(TFT) Revised HTH rules - Rob's comments. Is HTH needed?

[Rick Smith <rick_ww@lightspeed.ca>]

Hi Rob,
  Thank you for the kind words.  The fact that some people use some
of my stuff is what makes it worthwhile.

  I thought that Orcslayer was a fun module.  Never ran it tho.  :(

  I encourage you to customize the game to suit your tastes and the
people you play with.  In particular, it is important to start with a 
simple rule set.  (I find that as people master the base rules, they
are more eager to add a bit more complexity.  The trick is to add
the complexity which deepens the experience and is not just 
complexity for complexities sake.)

  I think that TFT will work perfectly well without HTH.  It is intended 
to make the game more realistic by adding wrestling, but you 
certainly could have a heroic adventure with out it.  That said, we
never turned figure in HTH upside down (we reserved that for dead
or unconscious figures).  Having two enemy in the same hex was
enough to remind us that those characters were in HTH.

  I am guessing that you turn upside down characters who have 
fallen.  I would suggest not doing that.  We used to use a little 
hematite counter to show fallen figures, but lately, we just remember.
(Usually their are not too many of them.)  Alternately, you could have
fallen figures face towards any hex spine (but ideally a hex spine
away from the enemy) to show that they are prone.  This would save
you a bunch of flipping counters face up and face down.

  As now published, the Rune Stone rules give a bit of variety 
magically to the terrain.  I am a big fan of terrain, it helps to make 
this fight different from that fight.  A tactic which worked fine the 
last 6 fights, now, is not so good.  Variety is the spice of life, after
all.

  However, when I put up my rules for Environmental Magics in TFT, 
the Rune Stones will become far more useful and important.  This 
will likely be a while, Environmental magics will take more work to
get ready for prime time.
  
  Warm regards, Rick.

  


On 2016-01-19, at 10:33 AM, Robert Ward wrote:
> Hello Rick
> Never feel your words are dropping into a black hole. I can say for
> certain that I read and enjoy them.  I don't get to play TFT as often as
> I'd like, and with some very young players (including some bright 10-12
> yr olds) not a lot of opportunities yet for introducing variations.
> They're just starting to get up to speed with spells. 
> 
> But for example, a few weeks ago, we ran a giant melee in front of a
> castle wall (running the old Orcslayer module). If I had read your rune
> stone rules earlier, I would have incorporated some of those effects,
> just to illustrate that the (simulated) world contains, or used to
> contain, wonders and powers that the players can't yet understand. One
> change I did incorporate was the more powerful Ward spell. 
> 
> So that's point (A). Point (B) is that it's inspiring to see your
> creations whether I use them or not. For example, I have never liked the
> HTH rules. Or maybe more exactly, I have never liked HTH combat. The
> counters flip over and the map becomes lifeless. The zones of control,
> or facing rules, that make melees so tactical and war-gamy, disappear.
> So reading some of your changes makes me think about how I might change
> things myself, maybe just to eliminate it altogether. But whatever, as I
> say it is great to see someone thinking about thoughtful changes and
> additions.
> 
> Keep em coming!
> Rob
> 
> 
> On Thu, Jan 7, 2016, at 12:38 PM, Rick Smith wrote:
>> Hi everyone,
>>  I've posted my HTH rules on Joe's website.  They can be found here....
>> 
>> 
>> http://tft.brainiac.com/RicksTFT/Fighting/HTH_InTFT.html
>> 
>> 
>>  I've attempted to keep the rules about as complex as the original
>> HTH rules, make them more logical, and improve play balance.  
>> Your comments are welcome.
>> 
>>  Warm regards, Rick.
>> 
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