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FFRRPG 3e Part 12: Combat part 1, oh boy here we go So we begin, this will cover the general combat rules. Combat works like your standard FF game, enemies and allies line up in rows and take turns and beat each other up, after a million games that bitch about positioning of 5ft. and end up kind of stale because of it that is honestly kind of refreshing. There's nominally a tactical engine in here from character options, heh, nominally. There's some rules about using movement which we cheerfully ignored during playtesting, if you were going to play this please do so, they weren't playtested. Good, Good. So combat begins, first everyone gets to roll for initiative. 1d10+Speed stat. You will be repeating this each round, now normally I would complain but considering the whole charge time system this actually becomes tactically interesting, sort of. However....Not every class uses that and they should it is a good system. So basically, that is a problem. If two people have the same initiative(Including while charging) then the highest speed goes first, if they are still tied you roll a die(ew). There's a giant list of action types for abilities. The actions everyone can take, Attack, Defend, Item, and Escape. (And full move if you are using positioning for some reason). Then we get to resolving actions. If you use an attack ability you do your % damage, add the dice, modify THOSE by a % and subtract their armor.... If you use a spell calculate your magic to-hit by taking your M.ACC% and subtracting their M.EVA%(Let me calculate it for you, you only miss on a crit miss of 96+), then do your damage+dice, and subtract M.Armor. If you use a normal attack(are you a fighter or magic knight? No? Then never use those!) it works like a spell except you can actually miss, and a 1-10 being a crit. The problems are immediately FREAKING OBVIOUS. Why are you calculating hit chances? Why not rolling 1d100 and trying to get above their evade? With a base of 91+ getting a crit and crit enhancers lowering that number. Then why are you ROLLING DAMAGE AT ALL? The amount of damage you do is astronomical compared to the roll. A Tier 1 weapon is Stat*2+1 die, this is about the only time the die matters, how about just stat*3 the numbers are near identical, it also completely messes with % damage attacks as you can't precalculate the dice. Also why have ARM at all? Even for auto attacks arm is so constrained it doesn't make meaningful dints in the damage. While I can get behind the idea of a stat that exists to protect from plink attacks but not big hitters, it doesn't do that, if arm subtracted from all damage and was notably higher it would at least serve a role in the system. It doesn't however. At the end of each round is the status phase, I've sort of alluded to this with the way wall works. But each status has a number which is how many rounds it lasts, normally this is 4, at the end of each status phase things like regen, sap, and poison trigger and every status effect counts down. So by having high enough initiative you sort of get an extra round of effect, again there's a lot of half formed mechanics around manipulating initiative but no way to DO it. Next time: That's a lot of status effects, too many are save or dies but enough aren't you can actually inflict some WhitemageofDOOM fucked around with this message at 22:29 on Oct 6, 2018 |
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Oct 5, 2018 11:59
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Ghost Leviathan posted:There's the Slaaneshi hero who has Stupidity because he might get distracted admiring his reflection in your shield. What, Sigwald?
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Oct 5, 2018 12:26
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Halloween Jack posted:Well, this is a long time coming. Sorry, everybody! Do they seriously attribute a quote from Paradise Lost to Christian Death?
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Oct 5, 2018 13:12
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"It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations." --Anne Rice, The Hellbound Heart
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Oct 5, 2018 14:11
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Halloween Jack posted:"It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations." Jesus, the initial quote's a joke about White Wolf constant name- and quote-dropping, isn't it?
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Oct 5, 2018 14:45
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quote:Example has more followers than reason. Halloween Jack fucked around with this message at 15:00 on Oct 5, 2018 |
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Oct 5, 2018 14:56
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Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2e: Tome of Salvation Temples and Holy Sites Galor Manaanite temples are ideally simple and sea-based, but that makes them surprisingly hard to build and maintain. The ideal Manaanite temple is stonework, not just because this is more expensive and impressive (and thus honors the God better) but also because building a sea-God temple out of wood on the coast where it will be lashed by regular storms and constantly exposed to damp and salt means you'll regularly be rebuilding the temple as the wood rots. In cities, some Manaanite temples will be mistaken for part of the shipyard or unusually ornate warehouses until a visitor notices the priests. Manaanite shrines (small markers of holy sites) are often unattended, since many of Manaan's holy sites are hard to reach and put a real temple over. I'd assume this is because they mark the site of important storms or something. There are far more shrines than temples to Manaan. Most shrines, sailors will simply leave offerings or shed a small amount of blood on the altar, trusting that no-one will steal from the sea god and that the tide will wash it all out to him eventually. The example holy site is a temple in the northern Empire that augurs the health of Manaan's cult by the growth and contraction of an odd, red coral reef off the coast. It just expands and contracts, at random, and is thus seen as a sign of the God's power. Priests spend hours floating above it in boats, or swimming among it if they have the Manaanite miracles that allow them to breathe underwater, studying the reef in hopes of unlocking the mysteries of the tides. The Empire is totally littered with both shrines and temples to Sigmar. Sigmarite temples tend to be built in the shape of a hammer, with the priest at the 'hilt' so everyone can focus on them, while the 'claw' is for cultists of other faiths who come to attend throng, the 'body' of the hammer is for the normal devout cultists of Sigmar, and the 'head' is for the nobility and other very important persons. Almost every community in the Empire has at least one shrine to Siggy, and nearly every home keeps a small devotional space. Sigmarites also love ritual choirs and big, booming