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Post by gaptooth on Feb 8, 2018 23:23:56 GMT -5
THANK YOU, ProfGremlin. I will print this up—I might be able to use it for my first run!
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Post by ProfGremlin on Feb 9, 2018 7:14:57 GMT -5
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Post by gaptooth on Feb 9, 2018 11:30:34 GMT -5
How about this? Using your body as a missile weapon!When you launch yourself at an target with a flying leap or by running on a sheer surface, resolve it as a missile attack using the range and size tables in section 2.33, and making your Saving Roll on Speed instead of Dexterity. If you hit an enemy, roll your melee attack against that enemy. You don't get another attack this round, but the enemy gets no dice in defense. If you miss, you'll be in single combat with the enemy this round. If you roll no doubles and less than 5, you fall short of your mark. Example: The battlement is Huge and about 10 yards away—and Three Punch Imperial wants to get up there pronto to knock down some siege ladders. He attempts a Level 2 Saving Roll with his Speed of 18. The dice give him a 6 and 4 for a total of 28—and he glides gracefully to the top. As the mist clears, he sees it's not just soldiers on the field, but a scaly, lion-headed giant (MR 88) charging toward the gate! Example: After fighting some of the soldiers on the battlement and sending some suckers flying, Three Punch Imperial leaps onto the giant monster just as it closes to Pointblank range. That's a Level 1 Saving Roll—and this time the dice give him 6 and 6! Rolling again for full-DARO velocity, he gets 2 and 4, for a total of 36! He punches the monster right in it's gawping face with his Iron Punching Gloves, attacking with 3d6+12. The damage total is 27, reducing the giant's MR to 61 in a devastating lightning attack! The monster's not out of the fight yet, though, and he plucks Three Punch off his face and slams him against the gate for 7d6+31! The GM decides that two thirds of the damage will go to the gate, and Three Punch will take the rest, and the damage total is 52. The gate shudders with the impact of 35 hits, leaving 17 for Three Punch Imperial. He spends 8 Speed to turn his body in the air, for the safest possible impact, and takes only 9 damage.
I like this better than the " you can fly SPD - 12 yards per round" idea. What do you think?
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Post by gaptooth on Feb 9, 2018 11:33:13 GMT -5
Glad you like it gaptooth ! I combed through my favorites on DeviantArt and pulled several others that may or may not fit with your vision of the world you're creating… I'm a big fan of sensory immersion. If there are images here that can can help build your vision of the world in the players minds, great. If not, well, I'll continue to keep an eye out for images that may fit within this theme. Hmmm... I've come across a number of L5R images in the past. I wonder if they would help to build your setting. Oh! If you have access to Netflix, check out the ~30 minute backstory of the Marco Polo character, One Hundred Eyes. A truly awesome character you could use to showcase some of the They Know Kung-Fu techniques. There are also some beautiful scenes in there you could make screen caps of to fill in your setting. This is awesome—thank you so much, ProfGremlin! I haven't watched the Marco Polo content on Netflix, though it's been on my list for some time. I will definitely check it out as I have time.
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Post by ProfGremlin on Feb 9, 2018 21:22:17 GMT -5
I haven't watched the Marco Polo content on Netflix, though it's been on my list for some time. I will definitely check it out as I have time. Happy to be of service, gaptooth . I'll keep my eyes open for any other artwork that might fit the atmospheric you're looking for. If something doesn't work, eh, no worries. As for One Hundred Eyes, it's a standalone video telling the back-story of one of the characters in Marco Polo. You do not need to watch the whole series to understand the back-story. In fact, I actually watched if before the rest of the series to get a feeling for the series and decide if I wanted to watch it. I'm currently waiting for season three...
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Post by gaptooth on Feb 9, 2018 21:26:29 GMT -5
Before tonight's session, I updated the top of the thread to link to my house rule and GM screen documents on Google docs.
Tonight was the first session, and 3 of the players were new to T&T. It took a little longer than I remember to get a new batch of characters up and running, but they'll get better at it. Next time, I need to have more copies of the equipment list handy.
Only one character death so far. I'll set up a separate thread to report, when I get a chance!
