Okay, I now have a solution to the 'ninja grandmother' problem found in Call of Cthulhu d20. As with all my other suggestions, this isn't original - it's nicked wholesale from Babylon 5.
Firstly, change the number of hit points characters receive. Instead of 1d6 + Con bonus at each level, give them 1d6+4 at 1st level, plus one for each additonal level. Constitution no longer provides a hit point bonus, but instead affects a wounded character's chance of stabilisation.
Secondly, replace AC with Defence Value (DV). This works exactly as does AC, but is calculated as:
DV = 10 + Reflex save modifier
So, a character with a +3 base Reflex save, and 14 Dexterity will have a total Reflex save of +5, and a DV of 15.
Thirdly, change armour so it no longer gives an AC bonus, but rather damage reduction. The DR value is equal to the normal AC adjustment divided by 3 (rounded down). This makes armour rather bland in the game, but given that it's not a focus of the game, this doesn't seem to be a huge problem. (Technically, the armours should also give Energy Resistances to the same amount, against all applicable forms of damage.)
And there it is.
Now, let's consider Ethel, our poster-gran for the new millennium. She's a 70-year old defensive hero, built with the standard array. In the previous example, she was able to effortlessly beat the crap out of 6 burly young security guards (1st level offensive hero).
Now, let's assume she has used the standard array of scores, and assigned S8, D10, C12, I14, W15, Ch13. Applying the adjustments for age (Old), we get S5, D7, C9, I16, W17, Ch15. We'll assume also that her two good saves are Fortitude and Will (since I have an easier time picturing a granny who's tough as old boots than one who can catch a fly with chopsticks). At 8th level, then, her base saves are F+6, R+2, W+6, which adjust to F+5, R+0, W+9 (she'd be R+4 if Reflex was a good save). Her DV is therefore 10+0 (or 10+4). Her BAB is +2, which modifies to -1 melee and +0 ranged. Finally, let's assume a hit die roll of 4 at 1st level, giving Ethel 4+4+7 = 15 hit points.
The burly guards have 10 in every stat, a poor Reflex save, and BAB +1. They have 7 hit points on average. Also, they're armed with clubs, doing 1d6 damage. DV is 10.
Let's give Ethel the benefit of the doubt, and assume she wins initiative (doubtful - they have better Dex than she does). She has a 50% chance of hitting one with her cane, for a whopping 1d4-2 damage (I have no idea what cane damage is). This most likely fails to knock out one of the guards. They then return the favour.
Each guard has a 60% chance of hitting (need to roll a 9 on d20. This would be 40% if Ethel had good Ref save). On average, they do 3.5 damage. So, Ethel takes an average of 2.1 damage from each guard, or an average of 12.6 damage per round.
The net result of this is that it takes the guards 12 seconds to subdue Ethel, who is unlikely to take down even one of them. This is still not ideal (Ethel could probably beat up 2 or 3 guards, which isn't right), but it's rather better than previously was the case. And we are dealing with a rather extreme example here.
I have one more thing to say: if you make these changes, it's important to check damages before using spells and similar powers. Any effect doing comparable damage to a Fireball will now be instantly fatal to any character in this game, which might not be what you want. So, these damages will need to be scaled down. That said, CoC doesn't have a lot of such effects, and it might be appropriate for many of the ones that it does have to be instantly fatal.
So, does this fix the ninja-granny objection to d20 Call of Cthulhu, and are there any other problems that need tackled?
Wednesday, 30 July 2003
Sunday, 27 July 2003
You do what?
Of course, every so often, players throw you a curve ball, doing something so incredibly unexpected that you collapse in a heap, wailing at the manifest unfairness of it all.
At this point, you have three options:
Naturally, option 3 is the best option, since it allows the game to proceed, and doesn't render the players totally meaningless. The problem there is that option 3 forces the GM into the unhappy situation that the carefully-prepared plot of the entire campaign can go out of the window.
It also has the twin problems that you run a very real risk of slaughtering the PCs accidentally, or alternatively allow them to achieve a campaign-shattering victory far too easily.
This is the area where systems like d20 fall down. They way to quickly and easily ad-lib appropriate challenges is necessarily to have a stock of suitable antagonists (or, avoid combat, and thus simply have to ad-lib political and role-play material, which is safer). The problem with having an array of ready antagonists is that it requires a lot of preparation work.
I don't think I'm going anywhere with this, so I'll stop there. After Saturday's game, though, I needed to vent about players, and the crazy things they do.
