Re: (TFT) 8 hits or more --> Duration of fall and cannon

[Christopher Fuhrman <fuhrman8or@yahoo.com>]

--- "David O. Miller" <davidomiller@verizon.net> wrote:
> Christopher Fuhrman <fuhrman8or@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > Well said, Rick. I agree there is no canon here, because TFT
never
> > really got past the unstable "2.0" stage with its true visionary
> > still in control. I'm calling version 1 the Microgames.
> 
> Is this true? I know SJ thanks a lot of people who helped him out
on 
> the advanced rules project but I believe he still had a lot of 
> control over the content. HT even says he was not that happy with 
> what SJ turned in but due to publishing deadlines he had to print 
> what he had. 
> This disagreement was probably the beginning of the end between the
> two of them.

I believe that even if SJ wrote everything the way he intended, there
are/were still bugs in AM/AW/ITL, i.e., ultra high IQ to amass
talents, Adonis-type wizards who can die from a single hit if they've
cast enough spells. 

Melee and Wizard rules (1.0) were simpler, for arena-type bouts, so
their bugs got squashed in playtesting, probably.

AM/AW/ITL was a big leap to support campaigning and role-playing, and
with that added complexity came weaknesses, and they weren't resolved
"canonically" because SJ left and TFT went belly-up.
 
> Just for fun I would like to run an informal poll here. Please
> respond to only one:

My vote is closer to 3 than 2. We used dual stats for ST(HP) and
IQ(KN), and I feel the dex adjustments I wrote about on the wiki are
pretty important, else you have people changing their attacking
orders based on who they attack (I still say that the Troll should
not be slowed because it's attacking a blurred target in AM combat
example). 

> 2. Our group plays TFT with only one or two (minor at best) house
> rules. 
> 3. Our group plays TFT with several GM invented house rules.

> Bonus poll:
> 
> 1. I believe the Fantasy Master's Screen and the Codex should be 
> considered part of the official cannon.
> 
> 2. I do not believe the Fantasy Master's Screen and the Codex
> should be 
> considered part of the official cannon.
> 
> I'm voting for number 2.

The word canon is often used in a religious context, and someone also
mentioned fundamentalism which falls in that category. I think it's
unwise to take a dogmatic approach to the first edition of extended
rules that lacked sufficient play-testing. 

I see all the rules, even some GURPS basics, as possibly providing
insight to help in identifying or resolving conflicts in AM/AW/ITL. I
really liked the "archaeological" comment made by someone here - it's
dead-on. These are all 20+ year old artifacts from a small tribe of
individuals (Metagaming) that no longer exists as such.

Another way to think of it: AW/AM/ITL was like a beta version of TFT
2.0, where some of the added complexity was cool but not fully
tested. 

Just like with Windows Vista, the final, stable, version should be
similar to the beta, but will be probably have significant
differences that are due to resolutions of inconsistencies in the
beta. Unfortunately, as Metagaming is no more, AM/AW/ITL never got
officially patched beyond beta. So, if you want to use it as canon,
it's tricky. I suppose you could write to SJ and ask him what he
meant. That would be canon, if he replied :-)

Heh... I see a thread coming: open-letter (questionnaire) to Steve
Jackson to resolve open issues in AW/AM/ITL... I'm not sure it's
already been attempted.

Enough of my ramblings after midnight... :-)


 
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