From: Eric Rowe (rowe@enzyme.Berkeley.Edu)
Date: Tue 13 Aug 1991 - 09:56:33 EEST
It's been a while since I have seen a lot of rule modifications on the list
so I thought I might mention a few that are currently being used in a
campaign I've been running for two years. Most of these changes are recent
and often the ideas come from earlier ones mentioned here. So far most of
them seem to be working well.
Strike Ranks: I always had a problem with the static you-me-you-me-you method
of Strike Ranks. A while back we tested a method someone mentioned here which
was to simply add a d3 to the SR in combat situations. This tended to push
everything later in the round and gave spell casting an advantage as I could
see no reason casters would take longer and shorter for the same spells. Our
final solution was to use the following table which does not change the
mean for an individual's SR, but it adds a little variance.
SR base add a
1 -1 d3
2 0 d3
3 1 d3
4 2 d3
5 3 d3
6 3 d5
7 4 d5
8 4 d7
9 5 d7
10 5 d9
Now to explain a few things. We have anything less than or equal to 1 go at
1 and greater then or equal to ten go at ten. We also understand that this
table is not well weighted, but it produces randomness in the magnitude and
direction we like. Many other related methods are possible that give even
variance at each SR etc...
Also still on the subject of Strike Ranks, I simply note we allow someone
to deduct 20% of their skill (usually not 20%) to go one SR faster. This
must be declared before the randomness die is rolled.
We have made two modifications to missle fire as well. I don't really like
the disparity in dex SR that allows some 30% skilled fast guy to shoot 3
times in a round while a slower master might only get off 1. We still use
dex SR, but we penalize extra shots as it mimics someone taking less time to
aim. It must be declared during intent how many will be fired. If but one
missle is fired it is done at full skill. If two are fired then both are
at 75% of the person's skill level and three can be fired at 60% of skill
level. Really good but slow archers can still rush themselves even more
with the rule above in order to be able to shoot two or three shots.
Firing into combat. To avoid the annual party huddle to tell new players that
if they fire into melee the will be killed and to give players a chance to
critical each other with missles (very RQ) we use this system. For every
occupant of the melee space other than the intended target the archer removes
10% of his skill level. Example: A 150% archer (very rare) firing into a six
person melee. This gives the player a 75% chance of hitting his target. If
he misses then he has the percentage chance to hit each of the others as they
removed from the initial chance (starting with the closest to the archer).
In the above case it would be 15% chance each with the special and critical
percentages coming from this number.
Some other quick notes about rules we use. For experience we use a difficulty
divisor for each skill. Any successful use equals a check, specials give two
and criticals give three. For example, say throw has a difficulty of 25. A
player at 53% (always round up) needs three checks to get the old regular RQ
check. We do not use fatigue. Spirit magic is cast at 80% + POW - ENC. We
use smashing and slashing as well as impaling. We have counter-attacking rules.
POW gain rolls are GM awarded. Almost always it is one per session but
sometimes none, two or one and a half are awarded for excellent role-playing.
Magic. ALL magic is visible (except magic to hide magic obviously). This is
one way around long duration sorcery spells. Having magic up means we are
tough and worth a lot and intend to cause trouble. People with spells up do
not get into cities. Makes really nasty amushes very difficult to set up.
Last of the changes I would like to mention is on breakage. Any time a weapon
or shield parries a critical attack it is a weapon disaster. This also applies
to armor at a location criticaled. I have turned many of the helmet
slips, -25% for a round, fumbles into weapon disasters as well. When a
weapon/shield/armor has a disaster roll d100 and subtract it's strength.
0-15 no problem
16-30 strength times 3/4
31-45 strength times 1/2
46-60 strength times 1/4
61-100 it is dust, cannot be repaired.
Repair spells fix 10 points of strength. This method comes in very handy for
dealing with acid, which is the essense of chaos on our game world. It also
allows for weaponsmithing and armoring to produce some quality objects and
sometimes some inferior ones. Example strength is the broadsword at 25, the
hoplite shield at 40 and soft leather at 5.
Remember, everything is subjective.
I would be pleased if this brought back a little more rules discussion and
if anyone has any more specific questions please e-mail me.
Eric (rowe@enzyme.berkeley.edu)
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