Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Sunday, April 4, 2010
[noodle] My 0-level Castle 'adventure'-
Having slept for only four hours, I then readied for a 10-hour work-shift.
--Who cares, right?
Except that today's post was at Coral Castle.
They sell tiny dioramas, but I didn't feel like spending the money.
--Instead, I have the 'map' of the place, and may scan-and-post.
Brain is a bit fried, but a Sharpe's adventure is about to show on Masterpiece Classics.
Later,
--Who cares, right?
Except that today's post was at Coral Castle.
They sell tiny dioramas, but I didn't feel like spending the money.
--Instead, I have the 'map' of the place, and may scan-and-post.
Brain is a bit fried, but a Sharpe's adventure is about to show on Masterpiece Classics.
Later,
Friday, April 2, 2010
[RPG] Update: 2nd, April-
:: It has been an interesting and trying week, and the LGS co-owner has been kind enough to give me a break this week, as it would have been just Tyb's player and him at the game; my sweetie working this evening.
* Armed with various graphic representations of the probabilities of the 2d12 task-resolution mechanism, I've re-tooled the Referee's Spectral Index. I am eager to reveal it, but will hold off doing so.
--I think it will dramatically reduce the Referee's in-game work-load, as well as open-up the intuitive floodgates on rulings. But only for those who are willing to use it in that fashion. Fortunately, the system hasn't become dependent upon its use, and therefore cannot be sunk by its non-use.
* Having recently played in both B/X and Pathfinder games, I am very glad to have reduced the fiddly-bits of the skills to the ten categories, as a long list of discrete skills has proven, in my opinion, to be unnecessary, impractical to operate (find, maintain, etc.), and does nothing but simply add a bonus to an Ability Score check.
--My solution has been to list examples within each of the ten Skill Areas, and even to include Concentrations, but not to track the improvement of individual bits within them. A 'clever' descriptive mechanism facilitates the latter feature.
---As a character advances in Magnitude, the Player simply notes which Areas will receive their increase, and the entire batch improves, with Concentrations keeping their head-start in pace.
* A recent discussion on Dragonsfoot regarding the discrepancy between melee/muscle-powered ranged and Ancient tech weapons in most (all?) editions Gamma World reaffirms my decision to up the former categories weapon damages by a factor of 3, while still retaining the lethality of the Ancient tech.
--This isn't a CR-balanced sort of world, but with but a simple equation, a Referee can set damage output 'on the fly', so that TPKs are unlikely to occur for all but the unluckiest or most foolish of parties.
* I think that the Referee's Manual will be the most enjoyable portion to write of the proposed three, as very little of it will be mechanical in nature, and most of it will simply be one (of various) Referees talking to the reader in practical (and sometimes rather esoteric) terms about the art, business, and sciences of the Refereeing trade.
--The rest of the details are still under the hat...
* I'm hoping to have a small pre-production booklet ready in time for the North Texas RPG Convention in early June, covering the 'fall-off-a-log-simple' Character Generation, Equipping, and Combat sections, to be handed out along with the PreGens and SitRep handout, but no promises. ;)
* Armed with various graphic representations of the probabilities of the 2d12 task-resolution mechanism, I've re-tooled the Referee's Spectral Index. I am eager to reveal it, but will hold off doing so.
--I think it will dramatically reduce the Referee's in-game work-load, as well as open-up the intuitive floodgates on rulings. But only for those who are willing to use it in that fashion. Fortunately, the system hasn't become dependent upon its use, and therefore cannot be sunk by its non-use.
* Having recently played in both B/X and Pathfinder games, I am very glad to have reduced the fiddly-bits of the skills to the ten categories, as a long list of discrete skills has proven, in my opinion, to be unnecessary, impractical to operate (find, maintain, etc.), and does nothing but simply add a bonus to an Ability Score check.
--My solution has been to list examples within each of the ten Skill Areas, and even to include Concentrations, but not to track the improvement of individual bits within them. A 'clever' descriptive mechanism facilitates the latter feature.