At this point, you have three options:
- Stop the game early, on the grounds that you have no idea what's going to happen next.
- Don't allow them to do whatever they want. Typically, this is achieved by placing an absurd number of problems in their way.
- Make shit up.
Naturally, option 3 is the best option, since it allows the game to proceed, and doesn't render the players totally meaningless. The problem there is that option 3 forces the GM into the unhappy situation that the carefully-prepared plot of the entire campaign can go out of the window.
It also has the twin problems that you run a very real risk of slaughtering the PCs accidentally, or alternatively allow them to achieve a campaign-shattering victory far too easily.
This is the area where systems like d20 fall down. They way to quickly and easily ad-lib appropriate challenges is necessarily to have a stock of suitable antagonists (or, avoid combat, and thus simply have to ad-lib political and role-play material, which is safer). The problem with having an array of ready antagonists is that it requires a lot of preparation work.
I don't think I'm going anywhere with this, so I'll stop there. After Saturday's game, though, I needed to vent about players, and the crazy things they do.
Tuesday, 22 July 2003
d20 combat
I've come to two conclusions as regards d20 combat:
- Straight combat on a featureless plain is deadly dull. This was the big mistake I made in the first week of the campaign (made worse by the fact that no-one could hit reliably, and when they did hit the bad guys needed exceptional luck to get past the PCs hardness), and also last week when I really botched the assault on the city.
- d20 combat needs the possibility that either side can win to be exciting. This links to what was mentioned before: if the NPCs can't realistically damage the PCs, there's no point in rolling the dice, unless some other factor is at work.
Fortunately, I have a few suggestions for how this can be improved.
Firstly, DMs should stop looking on combat as being the core of the game, or as being a convenient way to stretch out the game. It should be the most exciting part of the game, and that requires more than a little planning. For instance:
- Set the combat in an unusual battlefield. For instance, having the mecha dodging in and out of a planetary ring system was better than simply having the combat take place on a featureless plain, although it wasn't entirely successful.
- Exert an outside pressure on the combatants. For instance, the battle must be completed within a tight time deadline, or something bad happens. Or, some non-combatant must be protected or destroyed by one side. Or, the PCs won't have the chance to heal/repair after the combat is over.
- Ensure the bad guys make use of appropriate tactics. For instance, they should flank PCs where possible, or bull rush them into hazardous terrain features, or whatever.
- Reduce the number of combats found in the game, but increase the relative importance of each. So, when running through a dungeon, the PCs shouldn't have to fight their way through each room in turn. Instead, they should expect to find the denizens of the dungeon assembling a conherent strategy to repel them - fewer, more vicious combats.
Secondly, the enemy must be a credible threat.
- If the average AC in the group is 30, the average to-hit bonus of the villains should be at least +15, and probably closer to +20.
- If the PCs have hardness, or defences against particular attack forms, the villains should either be able to punch through these defences, or be able to bypass them. So, if the character has hardness 30, there's absolutely no point in the NPCs using a piercing attack that does 6d6 damage. Instead, it should do at least 9d6. Alternatively, they should use laser weaponry.
However...
While the DM is responsible for ensuring that the combats have meaning, and this requires ensuring the villains are at least meaningful, the DM is also not present to screw over players. What this means is that if a player goes out of his way to ensure his character has fire resistance 15, on the grounds that most of the opponents to date have used fire attacks, the DM shouldn't have those villains immediately switch to cold-based attacks. Instead, the player should be allowed to reap the benefits of his choice, at least for a while. This is particularly important if the character has had to give up some other option in order to get this additional defence.
As regards Mecha...
I think it is a weakness of the Mecha Crusade rules that mecha grant characters an AC bonus AND hardness AND additional hit points. Any two of these three would be enough. Were I running the campaign again, that would be the key modification that I would make.
This would also save me from constantly having to have the enemy develop "Advanced Targetting Systems" and "Advanced Weapon Systems" just to make them a credible threat.
Star Wars Starship Combat
The way I think Star Wars combat should work (at least on the starship scale) is basically the way that combat in Mecha Crusade is handled. Ships should provide characters with their own movement rate and weapons.
The Defense bonus should be 10 + (character's total Pilot skill) + (small equipment bonus for ship, based on maneuverability).
The ship should use the character's own hit points, possibly with a bonus for the vessel itself. (When a character gets out of the vessel, his hit points will return to normal - the reduction only matters if the character is reduced to 0 while in his ship)
Combat then works pretty much as normal.