speeches; anything that amplifies the message of Sigmar is incorporated into their throng ceremonies. The example holy site is a set of temples built up in the mountains, supposedly around the place where Sigmar himself sealed his alliance with one of the ancient tribes by killing the first of all Dragon Ogres. Each temple guards a spot on the pilgrimage route that retraces the Saga of Skarnarok, and the priests believe that some of the crags are actually the teeth and claws of the titanic monster. Thus, they may have once been anointed in Sigmar's blood, and have holy powers. Early archeologists work the area, looking for signs of the settlement of Siggurdsheim, the tribal capital of one of Sigmar's allies. Taal and Rhya are the most popular deities next to Sigmar in the central and eastern Empire, but they do not build huge urban temples the way other cults do. Shrines are more common, generally marking sacred spots out in the wilderness, with occasional 'temples' that are massive, shaped mounds of earth, rings of stones, or huge monoliths. Hey, Taalites and Rhyans are mound builders! The Taalites and Rhyans mostly leave their sacred sites alone, watching them from afar and only gathering there on important holy days, while worship is more generally conducted in private or among one's family. Rhyan shrines tend to incorporate a wheat field or other signs of agriculture, while Taalite shrines are built of untamed wood and set up to aid in initiation rites, to mark his role as the protector of passage to adulthood. Dedicated shrines of Rhya are fairly rare, since it's a common belief that anywhere you grow crops, or women gather to talk is a Rhyan shrine, as is every marriage bed. The Rock of Split Waters is a sacred site to both cults, where a huge monolith of granite marks a point where two tributaries of the River Stir come together. This represents the sacred union of Taal and Rhya, and pilgrims risk their lives to swim the rivers and climb the monolith to carve praise to the Gods at the top. Beastmen have been attacking the site lately, and devout PCs (or PCs willing to take money from the devout) may be hired to help protect it. Ulrican temples are built as defensible centers of the communities. Walls, gates, and storehouses (both for winter or for a siege) are common features, and most temples are built around a sacred flame that the priests must keep burning. Ulric wants you to have a defensive target so that you know when you've lost and should be ashamed of yourself. Ulrican services are quiet affairs, and most of a priest's work is done in private, behind closed doors. That way, a devout person can approach the priest to ask for help without being seen as weak. Quietly asking for someone to listen to your problems so that you can try to unravel them in the telling is considered reasonable among Ulricans. In their quieter moments, or among better priests who aren't quite as busy yelling about PECS and WOLVES and AXES at all hours, there is a persistent belief that Ulric works by revealing peoples' true strength and helping them understand that they are resilient enough to overcome their trials. Shrines of Ulric require no priest, and are usually simple altars where the first drink of the night can be poured for Ulric and weapons can be set down to be blessed before battle. Almost every barracks in the northern Empire has a shrine to Ulric. Ulric's holy place is the so-called Womb of the Wolf. Ulric's myths claim that in ancient days, he really loved sleeping with mortal women and having offspring with them. The Womb of the Wolf is not a sacred site to the mainline cult, but rather a hideout of those loveable squabbling fuckups, the Sons of Ulric. They believe in a myth where the daughter of the Teutogen chieftan in ancient days had a child by Ulric, but her father wouldn't believe her and drove her deep into the mountain Middenheim is built on. There, they say she was tended by Ulric's wolves until she gave birth. The Sons use it as a hideout, since they believe they are all Ulric's children. They also encourage female Sons (they don't call them daughters) to sleep in the area, in hopes Ulric will come to them and make more sons. Verenan temples are usually courts, schools, or libraries. You can't really have a Verenan temple unless it's one of those things, too. Courts dedicated to Verena are surprisingly rare, because a court has to be especially and auspiciously just in order to be consecrated to her, and most of the Empire's courts are either too easily bought or too easily manipulated by the nobility and the powerful. Verena's temple entry is surprisingly sparse, but her holy site rules. Ildebrand's Field marks the site where a zealous Sigmarite Witch Hunter held his final court. Ildebrand was infamous for his massive, theatrical show-trials, where he would arrive and start a huge spectacle, ending in burning people pretty much at random on the accusations of the locals. His trials were mockeries of justice, arbitrary affairs devoted to theater rather than finding the truth. One day, he showed up at town of Silburwurt in Reikland, and set up his court. The first person brought before him was the usual helpless old woman who lived alone at the edge of town, and he began his usual bellowing of accusations as she became incoherent with fear. Then he pronounced his verdict: She was just an old woman who lived alone, not a heretic. In every case he faced that day, he could not do as he normally did, and instead handed down just and true verdicts, much to his own surprise. Suddenly, he found himself investigating why people had brought their neighbors to him, discovering many had property their neighbors wished to confiscate. In one case, he discovered an accuser was a secret cultist of Khaine who viewed 'getting a guy murdered by an insane Witch Hunter' as a great way to assassinate someone, and captured the real heretic for trial and execution. At the end, he passed judgement on himself as a murderer for the many innocents he'd burned, and hung himself. A temple of Verena has been built around the tree, while Sigmarites grumble that this was obviously the work of the Ruinous Powers. The other Gods, for some reason, don't have the same kinds of write-ups for their cult temples and holy sites. We get a site for Myrmidia where a Myrmidian captain with no unit managed to slow down 200 orcs by herself, and a Shallyan temple built in the middle of Sylvania that the vamps have never managed to bring down because any that try get incinerated by holy power. We also get the High Temple of Handrich, which pointedly accepts no gifts nor offers charity, but instead the priests run 'shops' and 'investment booths' to offer to help wealth trickle down and move into the community, because Marienburgers. What is supposed to help move money and develop the community is already developing into a generalized atmosphere of sacred loan-sharking as they continue to accidentally invent capitalism. Pilgrimages get a lot of page space but generally aren't very interesting; you know how these work. You walk a holy route, you