Beginning Character Points for all 5 characters 
and subtract from 200 to calculate your Bonus Points. These extra bonus 
points can be distributed between STR, DEX, and IQ and added to any or 
all of your characters in any way you wish. No attribute can exceed 30 
(except a Giants and a Trolls STR) and you can not add to MA. (For a 
longer game start play with 8 characters each and subtract your Total 
Beginning Character  Points from 320 to get your Bonus Points.)
Choose two weapons (a shield counts as a weapon) for each character. 
Everyone starts with a dagger. (See the statistics concerning Giants 
and Trolls for their weapon restrictions.) Choose armor for each 
character (if the race gets armor), and adjust DEXband MA according to 
your armor choice. No one can take Fine Plate. (Exception: see humans 
special ability.)
Concerning Wizards: Metal impedes the use of magic. Wizards are at a -4 
DEX to cast spells if they are wearing or carrying anything made of 
metal (armor and weapons included). A wizard must constantly study the 
art of magic and does not have the time to train in the use of weapons, 
therefore all wizards are at a -4 DEX to use any weapon other than his 
staff.
Men			Total Beginning Character Points: 32
STR: 8   DEX: 8   IQ: 8   MA: 10   Individual Extra Points: 8  	
In mass combats only men can wear fine plate, limit one suit of fine 
plate for every 5 men in your team.
Elves		Total Beginning Character Points: 32
STR: 6   DEX: 10   IQ: 8   MA: 12   Individual Extra Points: 8   	
In mass combats can not be teamed with orcs, goblins, hobgoblins or 
trolls.
Dwarves		Total Beginning Character Points: 32
STR: 10   DEX: 6   IQ: 8   MA: 10   Individual Extra Points: 8   	
Dwarves get an extra +1 damage when they hit with an axe, hammer, or 
mace.  In mass combats, a dwarf faced with a decision about whom to 
fight will always choose orcs and/or goblins over any other races.  In 
mass combats can not be teamed with orcs, goblins, hobgoblins or 
trolls.
Hobbits		Total Beginning Character Points: 30
STR: 4   DEX: 12   IQ: 8   MA: 10   Individual Extra Points: 6   	
Hobbits get an extra +3 DEXbadjustment for missiles, missile spells, 
and thrown weapons and do an extra +1 damage when they hit with them. 
Larger opponents (men, orcs, dwarves, etc.) are at a -2 DEX to hit a 
hobbit due to their small size.
Orcs			Total Beginning Character Points: 32
STR: 8   DEX: 8   IQ: 8   MA: 10   Individual Extra Points: 8   	
Armor: Skin stops 1.  In mass combats can not be teamed with elves or 
dwarves.
Goblins		Total Beginning Character Points: 30
STR: 6   DEX: 10   IQ: 8   MA: 10   Individual Extra Points: 6   	
Armor: Skin stops 1.  In mass combats can not be teamed with elves or 
dwarves.
Hobgoblins	Total Beginning Character Points: 30
STR: 10   DEX: 6   IQ: 6   MA: 10   Individual Extra Points: 8   	
Armor: Skin stops 1.  Big, slow, extremely stupid goblins.  In mass 
combats can not be teamed with elves or dwarves.
Giants: 3-Hex	Total Beginning Character Points: 41
STR: 25   DEX: 9   IQ: 7   MA: 10   Individual Extra Points: 0   (No 
maximum STR) (DEX/IQ 10 maximum)
In mass combats you can only have one giant on your team.  Giants only 
use clubs and shields and they never wear armor.  Their DEXband/or IQ 
can not be raised above a 10 but their STRbhas no maximum. They do not 
start with a dagger.
Troll: 3-Hex	Total Beginning Character Points: 41
STR: 23   DEX: 10   IQ: 8   MA: 10   Individual Extra Points: 0   (No 
maximum STR)
In mass combats you can only have one troll on your team.  Can not be 
teamed with elves or dwarves. Trolls do not use weapons or armor (no 
dagger to start with), instead they fight with their claws, use Club 1H 
damage based on STR for damage. A troll heals 1 point of damage at the 
end of every turn that it still has STR left with the exception of 
fire, fireball or lightning damage.
You can download a pdf file of the above page at my web site:
http://www.diagramsolutions.com/TFTDownloads.html
Hope this helps,
David
On Dec 21, 2005, at 10:46 PM, pvk@oz.net wrote:
I too agree with previous replies.
For an ongoing game, it's most satisfying to start pretty low, like at 
32.
Starting out with powerful characters tends to leave players not really
knowing how their characters got experience, which often doesn't work 
as
well unless they are experienced players.
For a one-off combat session, though, you might want to give them a few
more points. 35 sounds reasonable. Alternatively, plan ahead for the
eventual player deaths, and what characters they can take over after 
that.
I had a lot of fun playing just Melee when I first got into TFT, just
seeing who could stay alive in an arena career, starting everyone at 32
and going on with mainly duels. Very few survived to gain much 
experience.
Also remember, unless I'm mistaken, that humans are supposed to average
30, meaning that's a common value, and many are lower. Some gladiators 
may
also be injured before a fight, and allies may be available - strength
lies in numbers.
PvK
On Wed, December 21, 2005 7:23 pm, John J Hyland wrote:
I agree.  That is what hobgoblins are for.
If you really want them to fight 32 point characters, and not die 50% 
of
the time, you'll need to start them a few points higher.  35 pts 
should
probably do the job at that level they can utilize better equipment to
stop an extra point and do an extra point and still hit more often 
than a
32 pointer.
But gladiatorial combat is ALWAYS dangerous in TFT, which is one of 
the
reasons I like it so much.
John
-- Rick Smith <rsmith@lightspeed.ca> wrote:
I would start them off with 32 points.
Just make sure to toss Hobgoblins and
other reasonably easy fights at them.
That way when they reach 40 attributes
they will appreciate it!
Rick
On Wed, 2005-12-21 at 18:08, Scott Haley wrote:
I may write a TFT adventure for my friends.  I'm thinking of a one-
shot thing in which they'd play a group of gladiators.  I wonder if
it would be a good idea to start them with more points than the
standard rules for new characters.  My concern is that their
characters won't last long in the arena.  What do the experienced TFT
game masters out there think?
--Scott
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