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Post by calithena on Nov 26, 2005 7:15:00 GMT -5
One of the great things about T&T is the Saving Roll system. Sort of formalizes the "players can try anything" concept.
But the GM can use it too. One difficulty is figuring out 'how much is too much' on the player's side and when a GM needs to start retaliating, having his monsters go for critical strikes and the like.
What I do is I keep a "Karma Tally" for the party. Each time a party member calls for fails a saving roll, the Karma Tally goes up by 1. Whenever the GM calls for a saving roll, whether it fails or not, the Karma Tally goes down by 1. (This gives the players some edge and helps to balance that there's so many more of them.)
The GM can only go for 'dodges', 'insta-kills' and other tricky stuff in combat when the Karma Tally is positive.
This creates a fun metagame situation IMO. For example, there were many times my players wanted information about something in my dungeon, and I could have had them roll - but I didn't, I just told them what they were trying to figure out without having them roll, because I didn't want to drive the Karma Tally down and give them lots of free shots in combat. Likewise, they didn't go for fancy stuff every round, because they didn't want to drive the Tally up - only when they really needed it against a tough foe.
Anyway, this mechanic really improved my games and made the whole 'freeform' aspect of the SR system seem a little fairer and better organized, so I wanted to share it.
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Post by calithena on Dec 1, 2005 23:32:40 GMT -5
Thanks for the exalt!
I honestly don't know the answer to that question in terms of how I played it last time, but I think the answer is 'yes'. That is, if someone said "I want to try this", and I said "OK, try away, but it's SR 4", and they said 'yikes, never mind', I wouldn't roll. I think that's probably better.
Last time I ran the characters were about 4th level though and IIRC no-one tried anything that I rated above SR 3, so I'm not sure the issue ever came up. But yeah, I think I'd give players the ability to back out.
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khaydhaik
4th Level Troll
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Posts: 412
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Post by khaydhaik on Sept 23, 2006 23:52:09 GMT -5
From the Lost and Found archives:
Do you give the player a chance to back out when they call for an SR after you tell them what level of SR they will need to make? I don't like to overly discourage players from making cool/clever use of their abilities.
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khaydhaik
4th Level Troll
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Posts: 412
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Post by khaydhaik on Sept 23, 2006 23:55:41 GMT -5
From the Lost and Found archives:
An option to consider is to have the adventure start in the tavern itself. The characters start in the tavern, but don't know each other yet, and are even sitting apart from each other. They can all see each other, so it's an opportunity for them to describe the physical appearance of their characters. The GM can also describe the barkeep and a few other patrons, who all happen to be Citizens and unarmed.
Suddenly the tingle of magic fills the air, and everyone else in the tavern slumps over, asleep. (It's some kind of inventive spell similar to Rock-a-Bye, but it effects multiple targets within an area. The total INT + WIZ + CHR of each of the player characters was too high for them to be affected, while the totals for everyone else was low enough that they were affected.)
A bunch of <insert favorite monsters here> barge in, intent on carrying away the sleeping bodies. (They're taking them to put to work as slaves in mines, perhaps.) It's up to the PCs to stop the monsters and save the tavern's patrons. A fight ensues, and the PCs are likely victorious.
Unbeknownst to the PCs, an invisible monstrous mage (the one that cast the modified Rock-a-Bye) was watching the battle from the doorway. The mage, unsure of exactly how tough the PCs are, returns to the monster lair, where plans are made to rid the town of these bothersome PCs that stand between the monsters and their intended victims. (Option: Perhaps the monstrous mage is in the employ of some other monster or group of monsters who are intent on enslaving the villagers.)
Meanwhile, back in the village, a town meeting is called, and the PCs are asked to attend. The attack at the tavern is discussed, and the town leaders ask the PCs to investigate the meaning of the attack, to determine the possibility of it occuring again, and what can be done to protect the villagers if it does happen again. There might even be a reward in it for the PCs.
And so the PCs are brought together into an adventuring group for a purpose (other than that a bunch of players want to play a role-playing game). This also gives the PCs a reason to do some wilderness travel, with perhaps a little help from an NPC mage that determines through magic that one of the monsters in the attacking party did get away, and which way it went (or possibly even a more precise location of where it went).
And then it goes from there...
NOTE: This is all-time post #500 on the TrollBridge. Congrats and a hearty EXALT! -- Vin Ahrr Vin (TrollBridge Admin)
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