(TFT) TFT: Character Survival

["Dave Seagraves" <dseagraves@austin.rr.com>]

Rick Smith writes . . .

>Hi Everyone,
>
>The current thread on how to make interesting survivable
>characters that don't rely on tons of magic protection have got me
>thinking.  What would it take to make a Conan (in loin cloth armor)
>in TFT?

   As a roleplaying game, plain-jane TFT is a bit too deadly for my tastes.
Players don't build characters to roleplay, they build them to fight and
survive.  There's nothing wrong with that, but I wanted to stop worrying
about having my characters die from one good sword stroke, and as a GM to
avoid killing off characters who have been lovingly created and nurtured by
its player.
   So I came up with the below rule change to increase character
surviveability.  Please tell me what you guys think.

Death (and Avoiding It)
   Figures now go unconscious at 0 ST and do not die until
they go to negative ST.  So a ST 10 character will go unconscious
at 0 ST and not die until they reach -10 ST.  (Normally a character
goes unconscious at 1 ST and dies at 0 ST.)  This makes combat
much less deadly for player-characters.
   However, a figure who goes to negative ST may begin to
bleed to death.  Make a 3 die saving roll vs. ST, with a penalty
equal to the amount currently negative.  Success means the
character is merely unconscious, and will wake up in a number
of hours equal to the amount below 0 ST.  Failure means the
character will start bleeding to death, taking one more point of
damage every time the character?s turn comes up, and the character
will die immediately upon hitting -ST.  This loss can be stopped
by one of the following means . . .

First Aid: A 3 die roll vs. IQ by a Master Physicker, 4 dice by
   a Physicker, or a 5 die roll by anyone else will stop the ST loss.
   First aid takes an entire turn (i.e. no movement allowed), one
   attempt can be made per turn, and just one successful roll stops
   ST loss and averts death for the patient.  Any number of physickers
   can make first aid attempts on a single patient each turn ? each
   rolling separately.  Afterwards the physicker can then spend
   five minutes normally to return 1, 2, or 3 hits to the patient.
A Healing Potion: Anyone can pour a heal potion down the victim?s
   throat to stop him from bleeding to death.  This requires a 2-die
   roll vs. DX for any physicker, or a 3-die roll for anyone else.
   Failure means the potion went down the wrong pipe and the
   victim starts drowning to death!  Resuscitation can be done by
   a Diver (p. ITL12) or any physicker on a 3-die IQ roll.  (Choking
   on a healing potion is an ironic way to die ? I actually had a character
   go this way.)
The Little Death:  This spell will immediately stop a figure from
   bleeding to death.  See p. AW17.
A Heal Spell: The successful casting of a 1 hit Heal spell will stop the
   patient?s ST loss immediately.  This or The Little Death spell are the
   most sure-fire methods.

   Characters at negative ST (but stabilized) are not well enough to
travel on their own ? or really do much of anything for that matter.  Put
them in a wagon, carry them on a stretcher, or hole them up somewhere
until they heal to 0 ST.


   Okay, I'll jump on the bandwagon . . .

Name: Dave Seagraves
Age: 36
Email address: dseagraves@austin.rr.com
City, State: Austin, TX -- the birthplace of TFT
Country: United States
TFT items owned then: ITL, AM, AW, TL, CDX, DT2, TSD, TGU, SS, and IP 1-8.
TFT items owned now: As above, plus ORB, GRQ, and MOA.
Currently Play?  GM and solo campaigns.
Up for PBEM?  No.

Dave Seagraves
Seagraves Design Bureau   dseagraves@austin.rr.com   1 (512) 255-2760


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