This clarification is for DF Felltower.
Add the following sentence to the end of the spell description:
"Damage from Fire Cloud is treated normally for setting fires."
In other words, a level 3+ Fire Cloud will partially light up clothes, etc. per the usual GURPS rules (p. B434 or DFRPG Exploits, p. 68), assuming a full turn spent in the area of the spell. It takes a level 6 Fire Cloud (and thus Magery 6*) to do that to anything that passes through the area effect. The note about lighting the easily ignited happens if the subject spends any part of a turn in a Fire Cloud area effect, regardless of the intensity of the damage inflicted - even a 1-point Fire Cloud is sufficient.
* We always allow all spells to cap at the level Magery if it exceeds the listed spell maximum.
Monday, October 14, 2024
Saturday, October 12, 2024
Who Gets the Magic Item You Found? - Addenda
This is related to Who Gets the Magic Item You Found?
Who is actually going to use it?
Another option for handing out magic items is simply, who will actually use it? This approach hands off items - especially charged or consumable items, although not always - to the person most likely to actually use it. Yes, the high-DX Thief might actually be the best person to give a grenade-type potion to, but if the Thief isn't ever going to be ready to throw it, it's not a great choice. The wizard might be the most likely to use a wand, even if giving it to another PC means you have multiple sources of magical attack. The cleric might benefit the most from an undead-turning item, but if the cleric will generally end up healing and not turning, giving it to someone else might be a better solution. Somethings this isn't template or character based, but player based - some players are more likely to hold on to items until they really need it, others to use it whever it seems like a good choice. Conversely, you might keep certain items away from certain PCs or players because they're unlikely to use it well - the guy who insists on using his new-fangled Wand of Fireballs every fight, or who tosses back rare potions just to get to use them up. This approach chooses actually basic utility over maximal utility, either chosen to avoid waste or avoid lack of use.
Finders, Keepers
Even in a cooperative game, sometimes the person who gets it is the person who finds it. Or the group that finds in. In a rotating cast of PCs game, a delve might leave out the dwarf fighter because that player is busy on game day, only to find dwarf-sized magic armor . . . and sell it, trade it, or give it to some dwarf NPC because the PC wasn't around to earn it. You may have to have some part in the finding to have any part of the keeping.
Any I missed, in this post or the previous one?
Who is actually going to use it?
Another option for handing out magic items is simply, who will actually use it? This approach hands off items - especially charged or consumable items, although not always - to the person most likely to actually use it. Yes, the high-DX Thief might actually be the best person to give a grenade-type potion to, but if the Thief isn't ever going to be ready to throw it, it's not a great choice. The wizard might be the most likely to use a wand, even if giving it to another PC means you have multiple sources of magical attack. The cleric might benefit the most from an undead-turning item, but if the cleric will generally end up healing and not turning, giving it to someone else might be a better solution. Somethings this isn't template or character based, but player based - some players are more likely to hold on to items until they really need it, others to use it whever it seems like a good choice. Conversely, you might keep certain items away from certain PCs or players because they're unlikely to use it well - the guy who insists on using his new-fangled Wand of Fireballs every fight, or who tosses back rare potions just to get to use them up. This approach chooses actually basic utility over maximal utility, either chosen to avoid waste or avoid lack of use.
Finders, Keepers
Even in a cooperative game, sometimes the person who gets it is the person who finds it. Or the group that finds in. In a rotating cast of PCs game, a delve might leave out the dwarf fighter because that player is busy on game day, only to find dwarf-sized magic armor . . . and sell it, trade it, or give it to some dwarf NPC because the PC wasn't around to earn it. You may have to have some part in the finding to have any part of the keeping.
Any I missed, in this post or the previous one?
Wednesday, October 9, 2024
My Modified Mook Rule & Hard to Subdue
I use a modified mook rule, as discussed in these two posts:
My Modified DF Mook Rule
Reflections on my Modified Mook rule in play
I still use these in play, although they don't come up as often as you'd probably expect; unsure of what foe is a mook or not, PCs generally fight as if everyone is a potential boss monster and go for random hit locations hoping for a cripple or lucky vitals/neck/skull shot, or "aim for the hit points" and try to just force the foe down to -5xHP as fast as possible. In effect, going for the surety of eventual death but skipping the possible quick knockout by forcing lots of rolls, penalized or otherwise. But still, they are there.