---As a character advances in Magnitude, the Player simply notes which Areas will receive their increase, and the entire batch improves, with Concentrations keeping their head-start in pace.
* A recent discussion on Dragonsfoot regarding the discrepancy between melee/muscle-powered ranged and Ancient tech weapons in most (all?) editions Gamma World reaffirms my decision to up the former categories weapon damages by a factor of 3, while still retaining the lethality of the Ancient tech.
--This isn't a CR-balanced sort of world, but with but a simple equation, a Referee can set damage output 'on the fly', so that TPKs are unlikely to occur for all but the unluckiest or most foolish of parties.
* I think that the Referee's Manual will be the most enjoyable portion to write of the proposed three, as very little of it will be mechanical in nature, and most of it will simply be one (of various) Referees talking to the reader in practical (and sometimes rather esoteric) terms about the art, business, and sciences of the Refereeing trade.
--The rest of the details are still under the hat...
* I'm hoping to have a small pre-production booklet ready in time for the North Texas RPG Convention in early June, covering the 'fall-off-a-log-simple' Character Generation, Equipping, and Combat sections, to be handed out along with the PreGens and SitRep handout, but no promises. ;)
Monday, March 29, 2010
[RPG] Abstract Combat Example: Lammasu v. Hill Giant-
Lammasu v. Hill Giant-
I'm going to run this without the Condition Penalties, merely tracking the cumulative DP loss.
--In a future post I'll throw in the bells and whistles.
Lammasu 7+7 = 9
Hill Giant 8 + 1-2 = 8
The Lammasu has already depleted its combat-capable spells for the day, and the Hill Giant's five Dire Wolves have been slain prior to this fight.
FIRST SEQUENCE-
The Lammasu rolls his 9 Fight Dice: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 | 2 | 4, 4 | 6
The Hill Giant rolls his 8 Fight Dice: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4, 4 | 5, 5 | 6
Their highest Result Totals are:
* Lammasu: (4 + 4) 8
* Hill Giant: (5 + 5) 10
--The Lamassu loses by 2 points and this still places it in Condition 6: Fit
Their next highest Result Totals:
* Lammasu: 6
* Hill Giant: (4 + 4) 8
--The Lamassu again loses by 2 points, and this is still C6: Fit
Next Highest RTs:
* Lammasu: (1, 1, 1, 1, 1) 5
* Hill Giant: 6
--The Lammasu loses by 1. We'll say, just for variety, that this is enough to from him to C5: Able
Next RTs:
* Lammasu: 2
* Hill Giant: 3
--Lammasu loses by 1 point, still C5: Able
Next RTs:
* Lammasu: 0
* Hill Giant: 2
--Lammasu loses by 2 points again, knocking him down to C4: Pained
SECOND SEQUENCE-
Both opponents are still up in the fight, and so both refresh their FD pools.
The Lammasu decides to pull 1FD from his pool to keep in Contingency to block an unchallenged Effect.
--The Hill Giant taunts the lawful creature and sees no need to hedge his bets, going all-in.
The Lammasu rolls his 8 Fight Dice: 2, 2, 2 | 5 | 6, 6, 6, 6
The Hill Giant rolls his 8 Fight Dice: 1 | 2 | 3, 3 | 4, 4 | 5, 5
This Sequence's Highest RTs:
* Lammasu: (6, 6, 6, 6) 24
* Hill Giant: (5, 5) 10
--The Hill Giant is surprised by the ferocious paw attacks his bloodied foe has delivered, losing by 14 points, dropping him directly to Condition 2: Heavy Bleeding
Next Highest RTs:
* Lammasu: (2, 2, 2) 6
* Hill Giant: (4, 4) 8
--This would normally be a loss by the Lammasu of 2 DPs, but he expends his one Contingency Die to entirely negate the 2 points, suffering no damage this exchange.
Next Highest RTs:
* Lammasu: 5
* Hill Giant: (3, 3) 6
--The already injured, but still very capable Lammasu takes another DP difference, still Pained.
