Re: (TFT) How good is 32 points?

[Joey Beutel <mejobo@comcast.net>]

On May 20, 2012, at 4:28 PM, Jay Carlisle wrote:

> I want to reiterate that this isn't one of those right or wrong  
> deals we're
> talking about.
Definitely. I think there probably is a more or less "official"  
answer, but its irrelevant... its all relevant to the setting's other  
characters. If you played a game where 18 was the average stat number,  
the game would probably still work, it'd just feel different.

> A painter gets to pick their colour pallet and a designer gets to  
> describe
> their peasants how they see them.
> I tend to worry over Joe Average quite a bit because the population  
> is a
> very strong tool in my games.

Power to the people?

> Improving the population is a big part of rulership.
> I've no idea how objective I am about this stuff because I'm in the  
> throws
> of it so what seems obvious to some nut-job that often goes to sleep  
> with
> his feet hanging off the end of the bed telling the "little people"  
> what he
> wants to "test" tonight might not strike a sane person as quite so  
> obvious.
> That being said, I also think there's some objective stuff going on  
> here
> that isn't facilitating communication.
> Job number one (pretty much the only job really) of the rules is to  
> get all
> the players on the same imaginative page.
> TFT's simplistic system is a big strength of the system IMO but it  
> comes
> with a pretty big pitfall if your not careful.

Which is why straying too far from the 'official' answer requires a  
lot of work to make sure everything, well, works. If average stat  
number is 30 for some reason, then suddenly 3d6 is a meaningless test  
in combat.
> The big boys these days (over 230 pounds) are lifting almost 580  
> pounds in
> the clean and jerk.
> What ST would that be?
> My '81 Guinness gives the record at almost 565 at the time.
> Is that a lower ST?
> How does that compare to a trebuchet throwing 200 pound rocks 300  
> yards?

Good questions to be asking.

I'd personally think that the ST would be about the same... its only a  
few pounds different.
Then again, the farther away you get from the 8-15 range, the more a  
stat change is barely meaningful... ST 18 and 19 are functionally  
pretty close, and only more so the higher you get. 11 and 12 are more  
different.
So I could see it both ways.

Does it come up in play? Trebuchet very well might (though it might be  
easier to deal with it more abstractly) but the difference between   
580 and 565 being lifted? Might just come down to the die roll, then.
> I'll also note that yes "a single point change in TFT has a  
> substantial
> effect on a character's capability" viewed in terms of 3d6 checks.
> 30 pts isn't quite enough to have an even shot of success on 9d6.

In official rules, 9d6 basically never comes up. Maybe as a  
ridiculously hard lock to pick, in which case it makes sense that even  
the best of the best will struggle to pick it.

3d6 comes up all the time. It is the baseline for hitting an opponent  
in combat. It is the standard for disbelieving illusions. One can look  
at higher d6 tests but to try to call 9d6 normal so that stat 30  
characters have a challenge is a stretch without modifying the basic  
rules, like combat.
> I've been looking at a phase system for stuff under 5 second turns  
> where a
> Figures IQ determines its perception time meaning smart Figures "see"
> faster.
> A low IQ makes a Figure take longer to perceive an Action and choose a
> reAction.
> DX is more a measure of how long that reaction takes.

Cool, though a bit too detailed for my games.

> Blaster with a high DX but low IQ would likely have a hard time  
> telling
> where concealed fire might be coming from an thus unable to use his  
> DX to
> dodge while Master with a high IQ but low DX likely notices the  
> direction
> of fire straight away but lacks the DX to do much about it.
> How quick can Master inform Blaster where the fire is coming from?
> Is talking like the Micro Machines guy a DX check?
> It's an IQ check to understand it.
Ha!
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