Re: (TFT) Action Report - DCG's "The Dark Vale"; Rick's comments

[Rick Smith <rsmith@lightspeed.ca>]

Hi all,
  Re: Murderous Psycho Ninja Sniper (MPNS) Hobbits.
I like to give them and dwarves MA 8 because of their 
short legs.  Dave Seagraves does this as well in his
Thail pbem campaign.  I might be tempted to say 
Hobbits pay 1.5 * exp for ST attributes.  I've done
a number of changes to the TFT races to balance them
better and make them feel different from each other.

  I had one player who took a boomerang character.
But I insisted that he realistically show me WHERE
he kept all of the darn things.  He eventually had
a metal 'tree' with a couple dozen boomerangs hanging
from it.  At the start of combat he would thunk the
'tree' into the soil so it would stand up right.
The advantage of boomerangs is that they are really
tough.  The disadvantage is that you only get a couple
shots unless you are carrying a boomerang tree around
with you.

  I changed the reaction roll to be 3d6 rather than 
1d6.  Also, if the PC's are taking away money / power
from NPC, they may get a nice reaction, but my NPC 
will still fight them.  (They will just think the PC
is a charming opponent.)

  As for Tactics / Strategist.  I just make sure that
sometimes the NPC's have these talents.  Tactics is 
very easy to get after all.

  I definitely scale up the damage you have to do to
large creatures in face hits, etc.  Doesn't everyone?

  Our PC's never use shield rushes.  The rules as written
are a waste of time.  I beefed them up a bit and they
still are never used.

  Everything else on the list, I don't have problems 
with.

  Warm regards, Rick.


On Mon, 2010-01-02 at 14:31 -0600, Mark Tapley wrote:
> 	But yeah, I'm not clear about where the swarms of Murderous 
> Psycho Ninja Sniper (MPNS) Hobbits come from either, from a 
> role-playing point of view. They are definitely not cute and fuzzy, 
> like hobbits are supposed to be.
> 
> 	Does anyone else have issues with the MPNS Hobbit concept? It 
> really does seem like a very *very* effective character, and one that 
> seems to take such strong advantage of a set of rules that it almost 
> forms a loophole.

> 	On the subject of loopholes, here's a list of things that 
> seemed unfairly powerful in general in the rules, to one or more 
> players:
> 
> 
> Sha-Ken (particularly in combination with MPNS Hobbits)
> Naginata
> Boomerang
> Nun-chuk
> Molotails
> Gunpowder
> Initiative bonus for having Strategist
> Reaction roll bonus for a Charismatic Hobbit with New Followers
> 
> 	Most just seem overly powerful for the IQ cost to master 
> them, particularly in comparison with e.g. Unarmed Combat, which can 
> soak up an amazing number of IQ points to really exploit. The generic 
> answer, I think, is that if the party uses them, the party can expect 
> to face them, at least where the adventure is not pre-canned.
> 
> 	Gunpowder is balanced out somewhat by cost and unreliability.
=
> 
> 	Regarding Aimed shots in general:
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