From: boris (mabeyke@batman.b11.ingr.com)
Date: Wed 02 Jun 1993 - 22:17:41 EEST
This seemed to get lost the last time I sent it, so let's try again now
that the list seems to be working.
Well, I'll try to start a thread here. As Nick Brooke reminded us in
today's (5/19/93) RQ Daily, the current SR system has awkward stat based
breakpoints, among other problems. Now, one possible fix for this is the
alternate SR system proposed by George Harris on the net last year. In
anyone hasn't seen that, I'll include it here. Skip on down for further
discussion if you're familiar with it.
<<<<<<<<<<<<begin included file>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
From: gharris@jade.tufts.edu (George W. Harris)
Subject: RQ: Changes to the Strike Rank Calculation Method
Date: 13 Aug 92 12:06:26 GMT
As most of you probably know, when one attacks with a melee or missile
weapon and when a spell takes effect are in a large part determined by one's
Dex and Siz strike rank modifiers. The underlying assumtion of this mechanic
is that the more dextrous one is the sooner one acts, and the larger one is
the quicker one lands a blow in melee. I am not going to contest these
assumtions, but rather try and streamline how they are implemented.
Characteristic Dex Strike Siz Strike
Rank Modifier Rank Modifier
1-5 5 4
6-9 4 3
10-15 3 2
16-19 2 1
20+ 1 0
Ordinarily, when one is using a missile weapon (or casting a spell), one
acts on Dex Strike Rank (plus the magic points in the spell), and when one
is using a melee weapon, one acts on the sum of Dex Strike Rank and Siz
Strike Rank and Weapon Strike Rank. These are the main uses of the Dex/Siz
Strike Rank table. However, there are two things that should strike you
about this table:
One: It is not an even progression. The steps alternate in size
between four and six, rather than being a constant five.
Two: Siz Strike Rank alone is never used for anything, but is
only used in conjunction with Dex Strike Rank.
The first item is easy to fix. Just make the intervals 1-4, 5-9, 10-14,
15-19, 20+. As for the second, I propose replacing the Siz Strike Rank
column with a combined Dex+Siz Strike Rank column to be used for figuring
melee strike rank.
As the table stands, someone with a Dex 10 and Siz 10 would have a melee
strike rank of 5. However, someone with Dex 9 and Siz 11 would have a melee
strike rank of 6, as would someone with Dex 11 and Siz 9. Since, the way the
system is structured, Siz and Dex are equally important in figuring melee
strike rank, this result doesn't seem proper. Therefore, I propose using the
following table for figuring melee strike rank:
Combined Siz+Dex Melee Strike Rank
2-4 9
5-9 8
10-14 7
15-19 6
20-24 5
25-29 4
30-34 3
35-39 2
40+ 1
The advantages of this table are that it eliminates the standard optimal
breakpoints for Siz and Dex, and also regularizes the progression. One
could complain that it is undesirable for a table to use the sum of two
characteristics, but as the damage bonus table already does this, that
objection doesn't stand. Of course, one would still use the Dex Strike Rank
table to figure strike ranks for spells and missile weapons.
--
"If you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce, they taste more like
prunes than rhubarb does." -Groucho Marx
gharris@jade.tufts.edu George Harris, Tufts Univ. Dept. of Mathematics
<<<<<<<<<<<<end included file>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Now, my group and myself have been using this rule for a while now, and it
works well with one correction. With the normal human range of SIZ,
everything is copacetic, but if you start using this with trolls, giants,
and scorpionmen, those with SIZ>>20 pose the following problem. If the
creatures DEX SR is less than their SIZ SR in the old system, the new
will give them a melee SR less than their DEX SR. In other words, they
could hit with a maul before they could throw an axe. This is fixed by
just ruling that any SIZ > 20 uses SIZ=20 in the Melee SR table. In this
case, their Melee SR would equal their DEX SR, which gives the same result
as the current system.
With this fix, this system works well, and eliminates the tendancy for
all fighters to be at SIZ16, DEX16, or some such.
-- Boris Mikey, aka |"Here the ways of men part: if you wish to strive Maurice Beyke | for peace of soul and pleasure, then believe; if mabeyke@ingr.com | you wish to be a devotee of truth, then inquire." Intergraph doesn't want Nietzsche my opinions. 0,,
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