Re: (TFT) On experience

[Michael Taylor <MichaelTaylor1@compuserve.com>]

Message text written by INTERNET:tft@brainiac.com

>>>>>>I think you missed the point.  I was lamenting that TFT, an other-
>>>>>>wise commendable system, allows characters to attain outlandish 
>>>>>>stats.  8 years of gametime?  

That kindof was my point. It realistically ISNT possible to get
outlandishly high attributes. It's theoretically possible, but not very
likely.  IMHO.

>>>>>>Please -- I've ran characters in 
>>>>>>AD&D up to forced retirement.

So have I, but that would be in AD&D, where it would be considerably easier
- remember, you get EP for Treasure in AD&D, but not in TFT. 

>>>>>>>>>" If a Gm is irresponsible enough to
>>>>>>>>>hand out that kind of exp, he has thrown the game out of balance.
Part
>>>>>>>>>of being a good gm is to come up with ways to deal with such
problems.
>>>>>>>>>Either by being "stingy" with exp., or by laying dwon a ground
rule that
>>>>>>>>>in his campaigns, characters can not pass a  certain level of
ST,DX, or
>>>>>>>>>IQ.

>>>>>>>>>for characters who don't travel well. As it stands, a character
created
>>>>>>>>>in Michaels campaign won't travel well into Dans. So if we are all
going
>>>>>>>>>to meet in an online game program, whose rules apply? 

>>>>>>>>>Silas has hit the nail on the head here.  After playing
Melee/Wizard and
>>>>>>>>>some Microquests, I had the chance to play D&D with some folks who
had
>>>>>>>>>some characters that had been around awhile.  It was amazingly
unbalanced.
>>>>>>>>>My beginning character had problems with a couple of guards, while
these
>>>>>>>>>guys breezed in, walked on hot lava, slew giants with a toothpick,
>>>>>>>>>levitated the treasure out of its hiding place, and killed all
enemies
>>>>>>>>>within two miles by crossing their eyes.  (OK, I'm exaggerating a
bit.)

Again, D&D after about 10th level makes you invulnerable because you can
hit points that are MUCH greater than the amount of attacks. A very large
dragon in D&D can do 50pts of damage with their fire breath. But only 3
times! 

Contrast that to an ST 30 TFT character. A large dragon will do an average
of 14 points of damage with their breath. And they can do that 20 times! 

All I'm saying is that even if a TFT character DID get that tough, 20
goblins would still be a significant threat to him by himself (now a wizard
is another matter, but a wizard takes as much damage as he dishes out!).

The same can't be said of a high-level D&D character. 

>>>>>>>>ODS, or something along those lines. New campaigns based on players
>>>>>>>>assuming the status of near gods would be a new level of GMing. And
it
>>>>>>>>would present the characters with new VERY LETHAL CHALLENGES. 

See Fantasy Gamer #4, "The Solimar Quest" for the highest-level TFT
adventure I've ever seen.

I still you think you could be a Monty Hall GM and as long as your
calculator was working correctly you STILL couldn't get past ST/DX/IQ 18 in
any reasonable length of time...

Even a Wish wont take you past 16!

If somebody actually manged to get there, I don't think it would break the
system - what kind of enemies do you make that allows you to get that kind
of EP?! Probably someone with a Wish, or maybe 30 thugs! 

Actually, Rick Smith has a run a high-level TFT game for a while... what do
you think?

Michael 
====Post to the entire list by writing to tft@brainiac.com.
Unsubscribe by mailing to majordomo@brainiac.com with the message body
"unsubscribe tft"