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Post by gaptooth on Feb 14, 2018 15:39:08 GMT -5
kyllia suggested letting Rogues deal Spite damage on both fives and sixes rolled during their sneaky attacks. I like it! It makes up for the limiting circumstances. And if Rogues have Kung Fu moves, it gives them an edge over Warriors for triggering those abilities during surprise. Under this rule Rogue rolling 2d6 on a sneaky attack would have around a 56% chance of getting at least 1 spite; and a 11% of getting 2 spite.
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Post by zanshin on Feb 14, 2018 17:12:00 GMT -5
Its your spooky kung fu world
If you want to encourage a bit of typecasting for your campaign then
Warriors = Kung Fu Martial artists Rogues = Ninjas! (Ninjas have an implicit !) Wizards = Shugenja/Taoist mystical sorcerers
Helps get people in mode. The rules still let people be Samurai if thy want to have armour and big swords and be Yakuza or itinerant monks if thats their preferred take.
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Post by gaptooth on Feb 14, 2018 19:33:30 GMT -5
I'm thinking about adding the following bonus AP opportunities:
1.9 Adventure Points
Exploration. When you first explore a new hex on the campaign map, you get 1 AP.
Chronicle. When you make a public blog post recapping the adventure in the voice of your character between sessions, you get 200 AP × your character’s level.
I'm not sure I got the right AP amount for "Chronicle" experience. I want to incentivize it—even make it a no-brainer—without making it too much. 200 AP is 1/5th what a Level 1 character needs for Level 2, and 300 AP is 1/10th what a Level 2 character needs for Level 3. But it tapers off after that.
Do you have any thoughts about it?
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Post by zanshin on Feb 15, 2018 5:17:08 GMT -5
APs are a great tool for encouraging people to pursue a particular playstyle - you want exploration and players to involve themselves in the narrative , go nuts.
Only potential downside is if busier/less committed players feel they are being 'punished' by lack of advancement for not engaging with the Chronicle. However if people do it, it adds greatly to the richness of the campaign IME.
Another option, maybe limelighting for the chroniclers , they overhear NPC's talking about their great deeds as narrated; it affects reputation and so on, songs are sung.
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Post by gaptooth on Feb 15, 2018 10:27:38 GMT -5
Another option, maybe limelighting for the chroniclers , they overhear NPC's talking about their great deeds as narrated; it affects reputation and so on, songs are sung. Could you elaborate on this? Are you saying the delvers would pass themselves off as "bards" or historians in the fiction? APs are a great tool for encouraging people to pursue a particular playstyle - you want exploration and players to involve themselves in the narrative , go nuts. Only potential downside is if busier/less committed players feel they are being 'punished' by lack of advancement for not engaging with the Chronicle. However if people do it, it adds greatly to the richness of the campaign IME. I guess that's what I want to balance against. I want the AP bonus to be a real incentive without being a major sacrifice for the players who can't do it. To clarify, I would explain that I'm not looking for a long, ponderous reflection, but just one or two paragraphs summing up the adventure in the character's voice.
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Post by ProfGremlin on Feb 15, 2018 21:52:25 GMT -5
Hey, Gaptooth, as I've been reading through your Sneaky Spite descriptions & ponderings and a half-formed thought came to mind: T&T uses ability scores as fuel for spell casting. What if we used the melee combat total instead? We know that T&T defines Rogues as untrained wizards not the sneak-thief D&D describes them as. Why they are untrained is a matter of back-story but for one reason or another they didn't attend the Wizard's Collegium. They also have a bit more familiarity with combat than a full wizard as shown by the weapons and armor they can use. 5th ed. indicates that an unarmed fighter gets 1d6 + combat adds (sec 2.34). dT&T indicates [Kindred Strength Multiplier]d6 + Combat adds (Sec 8.3). Personally, I like the second option for Epic Kung-Fu Fighting but either way works. Well, let's skin this a little for Kung-Fu city. Rogues are untrained wizards who, while unable to obtain formal schooling, and through luck and experimentation, discovered how to cast spells by focusing upon their qi and learning qigong combat forms (probably by spying on old monks teaching pupils in the temple courtyard). When the player wishes to cast a spell they must make an unarmed combat roll to simulate their character performing the kata/form. If the melee combat total is high enough, the character is able to cast the desired spell. Optional: After the spell is cast, make a SR on Con vs. [Spell Level] to determine if the character exhausted themselves for the next round. If so, no spell casting the next round. Or, just limit the number of spells they have via in-game fiction. "His Combat Total is over 9000!"