pray along the way, you stay in hostelries and hope you don't die on the road, many people use them as the one legitimate excuse to travel (or a good way to get out of debts or criminal charges and never come home). Pilgrimages are big, big business. Religious tourism is a huge source of income for any Imperial town that either has a holy site, or sits on a pilgrimage route. The example Shallyan pilgrimage has our favorite flaw in Hams writing: Everyone on it dies. Everyone. Only one percent of pilgrims survive the walk from Altdorf to Couronne, according to the book, because they're all sick when they start and it's a dangerous route, despite being a well-patrolled mercantile route through Axe Bite Pass and Montfort. Really, guys, we don't need the massive mass death to convince people travel is dangerous. Some of the famous pilgrimages are interesting, though: Sigmar's Walk is a general pilgrimage out east, visiting holy sites on a two-month walking tour meant to symbolize Sigmar's walk away from the Empire. This is the sort of 'normal' pilgrimage that doesn't kill everyone that goes on it, since it mostly travels through well-patrolled lands in the southern Empire. Soldier's Walk is a Myrmidian pilgrimage intended to wash away the guilt of what a soldier has done in war, traveling from a soldier's home to the home of the greatest of soldiers (Myrmidia) in either Remas (Tilea) or Magritta (Estalian). Bandits have long since learned not to attack those pilgrims. They might only be carrying a pilgrim's staff, but you don't take that pilgrimage without being a hardened veteran, and they're usually more trouble than they're worth. Manaanite pilgrimages go along the river routes of the Empire out towards the sea. Taalites and Rhyans travel among the standing stones and through rough wilderness, and their pilgrimages tend to be short and dangerous due to Goatman Prime hiding behind every goddamn bush. We also get a Pilgrim class, which is a weird sort of Tier 1.5 class that gets lots of traveling and knowledge skills, higher stats than a 1st tier ought to, but is offered in the Career Compendium as a starting class. It can be entered from absolutely any class, and exits into being a traveler, outlaw, demagogue, or starting Initiate. It's a really weird class. Next Time: The Life of Priests
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Oct 5, 2018 16:57
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FFRRPG Part 13: Combat part 2, that is a lot of ways to say die Welcome to the status portion of combat, statuses are grouped into types, for the most part immunities and cure items target those groups rather than individual statuses. There's a lot more stuff with I: Fatal than I: Death. Fatal Statuses Death: The target hits 0hp, they are done. Condemned: When the timer runs out it inflicts death. Eject: The target is removed from battle, enemies give no xp/gp/items. Frozen: The target can't act and if they take physical damage they shatter and die. Heat: If the target takes any actions they explode and die. Gravity: Oh how the mighty have fallen, This used to not fall under fatal and bosses get I:Fatal free. Which means any % damage effect doesn't work on them, so your time mage can't chuck demi for 999 damage to bosses. Near-Fatal: Instant 1hp. Mystify Berserk: The target can only use attack actions but deals +50% damage. Charm: Whoever charmed the target control's their actions. Considering the difference in PC and monster hp, a charmed PC can wipe the party. Confuse: Roll on a table to see how you will act! Unaware: Basically surprised, in fact this is the status that you get from being surprised. Toxin Poison: Lose 10% of current hp each turn. Doesn't expire. Venom: Lose 10% of max hp&mp each turn. Doesn't expire. Seal Blind: Reduce your Accuracy by 75% with physical attacks. (Yes, after calculating, have fun.) Curse: You can't use slow actions. Petrify: When the timer runs out it inflicts stone. Sleep: You can't act but any damage wakes you. Stone: You can't act or take damage. Doesn't expire. Time Disable: You can't use Attack, Item, Defend or Escape. Laugh at this puny status if the GM hands it out. Immobilize: Evade% 0, and no reactions. Sap: At the end of round take damage equal to initiative*5. Slow: Initiative is halved. Stop: You can't act, all other statuses are on pause until the timer runs out. Transform Mini: Reduce Arm&M.Arm by 50%, reduce physical damage dealt to 1. Toad: Reduce Arm&M.Arm by 50%, reduce attack actions to 1 damage, can only use the toad spell. Zombie: Take damage from healing. Weaken Agility Down/Break: -25/50 Eva% and Acc%, -2/4 Init. Spirit Down/Break: -25/50 M.Eva% and M.Acc%. Lock: -20 Eva&M.Eva% Armor Down/Break: -25/50% Armor. Mental Down/Break: -25/50% M.Armor Power Down/Break: -25/50% Physical damage. Magic Down/Break: -25/50% Magical damage. Meltdown: 0 Armor/M.Armor Barrier Element Spikes: Deal 2*Mag damage of the chosen element to attacks, uhhh it's cute when the black mage gets it? Protect: Take half damage from physical attacks. Shell: Take half damage from magical attacks. Resist: I: Fatal, Mystify, Seal, Time, Transform, Weaken Wall: Remember why paladins are broken cheese at lvl64? This status is why. Shield: Take wall, add resist, remove the ability to be broken by debarrier&despell. You have shield. It's on a single white mage spell that applies it for the round applied and the following. Strenghen Accelerate: Raises speed for movement..... Accuracy Up: Acc% becomes 255 Critical Up: +10% Crit Chance Blink: +20 Eva% Ruse: +40 Eva% Agility Up: +25 Eva%&Acc%, +2 init Spirit Up: +25 M.Eva%&M.Acc% Armor Up: +25% Armor Mental Up: +25% M.Armor Power Up: +25% Physical Damage Magic Up: +25% Magical Damage Flight: Can only be hit by ranged attacks. Float: I:Earth, also some stuff involving movement. Aura: Halves all charge times. Haste: Gives you extreme initiative, I mean doubles iniative Mp Half: Halves mp costs. Mp Quarter: Reduces mp costs by 25%. Vanish: Enemies can't target you with single target effects, group attacks still work. Right also, I forgot an essential rule about the initiative system. If your initiative is over 30 you get extreme initiative. If you have extreme initiative you get two turns, once at your rolled initiative and once at your initiative -30, now this is really hard barring a faster class and race, or you know haste. I suggest haste. Haste is stupid, the entire time mage class is justified on the idea of not giving the white mage haste, no joke. This is NOT continuing the trend of interesting initiative positioning this is just "Haste gives you two turns.", so i honestly consider it less a combat rule and more a property of haste and the Thief's footwork ability. WhitemageofDOOM fucked around with this message at 22:29 on Oct 6, 2018 |
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Oct 5, 2018 19:22
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Having fifty billion statuses makes them less interesting, that's my hot take on this. Also Haste, as usual, is completely busted, which surprises absolutely no one.