I am considering modifying the effect of Hard to Subdue, however.
Instead of an off/on switch for the auto-fail of HT rolls, each level of Hard to Subdue pushes the auto-fail threshold down 1xHP.
So a mook auto-fails at 0 HP or below.
One with Hard to Subdue 1 auto-fails at -1xHP or below.
Hard to Subdue 2 fails at -2xHP or below.
Etc. Only 4 levels matter as -5xHP is automatic death without certain advantages - none of which you'd find on something that counts as a mook!
This can allow Hard to Subdue to have its normal effect, but not act as such a big swing between automatic failure and a tough fight - especially since HT 12 is pretty common on the kind of foes that have Hard to Subdue 1+, and HT 13 is likely to keep a foe up for a long, long time.
I'm not sure if I'll do this, but I'm leaning toward it pretty heavily.
My Modified DF Mook Rule
Reflections on my Modified Mook rule in play
I still use these in play, although they don't come up as often as you'd probably expect; unsure of what foe is a mook or not, PCs generally fight as if everyone is a potential boss monster and go for random hit locations hoping for a cripple or lucky vitals/neck/skull shot, or "aim for the hit points" and try to just force the foe down to -5xHP as fast as possible. In effect, going for the surety of eventual death but skipping the possible quick knockout by forcing lots of rolls, penalized or otherwise. But still, they are there.
I am considering modifying the effect of Hard to Subdue, however.
Instead of an off/on switch for the auto-fail of HT rolls, each level of Hard to Subdue pushes the auto-fail threshold down 1xHP.
So a mook auto-fails at 0 HP or below.
One with Hard to Subdue 1 auto-fails at -1xHP or below.
Hard to Subdue 2 fails at -2xHP or below.
Etc. Only 4 levels matter as -5xHP is automatic death without certain advantages - none of which you'd find on something that counts as a mook!
This can allow Hard to Subdue to have its normal effect, but not act as such a big swing between automatic failure and a tough fight - especially since HT 12 is pretty common on the kind of foes that have Hard to Subdue 1+, and HT 13 is likely to keep a foe up for a long, long time.
I'm not sure if I'll do this, but I'm leaning toward it pretty heavily.
Monday, October 7, 2024
A "Dungeons & Dragons" Adventure - Comic Book Back Cover Ad
On the back of one of my comics - ROM: Spaceknight issue #28, March 1982, I found this advertisement for Dungeons & Dragons drawn by Bill Willingham.
As always, these are pretty goofy. Mysterious powers, an easily-scared (and easily-comforted) elf, a dragon-scaring sword, not a lot accomplished. At least there is a dungeon and a dragon.
The great sword Naril indeed. Just bite him, dragon, he's got like AC 4. And nothing more comforting after a red dragon nearly roasts you than relaxing by a warm fire, eh?
As always, these are pretty goofy. Mysterious powers, an easily-scared (and easily-comforted) elf, a dragon-scaring sword, not a lot accomplished. At least there is a dungeon and a dragon.
The great sword Naril indeed. Just bite him, dragon, he's got like AC 4. And nothing more comforting after a red dragon nearly roasts you than relaxing by a warm fire, eh?
Sunday, October 6, 2024
Felltower & Hiring Henchmen - Making Skill beat IQ
This post, and rules change, is heavily inspired by comments by Douglas Cole. His comment was that knights - with Born War Leader - should be better at recruiting hirelings - than the cleric, whose IQ beats the knight's Born War Leader-improved Leadership skill. I was immediately swayed by this, but I didn't love the rough proposed suggestion of making BWL or Leadership work better. I think the issue is that IQ is too broadly effective.
Here is my proposed solution. This is a change to Where Did You Find This Guy?, GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 15: Henchmen, p. 29.
The base roll for finding a henchmen is IQ-3, instead of IQ. Skill rolls are unmodified.
As a secondary note, Loyalty rolls are made based on the hiring character. To quote DF15, p. 30:
"Make a reaction roll when a hireling first signs up. Apply the usual reaction modifiers of the hirer, who may be a PC or an NPC companion, and record the result. This number is effectively a new stat for hirelings: Loyalty."
