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Re: (TFT) Hirst Arts Melee/Wizard Arena
ROTFLMAO!
Lost in Translation...
Okay, this is not meant as criticism of anybody's work as it stands.
What I'd like to do here is point out a few areas where I think my philosophy differs from what the "common" (?) perceptions are.
I'll pull some quotes to try and show what I mean, not to demean what is obviously an EXELENT product.
Okay, a basic tenant of what I'm trying to do is to take stuff like this and use it as tools for roleplaying.
However there's some problems here from a RPG point of view I think.
First and foremost, anything played out at this scale is a direct result of a players actions at the POV scale.
"I get on the boat."
The classic tabletop-birdseye-wargamers view is technically only available to higher technologies, or high powered magic items. (x # of "orbs" that allowed instant communication "through the eyes and ears" of the other orb holders would be an EMINECE boon on the battlefield...)
Owing to this, "I" as the GM play out the "wargame" and report to the player through the Figures of his "power structure" he uses to control his military forces.
You know, their POV.
If the player is the Coach, he tells his assistant coaches (each responsible for a Unit, as just the starting offence and defense for a football team is 22 IQ as followers, of course you could hire "free agents" but that hurts "moral"...) his Orders for a Turn and then watches the "action" play out.
No rolls for the supper-hard catch off the top of the helmet for the Coach.
The experience is much different for the receiver.
POV
Assign "personality" traits to the handful of qualified applicants (Captain IQ 12, Strategist IQ 13...) and you've got an Officer Corp.
Put Ney in charge of the calvery, and Grouchy in charge of the reserve.
Now I'm going to lay down for a little while, I've got a splitting headache.
So how'd they do it?
A hundred different ways.
Cusp event for sure, but I hope the outcome fell for the L.L. crew and not the blackhats...
Anyway, if I view a "wargame" like this as a tool for roleplaying then this thing has to adapt to what I want and not vice verca.
I'm in the process of reading the whole thing, and it's a granted "skim" this first time, so I'm sure I'm missing something here but for TFT purposes here's what's missing.
Timescale for turns.
How long are these actions?
Fixed damage.
These ships seem to suffer damage levels.
Not fair to swap damage concepts according to scale, far better IMHO to dictate scale from damage.
What is the main difference twixt a cannon and a harquebus?
Scale more than anything.
Not fair to put the same propellant in both things and get two different "rules" to handle it.
Custom building and general specification of materials data.
Ships take a while to build and each one is unique.
This is NOT "let's play ships" so <POOF> some appear.
You don't even get to play with the boats until you Nomic or buy you those "action" choices.
Hire/get drafted into a chaos war or something and your Figure might get plopped on one for a bit...
Make the players design, and the wait while it builds (Masters of Orion) to get their ship/s and they might just prove a tad more cautious in throwing the things away, especially once the forests get cleared...
As players could buy the construction of a ship, and each ship is unique, things like the signals it can send (Orders are Unit Talents) will depend on factors like the size and number of her masts.
The root of double the product of the height above sea level of the observer (mast height) times the radius of the planet give the farthest distance a human could view.
I'll work on Crows Nests and mast heights relative to hull length after Radio Lab.
I've got more boats too add form the unabridged dictionaries...
In a bit fellas....
RADIO LAB IS ON IQ!
SWEET!
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