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Oct 5, 2018 20:45
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Someday game designers will realize just how game-breakingly powerful loving with the action economy is. Someday.
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Oct 5, 2018 20:49
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Cythereal posted:Someday game designers will realize just how game-breakingly powerful loving with the action economy is. Someday. I think Double Cross is one of the only games I've seen that has action economy fuckery (and pet classes) without breaking the game in half, specifically because it realizes exactly how powerful they are and makes action economy fuckery into high end 'once or twice a battle' special attacks. E: Like, it puts 'take a second turn' on par with 'hit an entire AoE of guys pretty hard with an attack they can't dodge or block.' Night10194 fucked around with this message at 20:53 on Oct 5, 2018 |
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Oct 5, 2018 20:51
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It's theoretically possible to balance multiple actions, but the same games that play with multiple action mechanics tend to make Dex the God-Stat and make offense much more powerful than defense. I'm looking at you, White Wolf.
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Oct 5, 2018 20:57
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Monathin posted:Having fifty billion statuses makes them less interesting, that's my hot take on this. Most of which are just variants on death, or otherwise overlap with eachother. The worst are the down/break statuses which are just the same but different strengths. quote:Also Haste, as usual, is completely busted, which surprises absolutely no one. It really is, double initiative is perfectly good on it's own in the system because of CT and the ability to get an extra turn on your statuses. But extreme initiative just makes haste busted.
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Oct 6, 2018 08:23
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FFRRPG Part 14: Some other stuff Chapter 8: Magic Because mage abilities should be seperate from their jobs. Chapter 9: Adventuring aka regaining hp&mp. Interestingly there are more than just "Sleep at an inn." A breather(15 minute rest) will restore 5% max hp&mp. A break(1 hour rest) will restore 10% max hp&mp. A fitful rest(3-4 hour rest with a meal) will restore 25% max hp&mp. A travel rest(8 hours and some sleep) will restore 50% max hp&mp. A full rest(8 hours and a decent sleep) will restore 75% and restore dead&stone. An intensive rest(A full day) will restore all hp&mp. That's....not bad actually, one of the few rules that treats the game as an rpg and not just a mechanics simulator, Breather's should be reasonably plentiful and can help and breaks aren't unreasonable being a pretty decent heal. The split between travel&full could go just being 10%/25%/50%/75%(+stone/dead)/100%, but the core rule is solid. The heal skill's effect on resting is explained, it allows you to with some seriously random modifier's upgrade a rest type by one category. Which makes the heal skill actually somewhat relevant. After healing we have towns, and besides shopping there's a price list of random services you can't buy if the gil economy matters. (I so loathe when the magic/adventuring economy and service economy don't use different currencies.) Then you have rules about navigation(a paragraph), scavenging crafting materials(more than a paragraph), weather, and shelter. Chapter 10: Gamemastering A mostly blah blah blah chapter.....but..... quote:As prevalent as combat is in the Final Fantasy series, it’s a seriously time-consuming proposition on the tabletop. Running battles with the same frequency players of the e-games are used to leaves room for little else, meaning you’ll inevitably have to choose quality over quantity when planning your encounters. Really? quote:The suggested XP and Gil awards given in this book are designed so that each character gains a Level after four or five encounters, or about one Level per session. This is a good rate of growth for a typical campaign—assuming one game session a week, the characters will go from Level 1 novices to Level 65+ champions in a little more than one year. Four or five combat encounters to level. Because yeah this game has no guidelines or suggestion you ever should give exp for anything but stabbing. and of course this gem. quote:Theft and Rewards gently caress thieves, literally "This class is weaker in combat to make up for breaking the economy, so give them less rewards." WHAT THE CHRIST. Next time: Monster creation, OH GOOOOODDIEEEE WhitemageofDOOM fucked around with this message at 22:30 on Oct 6, 2018 |
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Oct 6, 2018 11:34
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I'm glad they took the time to say gently caress you in particular to Thieves, that's something their game needed more than any of the thousand things it needed more.
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Oct 6, 2018 13:29
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If you wanted to be a support asset who makes up for reducing the teams combat effectiveness by existing, make sure your gm doesn't realize that the gil you generate actually might make you useful or the rules say to hit ya with the nerfbat.
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Oct 6, 2018 13:33
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Of course there's no EXP for non-combat sources, this is Final Fantasy. There's no non-combat EXP in Final Fantasy  If Returners FFRPG was less up its rear end about slavishly emulating video game mechanics, there's bits of it I like, but it seems entirely designed for fidelity to game mechanics rather than actually being playable. It also can't make up its mind whether it wants to be full "EVERYTHING IS COMPLETELY FAITHFUL TO HOW THEY ARE MECHANICALLY IN THE GAMES" and "Oh make up the stats for this stuff yourself."
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Oct 6, 2018 18:29
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OvermanXAN posted:Of course there's no EXP for non-combat sources, this is Final Fantasy. There's no non-combat EXP in Final Fantasy
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Oct 6, 2018 18:35
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Any game that assumes you're running 4-5 combats a session is probably not a good game..
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Oct 6, 2018 20:43
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Leraika posted:Any game that assumes you're running 4-5 combats a session is probably not a good game. What? My player group loves combats.
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Oct 6, 2018 20:50
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Humbug Scoolbus posted:What? My player group loves combats. When the combats take as long as they do in a game like ffRPG 3e it's probably bad, though.
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Oct 6, 2018 20:55
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Humbug Scoolbus posted:What? My player group loves combats. Even if you love combat, unless encounter length is exceedingly short, 4-5 encounters is a very long time investment, especially here where combat is not exactly fast paced (Which it even ADMITS). Unless play sessions are very long, expecting 4-5 combats per session is unrealistic. It's not that that much combat frequency is bad, per say, it's that to get that you need to be running long sessions with essentially nothing but linked combat encounters.
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Oct 6, 2018 20:55
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Monathin posted:When the combats take as long as they do in a game like ffRPG 3e it's probably bad, though. Yeah, it's fine for something like Feng Shui where it's more like a setpiece but something where you have to whittle stuff down? No thanks.