So if the cleric (IQ 14) or wizard (IQ 15) goes out and hires a squire or killer, the roll for Loyalty is 3d6 plus or minus the net reaction modifier of the cleric or wizard. If the Knight (IQ 10) with Born War Leader 2 hires the same squire or killer, the roll gains a +2 for Born War Leader. Who they nominally are commanded by or working for doesn't matter, the actual hiring character matters.
Notes:
Why didn't I just do this when I wrote it? Well, I actually didn't write that section, that I recall. I believe it was purely Sean Punch, and it draws on GURPS Basic Set.
With this change and clarification, it should be clear that the best person for the job will almost always be the template closest to the specialty.
You can always keep the base IQ roll, give a bonus to Loyalty for higher skill - each level above IQ is worth +1. So a knight with Born War Leader 2, IQ 10, and Leadership-13 has a net +3 (+1 for Leadership at IQ+1, +2 for BWL 2, not double-counting BWL) on Loyalty. Compare that with a cleric with IQ 14 gaining a Loyalty bonus of +0. Or do both.
For Felltower, I chose to go with the IQ penalty, but I'm open to persuasion - and yes, I do roll Loyalty whenever danger arises or there is a need for some roll for bravery or loyalty. I just like the idea that specialists - and yes, Merchant works across the board - do better finding people than someone who is just intelligent.
Here is my proposed solution. This is a change to Where Did You Find This Guy?, GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 15: Henchmen, p. 29.
The base roll for finding a henchmen is IQ-3, instead of IQ. Skill rolls are unmodified.
As a secondary note, Loyalty rolls are made based on the hiring character. To quote DF15, p. 30:
"Make a reaction roll when a hireling first signs up. Apply the usual reaction modifiers of the hirer, who may be a PC or an NPC companion, and record the result. This number is effectively a new stat for hirelings: Loyalty."
So if the cleric (IQ 14) or wizard (IQ 15) goes out and hires a squire or killer, the roll for Loyalty is 3d6 plus or minus the net reaction modifier of the cleric or wizard. If the Knight (IQ 10) with Born War Leader 2 hires the same squire or killer, the roll gains a +2 for Born War Leader. Who they nominally are commanded by or working for doesn't matter, the actual hiring character matters.
Notes:
Why didn't I just do this when I wrote it? Well, I actually didn't write that section, that I recall. I believe it was purely Sean Punch, and it draws on GURPS Basic Set.
With this change and clarification, it should be clear that the best person for the job will almost always be the template closest to the specialty.
You can always keep the base IQ roll, give a bonus to Loyalty for higher skill - each level above IQ is worth +1. So a knight with Born War Leader 2, IQ 10, and Leadership-13 has a net +3 (+1 for Leadership at IQ+1, +2 for BWL 2, not double-counting BWL) on Loyalty. Compare that with a cleric with IQ 14 gaining a Loyalty bonus of +0. Or do both.
For Felltower, I chose to go with the IQ penalty, but I'm open to persuasion - and yes, I do roll Loyalty whenever danger arises or there is a need for some roll for bravery or loyalty. I just like the idea that specialists - and yes, Merchant works across the board - do better finding people than someone who is just intelligent.
Friday, October 4, 2024
Random Links for 10/4/2024
It's Friday, time for stuff that doesn't warrant a whole post.
- Next game is 10/20. Ugh. We're monthly. I'll have to see if there is a way to play more often.
- Sorting through my comic collection, I realized I like sci fi/supers crossovers a lot - lots of Dreadstar, Silver Surfer, Guardians of the Galaxy, some later Thor when he's dealing with the Sentinels, etc. in my collection. Well, that and liking certain writers a lot (Starlin and Hama especially).
- Also sorting through it, I'm reminded how much I think the FASERIP system of Marvel Super Heroes did an excellent job of representing four color superheroes. We never got a campaign going because Joe M. would only play Silver Surfer and Jack, Jason, Fred, Rob, and everyone else wouldn't play anyone except Wolverine. Well, maybe Jack would have settled for Spider-Man, but that's about it. Hard for young me to come up with a game to challenge a superteam of Silver Surfer and Wolverine and Spider-Man. Too bad chargen was garbage.
