Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!pt.cs.cmu.edu!o.gp.cs.cmu.edu!andrew.cmu.edu!ck31+ From: ck31+@andrew.cmu.edu (Christopher Bruce Kidwell) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games Subject: Re: RPG opinions (was Re: Programmer...) Message-ID: Date: 4 Nov 90 14:46:14 GMT Organization: Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA Lines: 30 >I agree! Here's another one for all you gamers out there: >What about the whole concept of *hit points*? Now just think about >that for a second. "Hit points"? We're so used to thinking in >those terms we can't see how absurd this idea is. When you're >down to is very last HP (1 HP) and still be fighting like nothing is wrong. >Stupid. I agree on this point as well. One system that I've seen that handles this quite well is Middle Earth Role Playing (MERP). There you can be hit once in a critical area and die. Or you can be hit and have an arm chopped off so that you can't use your sword any more. I havn't done any extensive playing in this system, so I don't know how complicated it is to play. There was one computer game produced under this title, but I'm not sure how (or if) they implemented this feature. Also, MERP allows for abilities in various skills such as tracking, making shelter, and horseback riding. It seems to me to be a very good system. On a different note, have any games dealt with the problem of a group of about six characters defeating hundreds of enemies without being killed? In Bard's Tale (I forgot which one) the party has to fight four groups of 99 Bezerkers. It seems to me that if about 20 of them came charging from all directions, the party wouldn't stand a chance. I seem to remember someone mentioning a rule like this from AD&D to the effect that if a character is surrounded by more than four enemies, he is automatically defeated. Any thoughts? Chris Kidwell ck31@andrew.cmu.edu