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Oct 6, 2018 22:02
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Is it longer than a Champions combat? That's what we usually play these days.
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Oct 7, 2018 01:23
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Unlike my previous attempts at doing a F&F, I've completed this one before posting. So join me in exploring the...  Introduction Eveningstar was one of the first modules I ever bought, but I never ran it. This is probably why I still have friends and am allowed to run games. Written for AD&D 2e, The Haunted Halls are a sort of beginner dungeon set near the painfully twee village of Eveningstar in Cormyr in the Forgotten Realms. The cover declares that the module is suitable for characters level 1-5. The Halls were created by dwarves working on commission from a long dead bandit lord, Rivior. They're rumoured to be full of monsters and treasures, and literally act as a MMO style beginner dungeon - the book states that at least one party of newly fledged adventurers turns up each summer to try their luck in the halls. The monsters in the halls don't actively threaten the village, they're just there. The book has a description of the village, which has 400 residents and an awful lot of shops and taverns for the size, though that is partially explained by being on a major caravan route. The village is ruled by Lord Tessaril Winter, a human Fighter/MU who used to adventure under the guise of Tessar the mage. As her Fighter level is less than her Wizard level, every time she uses a wizard spell, she would gain no experience - she's basically retired two fighter levels too early. She also has a magic healing helm that exists as a way for the GM to provide healing to the party if they come back with dead members or suffering from Green Slime or Mummy related issues. There are a few other NPCs detailed, including two low level wizards (one of them hiding their abilities for no known reason), some fighters, the Priests of the temple, and a Zhentarim agent. All these people are very boring. Tessaril's stat block lends credence to the idea that the halls are maintained as a starter dungeon; I think she'd be able to storm through them solo with no issues. If she does get into problems, she can summon up some Cormyran war wizards to blast things. There are also a couple of non-hall areas of interest, though one, despite having quite good treasure for the taking has no clues that there's treasure there, and the other is a trap-filled, treasure-less gently caress you to curious players. The only mildly interesting feature in Eveningstar are the winged cats, which have human level intelligence and can be persuaded to become wizard familiars. We're going to be exploring the dungeon with the following level one party. They've got no thief and no automatic secret door detection, the latter of which is more of a problem than the former, as the map is riddled with secret doors. Fortunately most of them hide empty rooms. Secret doors hiding empty rooms. WTF, Haunted Halls? Aiden Skullshirt - Human Fighter Bhed the Blue - Human Paladin Magonna Silverkin - Human Conjurer (+2 dogs) Janie Greensleeves - Human Druid (+3 dogs) Quota Greensleeves - Half-elf Cleric/Fighter As well as standard equipment, Mags and Janie have a total of 5 war dogs between them. The Mythic Game Master Emulator was used to provide some randomness to the party's decisions. Village and journey to the halls Having heard of the treasure in the halls, the party arrives in the village. They pay for a week's lodging at one of the two inns, then go to mingle and discover what they can about the area and the halls. Shrugging off comments about 'Adventurer season starting early', they spread a bit of money around at the tavern buying rounds for the locals. A 9 is rolled on the reaction table, which would normally be Indifferent, but they're buying the drinks, and it's early in the season - they're not yet sick of wanna-be adventurers this year, so a -2 bonus ups the reaction to Friendly. The party learns both that the obvious ruined Fort is not the halls and about the hut of Old Meg, a long dead village witch. Hearing about the visitor, Tessaril visits the tavern, ostensibly to socialise with her people, but actually to give them the magical third degree. Finding no more than the usual adventurer's desire for riches and excitement, the party is allowed to continue their evening in peace. The next day, the group stops by the hardware store to pick up some light - a hooded lantern and a few flasks of oil. Fully equipped, they head off on the path towards the Halls, intending to stop and have a poke around the ruins of the witches hut enroute. They spend some time examining the charred flagstones and tapping at them with, eventually finding the hidden compartment which contains some coins and Old Meg's spell book. The game leaves the contents of the spellbook to the GM, and doesn't say what level Meg was, so I decide she was a level 5 necromancer. Level 1 - chill touch, detect undead , feather fall , message, wall of fog, wizard mark Level 2 - detect evil (r) , levitate , Melf's acid arrow , shatter , spectral hand, strength Level 3 - fly [P 149], hold undead , protection from evil 10' (r), vampiric touch Changes I'd make in a real game Have the notes in the spellbook mention the tomb in Pillar Rock (see below) in some capacity, to let the characters know it's there and spark something else for them to explore. Packing the book away for later study, the group continue on, ignoring the overgrown path to the left (which leads to the undescribed 'Pillar Rock' below which there is an old tomb.) GG adventure, spend time describing the village dump, but not a location that the party might actually be interested in. The party travel safely up the Starwater gorge, undisturbed by wandering monsters. Finally they arrive at the area of the gorge and spot the fissures in the western wall that lead towards the halls and an owlbear lair. Investigating the first of these, Janie recognises the scent of owlbear and warns the party against continuing. Aiden goes "gently caress that, are you chicken or something?" and continues in. The party look at each other and hang back, waiting for the screams. Aiden advances into the caves, alert for any trouble, which means he's unsurprised as an owlbear attacks him from the south branch of the caves. At the mouth of the caves, the rest of the party sees the furred and feathered shape rush forwards to attack Aiden, as a loud, bass HOOT reverberates through the cave. Vs Owlbear Round 1 Aiden and the party win initiative; Aiden swings, but misses. Bhed charges and swings, dealing 7 damage, Quota charges, swings and misses. The unleashed dogs deal a total of 12 damage. Janie and Magonna both loiter at the back and send sling stones in the general direction of the owlbear. Aiden's second attack hits and does 9 damage, Total party damage to the owlbear is 25 points, and it still has 13 points. Normally a creature that's taken so much damage would have to make a morale check, but the module declares that the owlbear fights to the death, so it attacks Aiden, dealing glancing blows with both claws, but missing with the beak. Round 2 Party goes first again. Dogs are MVP as everyone except them misses. Owlbear on 3 HP after dog attack. The Owlbear lashes out wildly at the dogs, wounding, but not killing two of them. Round 3 The owlbear grabs one of the hounds between its two paws and starts squeezing it, whilst managing to peck at a second one. Aiden's second attack hits and kills the owlbear before it can seriously injure the dog. "See? Nothing to worry about," crows Aiden, ignoring the blood running down his arm. Janie and Mags are more concerned about their dogs than the fighter's victory dance. Meanwhile Quota has a search of the caves and finds an old sack with 71gp in it. Next, the party enters the halls proper, and you can be amazed at the terrible map.