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Post by ProfGremlin on Feb 9, 2018 21:45:07 GMT -5
I like this, especially with the flavor-text explanations. Reading that I was envisioning an actual Wushu scene. I really like how the 'Soaring Strike' technique blended with 'Speed as Armor' in that interaction. Overall, this might be slightly more setup than a standard T&T session but what I really like about it is that you're still using the basic core of the system, Saving Rolls, to accomplish something setting specific. I truly love how flexible T&T is and how, even with setting specific rules, you can still recognize basic T&T within it.
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Post by gaptooth on Feb 12, 2018 12:41:52 GMT -5
I like this, especially with the flavor-text explanations. Reading that I was envisioning an actual Wushu scene. I really like how the 'Soaring Strike' technique blended with 'Speed as Armor' in that interaction. Overall, this might be slightly more setup than a standard T&T session but what I really like about it is that you're still using the basic core of the system, Saving Rolls, to accomplish something setting specific. I truly love how flexible T&T is and how, even with setting specific rules, you can still recognize basic T&T within it. Thanks! Yes, that's the reason I keep coming back to T&T. I remember when I first got into the game, I could barely leave any part of the game un-hacked. But studying the text in light of other RPGs, especially through the celebratory lens of an OSR archeologist, has given me a profound appreciation for what the core game does. I'm a lot less inclined to lean on house rules at all, and when I do they are sparse and mostly GM-facing. Unfortunately, the Speed-flight attacks didn't come up in our session on Friday, but I think the players will be more enthusiastic about it once they understand the core concepts better. And if not then, they'll probably want in after seeing a NPC using the tactic against THEM.
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Post by gaptooth on Feb 12, 2018 13:09:33 GMT -5
Speaking of GM-facing house rules, I have another hair-brained idea I'm mulling over. Playing a bunch of Dungeon World made me realize how close DW and T&T are in the way monsters work. Tunnels & Trolls monsters take the cake on mechanical simplicity, but both games emphasize the fiction—instead of complex game mechanics—as a way to differentiate different monsters. But another thing I realized from playing Dungeon World is that it's not Mega-Hit-Points that makes a monster encounter terrifying. Just about anything that can be accomplished by giving a monster 832 HP can be accomplished simply through fictional positioning—that is, by narrating what the monster DOES—or what it doesn't do when you hit it without adequate prep, i.e. Fall Down. [In Monsters! Monsters!, Ken points out]: Every dragon has a weak spot. If you hit it there, it will die! Whittling down the monster's 525 hit points is for the suckers who just walk up to it with pikes and swords and have no idea what they are doing. For the shrewd warrior who gathers intelligence, plans wisely, distracts the monster, tricks the dragon into exposing its weakness, and aims his blow with luck and skill, Ken St. Andre's dragon has 1 Hit Point. Now imagine if that was the only way to kill a dragon: No amount of hitting it in its adamantium scales would ever do damage! You have to find a soft bit—like it's eye, or under the joint of its wing, or inside it's mouth—then get into position, and strike true! All without getting blasted to a cinder, slashed to ribbons, crushed under a giant claw, or freezing in panic. Suddenly, facing a dragon with 16 Hit Points becomes death-defying challenge. Or even a death wish. Because that's what it is.For my latest version of Twisted Tunnels (ignore the rules on my blog—I'm working on the 4th beta now), I have the monster's attack dice set at MR/5, which gives monsters about double the attack strength for the same Monster Rating, or about half the HP for the same attack power, depending on the way you look at it. I'm thinking about porting that over to T&T for my Kung Fu City game, at least test it for a few encounters. Since T&T uses Combat Adds as well, I'd imitate the 5th edition method of setting a monster's combat strength: Monsters would get dice equal to their MR divided by 5, dropping any remainder, plus 1. And they would get combat Adds equal to their current MR. Here's a table: MR | Dice | 1–4 | 1 | 5–9 | 2 | 10–14 | 3 | 15–19 | 4 | +5 | +1 |
If I were converting existing monsters using this formula, their MR would be half what it is in the standard rules, but their fighting ability would be identical. Example: The wargs in Trollstone Caverns have a Monster Rating of 28 each, giving them 3d+14 in combat on the first round. Were I using this method, they would have Monster Ratings of 14, getting 3d+14 in combat. For monsters who aren't endowed with adamantium scales or other fictional elements that make them utterly terrifying for a competent warrior to confront in combat, this will have the effect of making monsters fall down even faster than usual. But, my hunch is that the faster combat resolution will make room for the More Combat you might expect in Kung Fu City! What do you think? What are the flaws in my thinking? What am I overlooking?