Next Highest RTs:
* Lammasu: 0
* Hill Giant: 2
--The Lammasu drops to Bleeding
Next Highest:
* Lammasu: 0
* Hill Giant: 1
--Lammasu still Bleeding
SEQUENCE THREE-
Keenly aware of how things could go wrong again, as well as how close to death his foe is, the Lammasu makes the daring decision to put 2FD in Contingency.
--The Hill Giant amazingly rolls well enough to realise how close he is to losing, and saves 1FD in Contingency.
The Lammasu rolls his 7 Fight Dice: 1, 1 | 2, 2 | 4 | 5 | 6
The Hill Giant rolls his 7 Fight Dice: 2 | 3 | 4, 4, 4 | 5 | 6
This Sequence's Highest RTs:
* Lammasu: 6
* Hill Giant: 12
--The Lammasu cashes-in one Contingency Die to negate the 6 DP difference he would have suffered.
Next Highest:
* Lammasu: 5
* Hill Giant: 6
--The Lammasu decides to risk the 1 DP difference, and drops to Heavy Bleeding.
Next Highest RTs:
* Lammasu: 4
* Hill Giant: 5
--The Lammasu sucks up the 1 DP difference, still Heavy Bleeding
Next RTs:
* Lammasu: (2, 2) 4
* Hill Giant: 3
--The Hill Giant rolls to see if he is smart enough to use his Contingency Die and fails to use it, suffering 1 DP and on the cusp of Unconsciousness.
Next RTs:
* Lammasu: (1, 1) 2
* Hill Giant: 2
= 0 Draw
SEQUENCE FOUR-
The Lammasu holds 1FD in Contingency.
--The Hill Giant goes all-in.
The Lammasu rolls his 8 Fight Dice: 1 | 2 | 4, 4 | 5, 5 | 6, 6
The Hill Giant rolls his 8 Fight Dice: 2, 2 | 3 | 4, 4 | 6, 6, 6
Sequence Highest RTs:
* Lammasu: 12
* Hill Giant: 18
--The Lammasu uses his 1 Contingency Die to negate the 6 DP difference.
Next:
* Lammasu: (5, 5) 10
* Hill Giant: (4, 4) 8
--The Hill Giant loses by 2 DP, going Unconscious. With No Contingency Dice, he cannot effect wakefullness and is helpless.
Next:
* The extremely Lawful Lammasu does not dispatch his foe, but does use his remaining heal spells to heal himself, and moves off just far enough and waits the rest of the day and night for the hyenas, jackals, and vultures to finish-off his opponent before flying away to nurse his remaining injuries, thanking the forces of Law for his victory.
I'm going to run this without the Condition Penalties, merely tracking the cumulative DP loss.
--In a future post I'll throw in the bells and whistles.
Lammasu 7+7 = 9
Hill Giant 8 + 1-2 = 8
The Lammasu has already depleted its combat-capable spells for the day, and the Hill Giant's five Dire Wolves have been slain prior to this fight.
FIRST SEQUENCE-
The Lammasu rolls his 9 Fight Dice: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 | 2 | 4, 4 | 6
The Hill Giant rolls his 8 Fight Dice: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4, 4 | 5, 5 | 6
Their highest Result Totals are:
* Lammasu: (4 + 4) 8
* Hill Giant: (5 + 5) 10
--The Lamassu loses by 2 points and this still places it in Condition 6: Fit
Their next highest Result Totals:
* Lammasu: 6
* Hill Giant: (4 + 4) 8
--The Lamassu again loses by 2 points, and this is still C6: Fit
Next Highest RTs:
* Lammasu: (1, 1, 1, 1, 1) 5
* Hill Giant: 6
--The Lammasu loses by 1. We'll say, just for variety, that this is enough to from him to C5: Able
Next RTs:
* Lammasu: 2
* Hill Giant: 3
--Lammasu loses by 1 point, still C5: Able
Next RTs:
* Lammasu: 0
* Hill Giant: 2
--Lammasu loses by 2 points again, knocking him down to C4: Pained
SECOND SEQUENCE-
Both opponents are still up in the fight, and so both refresh their FD pools.
