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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!sdcsvax!sdcrdcf!trwrb!cepu!ucla-cs!mccolm
From: mccolm@ucla-cs.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.games.frp
Subject: Re: Forming our own gaming system?
Message-ID: <4782@ucla-cs.ARPA>
Date: Fri, 12-Apr-85 22:20:13 EST
Article-I.D.: ucla-cs.4782
Posted: Fri Apr 12 22:20:13 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 14-Apr-85 04:03:56 EST
References: <1179@reed.UUCP> <26000002@siemens.UUCP> <970@cs.reading.UUCP>
Organization: UCLA Computer Science Department
Lines: 140

> 
> In article <26000002@siemens.UUCP> steve@siemens.UUCP writes:
> 
> >1. Combat should (seem to) be faster to play than D&D.  (D&D (or AD&D) can
> >   be pretty fast for people who know the tables and don't use too many
> >   weapon modifiers and critical hit tables and things, but for new people
> >   it's usually a lot of going from table to chart to table.)
> 
> Why not adopt the RQ! combat style. This gives a %age
> chance to hit an active opponent with a particular weapon.
> Do NOT be fooled by D&D calling it's roll a 'to hit' roll.
> It is NOT, it is a 'penetration' roll! You are assumed to
> hit (land a blow) automatically in the one minute melee
> round, and the roll is to see if you penetrated armour or
> caused fatigue or whatever loss of HTK represents. To see
> that this is so, consider a greeblie trying to throw his
> hammer at the alarm button on the wall. What IS the AC of a
> button on the wall? At least with a "%age chance to hit"
> system you have something to work on.
> Combat is always faster under this sytem since there are NO
> tables to consult. Each player knows how good he/she is
> with a particular weapon. If you ignore critical hits and
> fumbles combat reduces to one roll 'to hit' and another for
> damage. Armour reduces damage, of course, but only the DM
> need worry about this to start with and can make all
> necessary adjustments to the players 'raw' rolls.
> 
> >3. It should allow for some weapons being intrinsically faster than others
> >   as well as some causing more damage than others.
> 
> A simple (?) rule I adopted for AD&D was :-
> 
>         Each character calculates a combat speed factor
> for each weapon used (this is not difficult and will not
> hinder play if a weapon is picked up & used).
> 
>        csf = (wpn speed (less 1 per pt of dx over 15))/3
> 
> (round down) giving a number from 0 to 5
> 
>         initiative = d6 = reaction speed (ie lowest value goes first)
> 
> segment blow lands (ie roll to penetrate) = csf + initiative.
> 
> for spell casters, casting starts on initiative segment and ends at
> end of casting time (so a blow may disrupt casting).
> 
> I use 1 segment = 1 second.
> 
> Note: initiative is modified downwards by 1 for every 2" move
> a character has over 24". AD&D monks automatically win initiative
> vs non-hasted opponents by about 12th level under this rule.
> This beefs the poor buggers up a bit, Ghod knows they need all the
> help they can get.
> 
> >4. It should allow for people to increase their proficiency in a weapon
> >   by reasonably small increments, and to have proficiency built in from
> >   the start.
> 
> Use a %age to hit system, where armour absorbs damage. It really can fit
> into anotherwise bog-standard AD&D system. Use the RQ! system of increasing
> proficiency (roll > current %age to increase by 5% (or d10% or whatever)).
> 
> >5. I am not particularly interested in critical hits, so hit location is
> >   not of interest.
> 
> I too think crits & location is waste of time; if a character looses a leg
> he's effectively useless. Forever in a low magic world. Why not kill them
> its the same thing!
> If you want critical hits, just have them do max damage + another damage
> roll or something.
> 
> >By the way, I have a really neat magic system, but it has one flaw that
> >the obvious solutions won't really fix:  a magic user can go off and spend
> >some huge amount of time making an arbitrary number of potions or enchanted
> >swords or whatever and then carry huge amounts of magic with him.  Any
> >suggestions on "realistic" reasons why magic users cannot do this,
> >that don't
> >restrict the ability to make a few potions or swords or whatever?
> 
> 
> Huge = very very very very very very very large (for me anyway!)
> 
> TIME is the critical factor here, all potions, runes, swords etc which
> you don't want running wild take at least YEARS of campaign time to make.
> If you run a closed world this is the end of the problem, characters won't
> stop adventuring just to make a +3 sword when they can pick
> them up on adventures.
> Potions of <something harmless> take months not years,
> so they can make one or two between adventures.
> 
> If you are going to have a system where mu's can make anything
> they want, you need to limit
>         1. the ingredients - their availability (after all,
> if you have the ingredients for a potion of healing, why
> sell it to someone else) and their source (vampire dust is a
> goody!). Basically characters have to get the ingredients
> themselves.
>         2. the method of manufacture - potions of undead control
> require a virgin to stir the brew (and later to be sacrificed if you want
> vampire control...)
>         3. TIME
>         4. COST
> 
> Any combination of the above four should limit mu's nicely.
> Since you control EVERYTHING within your world, the
> characters can ONLY do what you want them to do. Normally,
> you don't care what they do, but in circumstances like this
> it is necessary to say NO!
> 
> >...both became magic users, and spent a year making "runes of
> >illusion"....
> >They then set off with backpacks full of runes that they could use at a
> >moment's notice, effectively having hundreds of illusion spells available.
> >They were supposed to be able to
> >make some small number of runes, not hundreds;
> >but they were also not supposed
> >to hang around town so long before they left.
> 
> Why not? If it pays to hang around, characters will do it.
> If your rules allow them to get away with it....
> 
> Limit the availability of rune quills and the special
> parchments; have them arrested on charges of vagrancy;
> ensure no hotel will accept long term bookings; have
> the runes nullify each other if placed within 6 inches of
> each other; place a time limit on how long first level
> runes are effective.... for every nasty devious trick they
> pull, be prepared with a nastier, more devious excuse as to
> why they can't win!
> 
> ---------
> 
>         Have fun!
> 
>         Jerry           {mcvax|edcaad}!ukc!ru-cs44!west
>                         ..............!ukc!reading!cs!west
>                         west@reading.cs.uucp

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