So, consider two characters - Pilot1 and Luke. We'll say that Pilot1 is a 2nd level character with 12 hit points, BAB +2, Dex 16 and 5 ranks in Pliot. Luke, meanwhile, is 18th level, with BAB +17, 16 ranks in Pilot, 112 hit points, and Dex 15.
Let's assume that an X-Wing grants 20 hit points, energy resistance 15, no Defense bonus, and 4 lasers doing 8d6 damage each. An A-Wing would most likely not grant any additonal hit points, maybe energy resistance 10, a +4 defence bonus, and have 2 lasers each doing 4d6 damage.
So, in an X-Wing, Luke would have 4 lasers at +19/+14/+9/+4 to hit, each doing 8d6 damage. He would have 132 hit points, energy resistance 15, and defence 26.
In an A-Wing, Pilot1 has 2 lasers at +2 to hit, each doing 4d6 damage. He would have 12 hit points, energy resistance 10, and defence 19.
Clearly, this provides a huge benefit to high level characters, and also provides a huge benefit to those whyo max out their Pilot skill. However, I don't see a huge problem with this. It does fit with the feel of the movies, where only 3 characters ever survive an attack on their starship - Luke, Wedge and Darth Vader. The other pilots, being much lower level, die with a single hit - the result of massive damage against a low hit point total.
This system is extremely fragmented. It doesn't handle anything other than starfighters, doesn't deal with the effects of linking weapons (I suggest -2 to hit, + 1 dice of damage for dual-linked, -4/+2 for quad-linked), doesn't cover fighter wings, and doesn't deal with the question of why Luke doesn't just turn his ship around and take out Vader in the trench. So, more work would be required. Still, I think the core of the system is usable. Certainly, I think it's better than the mess that was in the first edition of the Star Wars d20 game. (I guess I really need to check out the revised version)
- Straight combat on a featureless plain is deadly dull. This was the big mistake I made in the first week of the campaign (made worse by the fact that no-one could hit reliably, and when they did hit the bad guys needed exceptional luck to get past the PCs hardness), and also last week when I really botched the assault on the city.
- d20 combat needs the possibility that either side can win to be exciting. This links to what was mentioned before: if the NPCs can't realistically damage the PCs, there's no point in rolling the dice, unless some other factor is at work.
Fortunately, I have a few suggestions for how this can be improved.
Firstly, DMs should stop looking on combat as being the core of the game, or as being a convenient way to stretch out the game. It should be the most exciting part of the game, and that requires more than a little planning. For instance:
- Set the combat in an unusual battlefield. For instance, having the mecha dodging in and out of a planetary ring system was better than simply having the combat take place on a featureless plain, although it wasn't entirely successful.
- Exert an outside pressure on the combatants. For instance, the battle must be completed within a tight time deadline, or something bad happens. Or, some non-combatant must be protected or destroyed by one side. Or, the PCs won't have the chance to heal/repair after the combat is over.
- Ensure the bad guys make use of appropriate tactics. For instance, they should flank PCs where possible, or bull rush them into hazardous terrain features, or whatever.
- Reduce the number of combats found in the game, but increase the relative importance of each. So, when running through a dungeon, the PCs shouldn't have to fight their way through each room in turn. Instead, they should expect to find the denizens of the dungeon assembling a conherent strategy to repel them - fewer, more vicious combats.
Secondly, the enemy must be a credible threat.
- If the average AC in the group is 30, the average to-hit bonus of the villains should be at least +15, and probably closer to +20.
- If the PCs have hardness, or defences against particular attack forms, the villains should either be able to punch through these defences, or be able to bypass them. So, if the character has hardness 30, there's absolutely no point in the NPCs using a piercing attack that does 6d6 damage. Instead, it should do at least 9d6. Alternatively, they should use laser weaponry.
However...
While the DM is responsible for ensuring that the combats have meaning, and this requires ensuring the villains are at least meaningful, the DM is also not present to screw over players. What this means is that if a player goes out of his way to ensure his character has fire resistance 15, on the grounds that most of the opponents to date have used fire attacks, the DM shouldn't have those villains immediately switch to cold-based attacks. Instead, the player should be allowed to reap the benefits of his choice, at least for a while. This is particularly important if the character has had to give up some other option in order to get this additional defence.
As regards Mecha...
I think it is a weakness of the Mecha Crusade rules that mecha grant characters an AC bonus AND hardness AND additional hit points. Any two of these three would be enough. Were I running the campaign again, that would be the key modification that I would make.
This would also save me from constantly having to have the enemy develop "Advanced Targetting Systems" and "Advanced Weapon Systems" just to make them a credible threat.
