Re: (TFT) Re: TFT Digest V4 #253

[Jay Carlisle <maou.tsaou@gmail.com>]

<  Speaking of agriculture, how do dungeons and dwarf cities feed
themselves? Is it trade, with farmers outside, or do they have a food
production method that works underground? I think I prefer the latter. >

Well I use 4x games as a kind of campaign manager so if a player with a
high ranking Figure that can action on that scale decides to build a city
in a location that can't feed itself then they are also going to be playing
a bit of Transport Tycoon to set up the needed trade routes. This all
provides lots of fodder for possible "adventure" and helps with other
things like building the local Jobs and Items lists and prices.

< I once had a theory of dungeons that they are places of leakage
between worlds. Nobody built them - the rock just leaked away. And the
wandering monsters are just arrived in our world without benefit of
ecology. It explains a lot. >

Well sure, but I've found that just locating a players "home" on the map
and making it available for anybody to "visit" makes wealthy players make
their own dungeons. It's the Smaug's treasure dilemma.
I'm also very partial to dungeons that fill roles like those in the Bridge
of Birds that protected vulnerable physical components of otherwise
invulnerable opponents.
But then again Master of Magic is a pretty good 4x'er and the mirror worlds
fits rift-dungeons nicely...

< Telepathy, of course, is a plot killer. The game needs a talent, "lie
under telepathy" or at least, "implant false memory". >

Sandboxes have no "plot" to kill.
To protect Figures like high ranking nobles from New Followers I suggest a
good bureaucracy.
If the wizard has to use something like a vulcan mindmeld grasp then it's
help here too.

< Have people experimented with the class system? Perhaps ditching it in
favour of enabling talents. Or just ditching it. Or introducing a
hybrid class to represent part-time users like RuneQuest nomads
(talents cost x1.25, spells cost x1.25, -1 DX all spells ... Excel
analysis suggests it's about fair). Or a scholar class. >

I just get rid of the x2 Talent/Spell bit and instead have cultural
requirements along the lines of apprentice's that don't allow young squires
or acolytes the time to devote to the study and practice required to do
much else.
A Talent can be learned twice, Mastery and Expertise.
It's easier to learn a new Talent from an Expert.
A 1 pt Talent takes about 1 hour a day of practice for Joe Average to
maintain in best form.
Smarter Figures Study faster and with proper support (library, lab, etc.)
can research new Talents, Spells, or Tech (although Units generally
research quicker).
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