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Oct 7, 2018 11:25
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FFRRPG Part 15: Monster creation, I mean Appendixes These aren't on the site, you need to download the pdf for them. First off we have summons which you know couldn't go in the magic chapter for some reason. Second off we have the crafting rules including inventions and mix, crafting except for inventions uses generic crafting materials and mix uses standard combat items. No, but we aren't here for that are we? No we are here to see just HOW BADLY they hosed up monster creation. Let's start with the obvious, there are no guidelines, no predefined roles, just miles and miles and miles of modifiers. Secondly how might you think it works? Maybe determine monster base stats as pure multipliers, assign some special abilities that increase with levels and weaknesses give some more to spend, maybe a mandatory elemental weakness even? NOPE NONE OF THAT poo poo. Monster's get 35+Level STAT POINTS, like the kind PC's use. But it gets better, after that you THEN get to assign things like hp, mp, armor etc. multipliers. You would think if you want a high hp monster you would give it high vit, high hp multiplier...which leads to high hp monster's being VERY high indeed. Which will see. Also speaking of armor multipliers while armor is stupid monster armor goes up with level your damage goes up every few levels this is actually pretty noticeable at 1-6 as your damage goes down and down by almost relevant amounts and their hp goes up by definitely relevant amounts. And the most expensive thing of all to build? Attacks, and each one has to be paid for separately, in fact monsters don't even get a basic attack that itself has to be bought, and an attack doing 50% more damage is doing more than x3 hp or just causing instant death. In fact, let's just build some monsters to show off! Because I am NOT going over EVERY SINGLE MONSTER ABILITY However some highlights * Multible forms that switch cost more exp than spawning a monster on death or having two monsters. * Monster attacks can't have charge times. * Can't Scan and Bad scan exist, just, WHY. * You can't have a monster counter with an attack it doesn't have, no joke, it has to be able to spam the attack to be able to counter with. * If the intent is to give 1gp per 3xp, why not just DO THAT instead of having separate XP/GP values on abilities? First, let's build some standards. All customized monsters will be level 22. For the first 3 we will build monster's like you are "Supposed" to, and for the last one....Well I called them kill reapers for a reason, and they called me obsessed but they exist to show why the monster creation rules Make NO sense. Our first monster's will be Mind flayers. We immediately give them the following Stats. Str: 1 Vit: 10 Agi: 1 Spd: 10 Mag: 15 Vit: 10 They have a base xp value of 40. We give them the normal hp multiplier, x2. They need mp so, x1 there. +15xp They are "weak" to physicals so x.5. -5xp but "resistant" to magic so x2 +10xp. Now for some attacks, we give them two blue magic spells Stare and Matra Magic +33xp...each We also give them a normal attack with a d6 damage code(and despite doing physical damage, it uses mag, obviously.) +8xp Our Mind Flayer now looks like this. Hp: 968 Mp: 220 Spd: 10 Arm:16 M.Arm: 49 Eva%: 33 M.Eva%: 47 Acc: 103% M.Acc: 174% Matra Magic: 36MP, Target: Single, 225+4d8 - M.Arm damage Stare: 36MP, Target: Group, 135+2d8 - M.Arm damage with a M.Acc-50% chance to inflict confuse Tentacle Slap: Target: Single, 75+3d6 - Arm damage Level 22 Exp: 2,464 Gil: 1,408 Normally I would have to do items, but sod that. Let's give those Mind flayers some protection. Rune golems get the following Stats Str: 24 Vit: 24 Agi: 1 Spd: 5 Mag: 1 Spr: 1 Rune golems clearly have plenty of hp, x4 for +18 xp Rune golems are heavily armored x2 for both, +20xp The first thing i wanted to do was give rune golems the ability to counter when mind flayers are attacked, but that isn't in the rules, and we are going by those. Instead we give them the cover and sentiniel abilities from the paladin. +10xp each. We also only give them a single attack a d10 damage attack(+30xp), with a 30% chance to inflict silence(+10xp) However Golems ARE slow, let's give them the low evade&low m.evade abilities. -33xp each Also golems are not alive and also mindless, we give them I:Fatal(25xp) and I:Mystify(18xp) Our finished Rune golem looks like this Hp: 2,112 Spd: 5 Arm: 56 M.Arm: 44 Eva%: 17% M.Eva%: 13 Acc%: 103% Cover Sentiniel Rune Smash: Target: Single, 144+1d10 damage and a 30% chance to silence I: Fatal, Mystify Exp: 2,596 Gp: 858 Those two went swimmingly, let's build a boss. Bosses base exp is 225, they get 4x hp/mp and I:fatal as well as some boss only abilities, like field effects(Wait why are those monster and not encounter tied?) After the Mind Flayers and Rune golems there is only one choice of Boss. A DRAGON OBVIOUSLY! No, the Elder Brain! Let's make some stats! For base stat's the mind flayer's works fine. 15 Mag, 10 Vit/Spd/Spr The Elder brain is much tougher than previous enemies, at x6 hp for +40 xp The Elder brain also has a x2 mp multiplier, for +35 xp Like the lesser mind flayer's the elder brain is weak to physicals -5exp, but is heavily armored against magic getting x4 m.arm +19exp It's mind is too powerful to overcome it gains I:Mystify. For attacks it keeps the Stare and Matra magic attacks of it's lesser cousins. We also create a single target charm effect called enthrall, because eh it's cheaper and less MP than the spell. 