The Lammasu decides to pull 1FD from his pool to keep in Contingency to block an unchallenged Effect.
--The Hill Giant taunts the lawful creature and sees no need to hedge his bets, going all-in.
The Lammasu rolls his 8 Fight Dice: 2, 2, 2 | 5 | 6, 6, 6, 6
The Hill Giant rolls his 8 Fight Dice: 1 | 2 | 3, 3 | 4, 4 | 5, 5
This Sequence's Highest RTs:
* Lammasu: (6, 6, 6, 6) 24
* Hill Giant: (5, 5) 10
--The Hill Giant is surprised by the ferocious paw attacks his bloodied foe has delivered, losing by 14 points, dropping him directly to Condition 2: Heavy Bleeding
Next Highest RTs:
* Lammasu: (2, 2, 2) 6
* Hill Giant: (4, 4) 8
--This would normally be a loss by the Lammasu of 2 DPs, but he expends his one Contingency Die to entirely negate the 2 points, suffering no damage this exchange.
Next Highest RTs:
* Lammasu: 5
* Hill Giant: (3, 3) 6
--The already injured, but still very capable Lammasu takes another DP difference, still Pained.
Next Highest RTs:
* Lammasu: 0
* Hill Giant: 2
--The Lammasu drops to Bleeding
Next Highest:
* Lammasu: 0
* Hill Giant: 1
--Lammasu still Bleeding
SEQUENCE THREE-
Keenly aware of how things could go wrong again, as well as how close to death his foe is, the Lammasu makes the daring decision to put 2FD in Contingency.
--The Hill Giant amazingly rolls well enough to realise how close he is to losing, and saves 1FD in Contingency.
The Lammasu rolls his 7 Fight Dice: 1, 1 | 2, 2 | 4 | 5 | 6
The Hill Giant rolls his 7 Fight Dice: 2 | 3 | 4, 4, 4 | 5 | 6
This Sequence's Highest RTs:
* Lammasu: 6
* Hill Giant: 12
--The Lammasu cashes-in one Contingency Die to negate the 6 DP difference he would have suffered.
Next Highest:
* Lammasu: 5
* Hill Giant: 6
--The Lammasu decides to risk the 1 DP difference, and drops to Heavy Bleeding.
Next Highest RTs:
* Lammasu: 4
* Hill Giant: 5
--The Lammasu sucks up the 1 DP difference, still Heavy Bleeding
Next RTs:
* Lammasu: (2, 2) 4
* Hill Giant: 3
--The Hill Giant rolls to see if he is smart enough to use his Contingency Die and fails to use it, suffering 1 DP and on the cusp of Unconsciousness.
Next RTs:
* Lammasu: (1, 1) 2
* Hill Giant: 2
= 0 Draw
SEQUENCE FOUR-
The Lammasu holds 1FD in Contingency.
--The Hill Giant goes all-in.
The Lammasu rolls his 8 Fight Dice: 1 | 2 | 4, 4 | 5, 5 | 6, 6
The Hill Giant rolls his 8 Fight Dice: 2, 2 | 3 | 4, 4 | 6, 6, 6
Sequence Highest RTs:
* Lammasu: 12
* Hill Giant: 18
--The Lammasu uses his 1 Contingency Die to negate the 6 DP difference.
Next:
* Lammasu: (5, 5) 10
* Hill Giant: (4, 4) 8
--The Hill Giant loses by 2 DP, going Unconscious. With No Contingency Dice, he cannot effect wakefullness and is helpless.
Next:
* The extremely Lawful Lammasu does not dispatch his foe, but does use his remaining heal spells to heal himself, and moves off just far enough and waits the rest of the day and night for the hyenas, jackals, and vultures to finish-off his opponent before flying away to nurse his remaining injuries, thanking the forces of Law for his victory.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
[RPG] Optional Abstract ('Indie') Combat-
Copyright (c) 2010 Kyrinn S. Eis
ABSTRACT COMBAT-
:: This is a purely optional, 'Indie', method of resolving combat that involves a higher degree of Player Skill than the traditional 'Strike and Effect' tactical method standard to most RPGs (including UWoM).
