Varmandi-Dragon-Pass-Pen-Quest..er..Rune..Whatsit
Aha! Sam here again
- I still haven't started playing yet (Still finishing off in RoC).
So, I have been toying with the Idea of a PenDragon Pass type of
Game.
I had mentioned this to my players a while back and I was met with
a bit of an unhappy response (No % dice?.. What about Hit Locations?).
But I have been a bit of an insomniac (sp) recently and have seen the light.
Unfortunately I cannot get hold of TotRM 6 (sold out). So I am forced to
open this can of worms again..
- Firstly I notice that this idea is (c) David Dunham. Can I have permission
to playtest it, David? (It's always good to be polite isn't it).
- Next, my game is of course Gloranthan. Has anyone tried this yet. I realise
that HeroQuest or the Glorantha game has/is being written - is this what
*it* is like? ie PDP.
- I will have to keep a *lot* of the feel of RQ to keep my players happy.
The most obvious of which are the skills and the spells. I will keep
both. Skills ala RQII/RQIV. INT is dropped (Hooray! - woosh, watch those
bonuses drop!) so Recognise of something will have to be added. Bonuses
could be kept. RQII style converted to 1,2,3pts or perhaps modified RQIV
rounded to the nearest 5% then divided by 5.. Hmm not very elegent. I don't
think I'll bother. Telling my players is another matter..
- Damage is a problem. PD has twice as many HP than RQ. This would mean
doubling all damages to keep up. (Not weapon damages as these are just
multiples of the Damage Bonus). For spells this is easy - just double
the damage (eg Bladesharp is +1 skill, +2 damage etc). I prefer this
to weakening magic. More on this later. Armour is easy too. You can
use RQ armour types and double them. If you want to use Hit Locations
(I'm not sure I'll bother - unless player mutiny) just double each
location's AP. However, shields are a problem. For some reason PD shields
are *crap* (excuse my New Pelorian). A PD shield only stops 6pts of
damage when successfuly paried with. Convert that to RQ and it is 3pts!
My players would *definetly* mutiny. Even if you just use the standard RQ
AP (no doubling) they are greatly inferior. This would certainly change
the feel of RQ combat. One hit on a wee character and they're a gonna!
I don't want to double PDP shield AP though as this will probably slow
the combat right down - changing the quick feel of PD. I will elect for
straight RQ AP.
- Next Combat. I have never actually played my copy of PD (although I have
always wanted to) so I am a little unclear about how the combat works.
As far as I can see there is *no* shield skill. This would also change
the feel of RQ so I will elect for having a shield skill. Sword vs Shield
instead of Sword vs Sword (or whatever weapon you favour). This of course
means there would be twice as many rolls for each combat ie I hit you,
then you hit me - ala RQ - as opposed to We hit each other but one of
us may no parry. A small price I feel as you still get resisted parries
(a much better idea IMHO - a successful parry on a missed sword attck
could do all sorts of things - weapon breaking, knockback, make room
for maneauvering (sp) etc) plus my players would be happier as it would
still be 'like we did it in RQ'. I don't know if this would intefere with
the way PD combat works and perhaps cause an unbalance somewhere. I will
need to try this out.
- Back to shields. I have just found the notes I made on this in the wee sma
wee small hours last night. An average PD attack does 14pts of damage (ave
STR=10.5, SIZ=10.5, Dam=3.5=4d6, Rolled Dam=14). Therefore an average
PD shield lets 8pts through. Gosh! thats the equivalent of RQ shields
letting 4 pts through. If you simply doubled the AP of a *buckler* and
applied it to PD it would stop 16pts. Woah! something's not right. ([
Working the other way ave RQ damage is (roughly) 1d8+1+1d4 = 8. Even
a buckler can stop this. A direct ratio would be RQ:PD 4:7. Applying
this would give:-
Buckler 14ap
Heater/Target 21ap
Hoplite 32ap
But these figures are getting huge. (could simplify to 15,20,30 I suppose).
- SIZ. Pendragon uses 3d6. All SIZ must be multiplied by 4:5. I elected
to subtract 2pts. 3 is better maths but a bit extreme.
- Previous experience (RQIV - most splundid vur thrigg!). Just the same.
divide all values by 5. Traits - Initiates could roll 3d6+3 for virtues
Rune Lords/Priests 2d6+9?
- Magic (I saved this until last). Spells that do damage I have doubled.
Bladesharp does 2pts, Heal should heal 2pts, Disruption does 1d6. Ptotection
should therfore protect 2pts. Speedart would be +3 skill, +6 damage (+1d6
was considered but it seemed a bit stingy). Chance of casting is a POW
roll. David Dunham suggests that variable spells are learned once. I like
this idea a lot but find that being able to cast a spell to the level of
POW/3 too powerful. An average starting player would be able to cast
Bladesharp and healing *4*! even if you keep damage at RQ levels (ie
half as powerful) bladesharp would still be adding +4 (+20%) to an
average character. Way too high IMO. I prefer MP/5 (including crystals
etc). This way a powerful character who can draw on, say, 25 MP would
manage a Healing 5 (still not able to heal an average major wound) and
Bladesharp 5 (+5,+10dam) *but* only at the start of a skirmish. If
s/he cast BS-5 they would only manage Heal-4 after. I like this. A
more generous option would be MP/4 but I feel stingy. These new *variable*
spells will need a new price as they are potentially more powerful. I
suggest twice as much. That would cut the amount of healing and bladesharp
in one fell swoop. (Hoorah!). This would be the case for RQIV experience
too. Perhaps 3x would be better. I'm feeling stingy again..
- (oops!). I have neglected to mention that I am referring here to D.Dunham's
excellenet posting (2nd Oct X-RQ-ID: 1893). The main ideas above are
my variations on his PenDragon Pass rules which are a hibrid of
Runequest and PenDragon. But you all new that anyway.. Cheers, David!
- I have found converting characters harder than I thought. Maybe it will
speed up when I know what I'm doing..
- Oh yes. Chirurgery. This has to be added too.
- Anyway, off to face my players with this and see if they mutiny. I could
be back to good'ol RQ next week... Booh! Then again when I show them that
a passion can give +25% to a skill when aroused I feel they may yet be
convinced :-)
Cheers! esp NicNick. (hope you sober up without pain)
Sam.x
Not Scotland But Sartar-Dragon-Rune-Pass-Pasion-Quest-Land..
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: Fri 10 Oct 2003 - 01:32:09 EEST