48xp Finally we give it a normal attack using a d6 called mind spike, to round out it's attacks. We also give it X-Action, because it's a boss and needs to murder an entire party. +80xp And seeing as it LITERALLY can't move, we apply low evasion. (because auto-immobilize isn't an option.) Elder Brain Hp: 5,280 Mp: 1,760 Spd: 10 Arm: 16 M.Arm: 93 Eva%: 16 M.Eva%: 47 M.Acc%: 174 Matra Magic: 36MP, Target: Single, 225+4d8 - M.Arm damage Stare: 36MP, Target: Group, 135+2d8 - M.Arm damage with a M.Acc-50% chance to inflict confuse Enthrall: Mp: 54 Target: Single, M.Acc-50-M.Eva Chance of Charm Mind Spike: Target: Single, 75+3d6 - M.Arm damage I: Fatal, Mystify X-Action Exp: 9,592 Gil: 3,278 Finally of course the Kill Reaper Notably not notorious because I was just obsessed with them not I was using them as an example of something busted in the engine. We set our hp to 4x. +18xp We dump both Arm&M.Arm. -10xp We also dump Evade% and M.Evade%. -66Xp We take one attack, Reaping Scythe a flat 60% chance to inflict death(we class it as whatever the party can't lock). +67 Hp: 2,112 Spd: 30 Arm: 23 M.Arm: 11 Evade%: 26 M.Eva%: 12 Reaping Scythe: Target: Single, 60% chance to inflict death Exp: 1,078 Gp: 352 So according to their formula's, that kill reaper who gets extreme iniative every round, has 2k hp, and has a straight 60% chance to inflict death. Is half as strong as the mind flayer, it's barely stronger than a monster with no abilities! Now, I'm not going to go do all that math and suffering, without MORE math and suffering. Let's see JUST how terrible this system is, there's a reason every monster was level 22. Give me 5 characters to fight the following 3 encounters (with a break between each.) 3 Mind Flayers + 3 Rune Golems The Elder Brain + 2 Rune Golems 2 Kill Reapers Any class except thief(because economy) and inventor(because I don't want to touch that), is an acceptable choice, level is 22 and you can just tell me what classes you want to see. Skills will be assumed at 90%(It should be 92% but meh.) WhitemageofDOOM fucked around with this message at 10:54 on Oct 8, 2018 |
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Oct 7, 2018 17:04
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Dragoon, because you can't go wrong with a turn of invincibility followed by good damage.
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Oct 7, 2018 17:10
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Bard because it'd be a shame if you made all these monsters and no one showed
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Oct 7, 2018 18:14
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Blue Mage because let's face it, blue magic broke Final Fantasy V.
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Oct 7, 2018 18:26
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Whatever class you think Hildibrand is.
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Oct 7, 2018 19:27
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Angrymog posted:Unlike my previous attempts at doing a F&F, I've completed this one before posting. Spoil me here, since this is an Ed Greenwood adventure, does it have any Weird Sex poo poo(tm)? Because Ed sure loves inviting players to his magical realm.
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Oct 7, 2018 20:05
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Owlbears always make me smile. My first ever exposure to D&D was the D&D Arcade Game, and I remember running into those and thinking 'The hell is this. It's an owl and a bear. This is silly.'
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Oct 7, 2018 20:16
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Include a White Mage since you said they're required.
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Oct 7, 2018 20:19
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Night10194 posted:Owlbears always make me smile. My first ever exposure to D&D was the D&D Arcade Game, and I remember running into those and thinking 'The hell is this. It's an owl and a bear. This is silly.' A couple of sessions ago, we rescued an owlbear cublet from black puddings and returned the fledgling to its parents. :3 Then we ran like hell because two full-grown owlbears defending their young? Oh, no.
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Oct 7, 2018 20:58
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Always be helping adorable baby monsters.
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Oct 7, 2018 21:01
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Oct 7, 2018 22:34
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FFRRPG Part 15: Example characters Our party looks pretty good actually! Overman is a yeti dragoon Str:24 Vit:26 Agi: 1 Spd:8 Mag: 1 Spr: 1 He's maxed out his possible investment in vit, and dedicated himself to strengh otherwise, Spd 8 is enough to hit lancet if he needs it after all and he only REALLY needs cherry blossom. Godna is a yeti bard, because yeti's also make the best bards....I checked. Moogles look tempting but low Vit man. Str: 1 Vit: 18 Agi: 1 Spd: 20 Mag: 11 Spr: 11 He's maxed out both vitality and speed, He's balancing mag and spr growth now for more damage and more success%. Snorb is our resident midget, a Taru Taru blue mage. Str:1 Vit: 16 Agi: 1 Spd: 12 Mag: 15 Spr: 16 He surprisingly hasn't capped his SPR! only at a 16 out of 26! However this is because this a one shot, if it was a real game you would make him have 26 spirit. (Technically 27 but odd points don't add to hp/mp.) Hildebrand is a human(boooo) magic knight, under the theory both magic knights and Hildebrand are awesome. Str: 19 Vit: 14 Agi: 1 Spd: 16 Mag: 1 Spr: 10 He has a relatively balanced spread of stats, in a real game again this isn't possible. Sirphoeboes brings up the rear as our second midgit, being a