Fight Dice & The Quality Roll-
At the start of any conflict (the beginning of a Fight Sequence), regardless of sort (Psychic, Authority, Unarmed, Melee, Ranged, etc.), roll any Fight Dice your character possesses and wishes to use in the Fight, and pool them by Result (all 1's, all 2's, all 3's, etc.).
Compare your highest Result Total to that of your opponent.
:: Your opponent takes the difference in Effect, off of either Alertness (Some Psychic, all Authority, some Unarmed or Melee, and some Magic), or Performance (anything not listed under Alertness).
:: Any Fight Dice not used (Contingency Dice) by your opponent (or vice-versa) in the Fight can be expended (whole die) to entirely negate any Effect you may have won over them.
:: Once Penalties accrue, they are applied directly to the Results of rolled dice (not your Contingency dice held in reserve), sometimes eliminating your ability to Fight at all. These penalties affect all remaining Result Dice, so it is possible for a Condition Penalty to end a fight while the opponent is still conscious, for instance. The Fight has simply left them/you,. etc.
If you or your opponent are eliminated from the Fight (Condition One or Zed), make your Quality Roll (2d12).
:: On a White Result: No further action is possible, and your sequence ends.
:: On a Black Result: You are prevented from any action, but your sequence isn't yet complete.
:: Red (or better): Locus may be consumed to act on a 1:1 ratio.
:: Orange: Regain up to 1d -- You've still got a bit of Fight left in you after all
:: Yellow: Regain up to 2d
:: Green: Regain up to 3d
:: Blue: Regain up to 4d
:: Violet: Regain up to 5d, and one Locus point -- 'Fool! You thought you could defeat me?!'
If you are still active at the end of a Fight (even in lousy shape), you regain all of your Fight Dice and can/may enter another Fight Scene.
Any unused Contingency Dice may be used to recover one Condition Level, per die.
:: Saving even only one Fight Die may just save your character's life.
ABSTRACT COMBAT-
:: This is a purely optional, 'Indie', method of resolving combat that involves a higher degree of Player Skill than the traditional 'Strike and Effect' tactical method standard to most RPGs (including UWoM).
Fight Dice & The Quality Roll-
At the start of any conflict (the beginning of a Fight Sequence), regardless of sort (Psychic, Authority, Unarmed, Melee, Ranged, etc.), roll any Fight Dice your character possesses and wishes to use in the Fight, and pool them by Result (all 1's, all 2's, all 3's, etc.).
Compare your highest Result Total to that of your opponent.
:: Your opponent takes the difference in Effect, off of either Alertness (Some Psychic, all Authority, some Unarmed or Melee, and some Magic), or Performance (anything not listed under Alertness).
:: Any Fight Dice not used (Contingency Dice) by your opponent (or vice-versa) in the Fight can be expended (whole die) to entirely negate any Effect you may have won over them.
:: Once Penalties accrue, they are applied directly to the Results of rolled dice (not your Contingency dice held in reserve), sometimes eliminating your ability to Fight at all. These penalties affect all remaining Result Dice, so it is possible for a Condition Penalty to end a fight while the opponent is still conscious, for instance. The Fight has simply left them/you,. etc.
If you or your opponent are eliminated from the Fight (Condition One or Zed), make your Quality Roll (2d12).
:: On a White Result: No further action is possible, and your sequence ends.
:: On a Black Result: You are prevented from any action, but your sequence isn't yet complete.
:: Red (or better): Locus may be consumed to act on a 1:1 ratio.
:: Orange: Regain up to 1d -- You've still got a bit of Fight left in you after all
:: Yellow: Regain up to 2d
:: Green: Regain up to 3d
:: Blue: Regain up to 4d
:: Violet: Regain up to 5d, and one Locus point -- 'Fool! You thought you could defeat me?!'