Star Wars Starship Combat
The way I think Star Wars combat should work (at least on the starship scale) is basically the way that combat in Mecha Crusade is handled. Ships should provide characters with their own movement rate and weapons.
The Defense bonus should be 10 + (character's total Pilot skill) + (small equipment bonus for ship, based on maneuverability).
The ship should use the character's own hit points, possibly with a bonus for the vessel itself. (When a character gets out of the vessel, his hit points will return to normal - the reduction only matters if the character is reduced to 0 while in his ship)
Combat then works pretty much as normal.
So, consider two characters - Pilot1 and Luke. We'll say that Pilot1 is a 2nd level character with 12 hit points, BAB +2, Dex 16 and 5 ranks in Pliot. Luke, meanwhile, is 18th level, with BAB +17, 16 ranks in Pilot, 112 hit points, and Dex 15.
Let's assume that an X-Wing grants 20 hit points, energy resistance 15, no Defense bonus, and 4 lasers doing 8d6 damage each. An A-Wing would most likely not grant any additonal hit points, maybe energy resistance 10, a +4 defence bonus, and have 2 lasers each doing 4d6 damage.
So, in an X-Wing, Luke would have 4 lasers at +19/+14/+9/+4 to hit, each doing 8d6 damage. He would have 132 hit points, energy resistance 15, and defence 26.
In an A-Wing, Pilot1 has 2 lasers at +2 to hit, each doing 4d6 damage. He would have 12 hit points, energy resistance 10, and defence 19.
Clearly, this provides a huge benefit to high level characters, and also provides a huge benefit to those whyo max out their Pilot skill. However, I don't see a huge problem with this. It does fit with the feel of the movies, where only 3 characters ever survive an attack on their starship - Luke, Wedge and Darth Vader. The other pilots, being much lower level, die with a single hit - the result of massive damage against a low hit point total.
This system is extremely fragmented. It doesn't handle anything other than starfighters, doesn't deal with the effects of linking weapons (I suggest -2 to hit, + 1 dice of damage for dual-linked, -4/+2 for quad-linked), doesn't cover fighter wings, and doesn't deal with the question of why Luke doesn't just turn his ship around and take out Vader in the trench. So, more work would be required. Still, I think the core of the system is usable. Certainly, I think it's better than the mess that was in the first edition of the Star Wars d20 game. (I guess I really need to check out the revised version)
d20 Modern Thoughts
Okay, I haven't posted for ages; it's just easier from the university, and a pain from the house. Still, best to get used to the new status quo...
For the past few weeks, I've been running "The Singularity Campaign", a d20 Mecha game based on the "Mecha Crusade" mini-game from Dungeon Magazine, and the d20 Modern game. And, having experienced d20 Modern in actual play, I have a few thoughts. (I also have a few thoughts on Star Wars starship combat, d20 combat in general, and a few other things, but these will wait for a later post.)
Ability Scores
When creating a D&D combat character, three attributes are vital: Strength, Dexterity and Constitution. It is possible to build a useful character without one of these being high, but you really need at least two to be good, and the third to be no worse than average. It is also true to say that Strength is probably the most necessary of the three, since it affects most of your attack and damage rolls.
In d20 Modern, Dexterity is the king of the attributes. It affects both the majority of attack rolls AND your ability to defend yourself. In fact, unless your GM can be bothered tracking encumberance, you can probably manage with even a below-average Strength score.
Worse still, Dexterity also affects Reflex saves, which seem to be the most common sort of save in d20 Modern. Grenades and autofire both allow Reflex saves to reduce or avoid the damage, and these are very common forms of attack.
Evasion
(This point applies equally to D&D)
Speaking of reflex saves, it occurs to me that the Evasion talent available to Fast Heroes is rather too good. Allowing a character to avoid all greande damage on a successful save (and on their best save, too, AND the save tied to their dominant ability score) is a little too good. To compensate, the GM is forced to bump up the DCs on these saves, which is a problem for the rest of the group.
When considering balance, there are two questions that should be asked of powers: "Is this so good that everyone will want it?" and "Is this so weak that no-one will be interested?" In my opinion, evasion fails the first of these. The fact that, out of the current group, five of the six PCs have levels in Fast Hero and the Evasion talent would appear to indicate that my players agree with me. (I should mention, however, that I created Andy's character for him, so it really should be four out of five.)