taru taru white mage. Str: 1 Vit: 10 Agi: 1 Spd: 4 Mag: 15 Spr: 30 Sirphobeoes has burnt all pretense of speed for hitpoints and most importantly mp, the whitemage wants to go first(to throw up protective statuses) or last(heal) at this level group protects don't really exist. After a quick shopping Trip of 15,000 gp, and spell selection we can look at our heroes. Overman's Final Stats Hp: 437 Spd:8 Acc%: 144 Evade%: 9 M.Eva%: 2 Arm: 50 M.Arm: 22 Viper Halberd (Rank 6)- 13*Str(338) + 3d12 damage Soldier's Armor- 21 Arm, 15 M.Arm, +1 Str Cross Helmet- 9 Arm, 7 M.Arm, +1 Str No armwear No Accessory Jump: Does 676 + 3d12*2 damage. Cherry Blossom: Does 254 + 3d12*.75 damage. Lancet: 423 + 3d12*1.25 damage Overman despite what his vit might say is no tank when it comes to arm, but he can certainly lay down the smack down. Godna's Final Stats Hp: 299 Spd: 20 Expertise%: 99 Eva%: 21 M.Eva%: 22 Arm: 23 M.Arm: 24 No Weapon Survival Vest- 13 Arm, 13 M.Arm, +10% Expertise Triangle Hat- 4 Arm, 6 M.Arm, +1 Mag No Armwear Guard Braclet- Auto-Protect, Auto-Shell. These are a rank 7 accessory that costs 12,000gp to buy. It says a lot i buy 3 of them. Water Rondo: 12 + 1d12 damage Foe Requiem: 48 + 2d12 damage, 30% chance of curse Silence Song: 84 + 2d12 damage, 30% chance of silence Godna here is going to be invaluable for one thing, MASS SLEEP. Snorb's Final Stats Hp: 276 Mp: 276 Spd:13 M.Acc%: 152 Eva%: 13 M.Eva%: 31 Arm: 10 M.Arm: 13 Mage Staff, 2*Mag(32) + 1d8 damage, +1 mag Mantra Band- 7 Arm, 9 M.Arm, +1 Speed No headwear No armband Guard Braclet- Auto-Protect, Auto-Shell Spells Known: Level1ish- Flash(4xmag and blind all enemies), Choco-ball(4xmag x1.5 if they are flying), Leap(8x str and armor down) level2ish?- Flamethrower(8xmag single target), Poison Gas(poison all enemies), Blaster(4xmag and immobilize all enemies), Hastebreak(Inflict agility break or if agi down/break is there inflict slow and refresh), Nightfall(Sleep EVERYONE) Level3ish?- Death Force(Give I:Fatal), Drillshot(Make an attack ignoring weapon abilities that ignores armor) Hope you learn that blue magic in the example! also multible strengh based damage spells, sigghhhh bluemages. 4xMag= 64 8xMag= 128 Remember how I said blue magic was random? There really aren't good level3ish blue magic spells. Hildebrand Hp: 276 Mp: 207 Spd:16 Acc%: 154 Eva%: 17 M.Eva%: 15 Arm: 47 M.Arm: 32 Break Knuckle- 10 * Str (210) + 4d6 damage, stone touch. Soldier's Armor- 21 Arm, 15 M.Arm, +1 Str Cross Helm- 9 Arm, 7 M.Arm, +1 Str Savage Gauntlet- 5 Arm, 2 M.Arm, +10% Acc No Accessory Spellblades Elements: He has 4 but i don't CARE Status: Sleep(10mp), Slow(15), Silence(15), Confuse(30), Blind(10mp) Effect: Drain Strike(30 mp, delicious hp hildebrand must eat it) Hildebrand is lynchpin number 2 of the parties strategy, ie spam seal statuses, I:Seal would wreck this team. Hildebrand could have taken meltdown strike instead of drain strike which is drill shot that ignores barriers except shield, like say wall. He also does the 2nd most damage. Sir phoeboes Hp: 184 Mp: 460 Spd: 4 M.Acc%: 152 Eva%: 5 M.Eva%: 45 Arm: 15 M.Arm: 20 Mage Staff, 2xMag (34)+1d6 damage, +1 Mag No Body Armor Triangle Hat, 4 Arm, 6 M.Arm, +1 Mag Echo Wrist, 5 Arm, 6 M.Arm, I:Seal Guard Bracelet- Auto-Protect, Auto-Shell Spells level1- Aero, Cure, Elemental Guard, Poisona, Scan, Sight- 68+d8 Level2- Berserk, Fade, Faith, Stona- 136+2d8 Level3- Cura, Aera, Brave- 204+3d8/153+3d8*.75 Brave can up Overman or Hildebrad's damage by 25% assuming sir phoeboes has the free turn from spamming mass cura for 153hp. Yes he can basically full heal himself with group cure, no this will only get more true with time since his hp multiplier has maxed out while his magic is only a bit above half. The party has around 6k left between them, I could buy an item for someone.... Or i could buy 56 tinctures which heal 15mp, and 5 phoenix downs. Yeah obvious choice. Also LOOK at the diffrences in those stats, freaking LOOK. Also look how irrelevant Arm&M.Arm are, blocking 15-50 damage. WhitemageofDOOM fucked around with this message at 10:16 on Oct 8, 2018 |
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Oct 7, 2018 22:56
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PurpleXVI posted:Spoil me here, since this is an Ed Greenwood adventure, does it have any Weird Sex poo poo(tm)? Because Ed sure loves inviting players to his magical realm. It has implied wierd sex poo poo.
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Oct 8, 2018 01:03
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Night10194 posted:Owlbears always make me smile. My first ever exposure to D&D was the D&D Arcade Game, and I remember running into those and thinking 'The hell is this. It's an owl and a bear. This is silly.' Owlbears for me are one of the quintessential D&D monsters, because they follow the mythological mashup style, but are something new.
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Oct 8, 2018 08:07
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Angrymog posted:Owlbears for me are one of the quintessential D&D monsters, because they follow the mythological mashup style, but are something new. I imagine this has probably been posted before in this very thread, but the Owlbear, along with a lot of other classic D&D monsters, was basically Gygax's table's interpretation of these beautifully lovely plastic toys: http://diterlizzi.com/essay/owlbears-rust-monsters-and-bulettes-oh-my/ The Owlbear is the third one from the right in the first image. You can also spot a Rust Monster on the lower left, and a Bulette front and center.
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Oct 8, 2018 15:15
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