If you are still active at the end of a Fight (even in lousy shape), you regain all of your Fight Dice and can/may enter another Fight Scene.
Any unused Contingency Dice may be used to recover one Condition Level, per die.
:: Saving even only one Fight Die may just save your character's life.
Friday, March 26, 2010
[RPG] Update: 26th, March-
Sadly, Tybylt's player didn't want to run a Ref and Single Player session today, as the LGS co-owner is out at the post GAMA trade show, and my SO is working tonight.
--I played a Pathfinder Cleric of Heironeous in Tyb's player's 'bottom-up' campaign I joined last night, that does not take place in Greyhawk. My LN Cleric started out with 17 HP at 1st Level. :)
---Goblin Rogue and Halfling Sorcerer were like naughty children (and honestly, isn't that the truth?) playing 'real-life' chutes and laders. Still, the mega-mat was fun to have the dungeon complex mapped out on.
So, the ten Skill Areas are shaping up to be rather BoL-like in their overall utility, which I think will suit the 'revised' UWoM rather well.
--More focus on in-game definition of what a character can do with them (better than someone who doesn't have them; not to the exclusion of not having them) than a multitude of fiddly, once in a while, binary skills.
---Each of them has some extra effect, whether strictly mechanical, or more ephemeral (such as providing income if regularly plied).
Received three graphs (from a gaming friend on Mike Moorcock's site) on the 2d12 mechanism I have adopted, and the pyramidal non-curve, non-flat results are very regular and I think it sits well with my notions of exceptional results (plus or minus) being unusual events, and reality humming along nicely most of the time.
--I'm still keeping my eyes open for the possibility of something else coming along before print (such as above friend's favoured 3d8), but I'm not holding my breath, to mix metaphors.
---All I know is that flat rolls (either single die [d20, etc.] or d100) just don't cut it for me, as they are too chaotic. Not that there's anything wrong with that for other people and their games. ;)
I should be gaming Moldvay B/X right now.
--See ya... :D
--I played a Pathfinder Cleric of Heironeous in Tyb's player's 'bottom-up' campaign I joined last night, that does not take place in Greyhawk. My LN Cleric started out with 17 HP at 1st Level. :)
---Goblin Rogue and Halfling Sorcerer were like naughty children (and honestly, isn't that the truth?) playing 'real-life' chutes and laders. Still, the mega-mat was fun to have the dungeon complex mapped out on.
So, the ten Skill Areas are shaping up to be rather BoL-like in their overall utility, which I think will suit the 'revised' UWoM rather well.
--More focus on in-game definition of what a character can do with them (better than someone who doesn't have them; not to the exclusion of not having them) than a multitude of fiddly, once in a while, binary skills.
---Each of them has some extra effect, whether strictly mechanical, or more ephemeral (such as providing income if regularly plied).
Received three graphs (from a gaming friend on Mike Moorcock's site) on the 2d12 mechanism I have adopted, and the pyramidal non-curve, non-flat results are very regular and I think it sits well with my notions of exceptional results (plus or minus) being unusual events, and reality humming along nicely most of the time.
--I'm still keeping my eyes open for the possibility of something else coming along before print (such as above friend's favoured 3d8), but I'm not holding my breath, to mix metaphors.
---All I know is that flat rolls (either single die [d20, etc.] or d100) just don't cut it for me, as they are too chaotic. Not that there's anything wrong with that for other people and their games. ;)
I should be gaming Moldvay B/X right now.
--See ya... :D
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Daily Zen-
My Homepage
If a fleeting thought conjures the whole,
How can I describe Reality in figures?
While empty moonlight on the water shows everything,
The mirror of No Mind reflects only Nothingness.
- Baekoon Kyunghan (1299-1375)
If a fleeting thought conjures the whole,
How can I describe Reality in figures?
While empty moonlight on the water shows everything,
The mirror of No Mind reflects only Nothingness.
- Baekoon Kyunghan (1299-1375)
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