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Post by gaptooth on Feb 12, 2018 15:51:04 GMT -5
I thought of one other consequence of cutting monster ratings in half: It makes spells like TTYF and OGA a lot more powerful.
That seems fair, but I'm still mulling it over.
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Post by gaptooth on Feb 12, 2018 16:07:22 GMT -5
It would also make NPCs rated in all 7 attributes more staturely.
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Post by gaptooth on Feb 14, 2018 12:25:13 GMT -5
I've been mulling over feedback from kyllia over on Google+, who was sad to see my Kung Fu City house rules left Rogues out in the cold. I have some ideas about that, but I'm cautious about mechanical power creep (the genie doesn't go back into the bottle), so I'd like to air them here first. Sneaky SpiteRogues deal Spite damage whenever they attack someone who is surprised, distracted, or who doesn't know the Rogue is there. When Spite is rolled during such an attack, the Rogue can immediately choose to spend all the Spite to cast any spell they know. The Spite counts toward the casting cost, and the Rogue can spend additional Strength. Example: Tengu is hiding in the darkness behind a barrel in the Evil Aristocrat's wine cellar. A servant enters with a candle, and turns his back to Tengu while selecting a cask of wine. Tengu slashes out with her Kukri (2d+5, plus her Adds of 14), and rolls a 2 and 6, for a total of 27 against the unlucky and defenseless person. Hearing creaking floorboards above her, she uses the Spite to immediate cast Hidey Hole over herself and the body—spending only 9 Strength instead of 10. How does that sound? Is it too—how do you say—"overpowered"? We had one Rogue in our first adventure, and she entered play without any spells at all—I told them the old-school rule that Rogues get their spells from Wizards in their own party, who can charge whatever they want in the illicit transaction. The one Wizard in the party died before she had a chance to bequeath any of her spell lore. So adding this wouldn't have an immediate drastic impact on my game. What do you think?
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Post by zanshin on Feb 14, 2018 14:10:20 GMT -5
I like your sneaky spite concept - doesn't seem too overpowered to me. In dT&T casters can fight and cast anyway, so it is a more conditional version of that.
Another balancing option might be to give them access to some 'I know Kung Fu' maneuvers (when trained) but to restrict their use to occasions when the surprise element you set out above has been achieved. Makes Rogues more Ninja like.
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Post by gaptooth on Feb 14, 2018 14:25:47 GMT -5
Another balancing option might be to give them access to some 'I know Kung Fu' maneuvers (when trained) but to restrict their use to occasions when the surprise element you set out above has been achieved. Makes Rogues more Ninja like. I'm not above yoinking a good idea when I see it.
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Post by gaptooth on Feb 14, 2018 14:42:30 GMT -5
Another ninja idea: Poisons. Something Dungeon World does is that it makes poisons inherrently dangerous to use. If you're not trained in the use of a given poison, you might poison yourself or get the residue somewhere unsafe. Thieves in Dungeon World have several moves that let them use—and even brew—poisons, without endangering anyone unintentionally.
Classic T&T has poisons too, and the game assumes that poisons can be handled safely by just anyone, and that assumption is borne out in solos like Sword for Hire.
But what if poison use required some training?
I haven't given any thoughts to the consequences of this, but it could be like Languages: Rogues can master one poison for each Intelligence point over 12. The Rogue would then be able to apply and use any poison he is familiar with. Anyone else would have to make a Saving Roll to use poisons without getting it in their eyes or whatever, and so would the Rogue if he is using an unfamiliar poison.
This rule is probably mechanical overkill. One thing I like about classic T&T is that classic "Thief" skills are available to anyone who can make a Saving Roll, and the fact of the "missing" Thief class means that anyone and everyone could use stealth, evasion, trickery, and cleverness instead of it being the protected niche of a single class.
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