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Post by gaptooth on Feb 15, 2018 22:59:43 GMT -5
This sounds interesting, ProfGremlin—thanks for taking it and adding a twist! Can you elaborate on how you determine if their total is high enough to cast? Is it like, they have to roll a HPT equal to or greater than the casting cost? If so, was it their total HPT you had in mind, or just the total on the die/dice without Adds? Either way, it would give them Detect Magic, Lock Tight, and Will-o-wisp for "free". If you're counting Adds toward the casting cost, even TTYF would be a gimme too. I appreciate your thoughts. Cheers!
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Post by ProfGremlin on Feb 15, 2018 23:45:49 GMT -5
Is it like, they have to roll a HPT equal to or greater than the casting cost? That's pretty much exactly where my half-baked musing went. Simply roll your 1d6 + Combat Adds and compare against casting cost. If your HPT > Spell Cost the character is able to cast the spell. I'm not sure it gives this rogue variation any more advantage than a full mage who can also cast TTYF pretty well at first level. Well, other than that HPT doesn't diminish like subtracting spell cost from Strength. That was where I was thinking the Con SR vs Spell Level would come in. The idea could use some more work, certainly. Maybe this is just a way to replicate the mystic monk who never seems to tire. Between the requirement that the HPT be generated from the characters unarmed ability and the Con SR I could see where the character could become quite adept with low level spells but not so much beyond that without leveling up their attributes. Of course, kindred modifiers kinda tweak that whole idea, too.
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Post by zanshin on Feb 16, 2018 2:58:32 GMT -5
Another option, maybe limelighting for the chroniclers , they overhear NPC's talking about their great deeds as narrated; it affects reputation and so on, songs are sung. Could you elaborate on this? Are you saying the delvers would pass themselves off as "bards" or historians in the fiction? APs are a great tool for encouraging people to pursue a particular playstyle - you want exploration and players to involve themselves in the narrative , go nuts. Only potential downside is if busier/less committed players feel they are being 'punished' by lack of advancement for not engaging with the Chronicle. However if people do it, it adds greatly to the richness of the campaign IME. I guess that's what I want to balance against. I want the AP bonus to be a real incentive without being a major sacrifice for the players who can't do it. To clarify, I would explain that I'm not looking for a long, ponderous reflection, but just one or two paragraphs summing up the adventure in the character's voice. As regards the limelighting I was thinking that either characters would be talking about the adventure between themselves, kicking back in a tavern or reviewing their moves and decisions in their temple etc, and awestruck citizens would overhear, or see and repeat tales to others. The legend may well grow in the telling, such that a characters shaving cut becomes a story of how he defeated an assassin before breakfast. Once they have some reputation they will be like modern sports stars to the general public, sources of endless fascination and speculation.
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Post by gaptooth on Feb 20, 2018 11:35:07 GMT -5
For my latest version of Twisted Tunnels… 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. In my prep for Session 2, I've been running with this idea. Also, with the diminished longevity the monsters would have at half hit points, I'll probably use the rule from 7e and Deluxe that monsters' dice remain constant when they take hits, even as their Adds diminish. For the Kung Fu City setting, I'm using some resources designed for Labyrinth Lord (ie. Basic D&D) by Kabuki Kaiser and Kevin Crawford. In converting the monsters, I've been using the following formula: MR = (HP + max dmg) * ((9 - AC) * .05 + 1) HP is given about half the time. When it's not, I usually multiply the HD by 4.5 (for a normal monster) or 5.5 (for a tougher version). Max damage is the highest value that can be rolled by a monster's damage die, or the sum of all damage dice if it has multiple attacks. Labyrinth Lord uses descending AC, which I'm subtracting from 9 (the Armor Class for an unarmored character) to use as a positive multiplier for the monster's HP and damage. The basic principle is that a monster that is harder to hit is in the fight longer, which translates to a higher Monster Rating. For some monsters, I've given them T&T-style armor points instead or in addition, but those are edge cases. Example: Acolytes. Priests in long flowing robes wearing blue skull caps. AL LN, MV120', AC9 (no armor), HD1, 1 quarterstaff (1d6), Save C1, Morale 9, each acolyte can cast a random 1st level Cleric spell, XP13. (4.5 + 6) * ((9 - 9) * .05 + 1) = MR 11 Acolytes. MR 11 each, quarterstaff 3d+11. 1// Poor baby. Heal self or another 1d6 damage.
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