To better balance the power, may I suggest the following:
Evasion
If the Fast hero is exposed to any effect that normally allows a character to attempt a Reflex saving throw for half damage (such as getting caught in a grenade blast), the Fast hero reduces the damage taken by one quarter, regardless of the result. That is, the Fast Hero suffers one quarter of the normal damage on a successful save, or three quarters if the save is failed.
Example: A Fast hero is caught in a grenade blast that does 60 hit points of damage. The character suffers only 15 hit points of damage if the saving throw is successful, or 45 hit points of damage if the save is failed.
Classes
I really don't like the class-based nature of d20 Modern. In my opinion, it should be modified to use a point-based system, similar to that seen in Mutants and Masterminds. This would allow a much wider range of possible characters.
The main advantage of the class system is that it allows the quick construction of iconic character types. However, whereas "the powerful wizard" and "the holy paladin" both mean something, "the fast hero" does not. Therefore, it's as well simply to ditch this system.
Autofire
In general, I like how autofire works (I didn't like it at first, but it's grown on me). However, the DC to avoid it is too easy. I recommend increasing the DC to at least 25, but doubling the effects of cover in making this save (or just in general, actually). This argument was brought on by the sight of Kurge mechs dodging autofire in a region where they had absolutely no cover at all. This was not on occasional occurance, either - they needed a 10 or better on d20 to do so - and these were only 5th level characters!
For the past few weeks, I've been running "The Singularity Campaign", a d20 Mecha game based on the "Mecha Crusade" mini-game from Dungeon Magazine, and the d20 Modern game. And, having experienced d20 Modern in actual play, I have a few thoughts. (I also have a few thoughts on Star Wars starship combat, d20 combat in general, and a few other things, but these will wait for a later post.)
Ability Scores
When creating a D&D combat character, three attributes are vital: Strength, Dexterity and Constitution. It is possible to build a useful character without one of these being high, but you really need at least two to be good, and the third to be no worse than average. It is also true to say that Strength is probably the most necessary of the three, since it affects most of your attack and damage rolls.
In d20 Modern, Dexterity is the king of the attributes. It affects both the majority of attack rolls AND your ability to defend yourself. In fact, unless your GM can be bothered tracking encumberance, you can probably manage with even a below-average Strength score.
Worse still, Dexterity also affects Reflex saves, which seem to be the most common sort of save in d20 Modern. Grenades and autofire both allow Reflex saves to reduce or avoid the damage, and these are very common forms of attack.
Evasion
(This point applies equally to D&D)
Speaking of reflex saves, it occurs to me that the Evasion talent available to Fast Heroes is rather too good. Allowing a character to avoid all greande damage on a successful save (and on their best save, too, AND the save tied to their dominant ability score) is a little too good. To compensate, the GM is forced to bump up the DCs on these saves, which is a problem for the rest of the group.
When considering balance, there are two questions that should be asked of powers: "Is this so good that everyone will want it?" and "Is this so weak that no-one will be interested?" In my opinion, evasion fails the first of these. The fact that, out of the current group, five of the six PCs have levels in Fast Hero and the Evasion talent would appear to indicate that my players agree with me. (I should mention, however, that I created Andy's character for him, so it really should be four out of five.)
To better balance the power, may I suggest the following:
Evasion
If the Fast hero is exposed to any effect that normally allows a character to attempt a Reflex saving throw for half damage (such as getting caught in a grenade blast), the Fast hero reduces the damage taken by one quarter, regardless of the result. That is, the Fast Hero suffers one quarter of the normal damage on a successful save, or three quarters if the save is failed.
Example: A Fast hero is caught in a grenade blast that does 60 hit points of damage. The character suffers only 15 hit points of damage if the saving throw is successful, or 45 hit points of damage if the save is failed.
Classes
I really don't like the class-based nature of d20 Modern. In my opinion, it should be modified to use a point-based system, similar to that seen in Mutants and Masterminds. This would allow a much wider range of possible characters.
The main advantage of the class system is that it allows the quick construction of iconic character types. However, whereas "the powerful wizard" and "the holy paladin" both mean something, "the fast hero" does not. Therefore, it's as well simply to ditch this system.
Autofire
In general, I like how autofire works (I didn't like it at first, but it's grown on me). However, the DC to avoid it is too easy. I recommend increasing the DC to at least 25, but doubling the effects of cover in making this save (or just in general, actually). This argument was brought on by the sight of Kurge mechs dodging autofire in a region where they had absolutely no cover at all. This was not on occasional occurance, either - they needed a 10 or better on d20 to do so - and these were only 5th level characters!
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