- I've been re-reading some GURPS rules and noted a few I think my players largely honor in the breach - like the penalties to HT rolls to avoid knockout* - and ones I ignore without intending to, like the delayed effects of poisons on SM-positive targets. I have an idea for the latter I kind of like, though, that will see a post next week.
* Which I think I originated in my article for GURPS 3e in Pyramid called ". . . And Stay Down!"
- Next game is 10/20. Ugh. We're monthly. I'll have to see if there is a way to play more often.
- Sorting through my comic collection, I realized I like sci fi/supers crossovers a lot - lots of Dreadstar, Silver Surfer, Guardians of the Galaxy, some later Thor when he's dealing with the Sentinels, etc. in my collection. Well, that and liking certain writers a lot (Starlin and Hama especially).
- Also sorting through it, I'm reminded how much I think the FASERIP system of Marvel Super Heroes did an excellent job of representing four color superheroes. We never got a campaign going because Joe M. would only play Silver Surfer and Jack, Jason, Fred, Rob, and everyone else wouldn't play anyone except Wolverine. Well, maybe Jack would have settled for Spider-Man, but that's about it. Hard for young me to come up with a game to challenge a superteam of Silver Surfer and Wolverine and Spider-Man. Too bad chargen was garbage.
- I've been re-reading some GURPS rules and noted a few I think my players largely honor in the breach - like the penalties to HT rolls to avoid knockout* - and ones I ignore without intending to, like the delayed effects of poisons on SM-positive targets. I have an idea for the latter I kind of like, though, that will see a post next week.
* Which I think I originated in my article for GURPS 3e in Pyramid called ". . . And Stay Down!"
Tuesday, October 1, 2024
Return of my long-lost Car Wars countermix
Literally decades ago - probably almost 30 years ago now - I introduced a few of my gamers to Car Wars, Deluxe Edition. We played a game. Afterward, I left my whole countermix out on a table on top of the folded-up board from the Dungeon boardgame in the basement. Sometime later - the next day, maybe? - I went down to sort out my counters instead of having them all in one big pile.
They were gone. Nowhere to be found. I searched high and low, and found the Dungeon board on the table, but no counters. All gone.
I searched for quite a while, but assumed they'd been accidentally thrown out during some other cleanup in the basement.
So I literally replaced my entire collection to get a countermix. I found a Car Wars lot on Noble Knight and bought it. Deluxe Car Wars, Dueltrack, etc. I replaced a few map-and-counter supplements, too.
Flash forward to yesterday. I was cleaning out my comics collection, and one by one pulling bags from the comic long boxes and seeing what collection was in each. In one bag, along with a mix of comics, was a weird lumpy mass at the bottom of the oversized bag.
In it was my old countermix.
How it got there, I have no idea. Did someone in my family pour it into the bag and I didn't notice as I put comics in it?
We had cats. Was it possible one sat on the board, dumped the contents into the comics box and therefore the open bag? I used to keep my bagged comics right near my gaming table.
Did I put them away in that bag and complete forgot about it right away?
I have no idea.
But now, decades after my last game of DCW, I have two full countermixes. It's definitely my old countermix - I'd glued wrecks to the back of their unwrecked cars, colored a few favorite black and white counters with colored pencils, and otherwise customized things. And here it is.
Weird.
My replacement mix, sorted, and my old, unsorted mix:
Er, anyone for DCW-era Car Wars?
They were gone. Nowhere to be found. I searched high and low, and found the Dungeon board on the table, but no counters. All gone.
I searched for quite a while, but assumed they'd been accidentally thrown out during some other cleanup in the basement.
So I literally replaced my entire collection to get a countermix. I found a Car Wars lot on Noble Knight and bought it. Deluxe Car Wars, Dueltrack, etc. I replaced a few map-and-counter supplements, too.
Flash forward to yesterday. I was cleaning out my comics collection, and one by one pulling bags from the comic long boxes and seeing what collection was in each. In one bag, along with a mix of comics, was a weird lumpy mass at the bottom of the oversized bag.
In it was my old countermix.
How it got there, I have no idea. Did someone in my family pour it into the bag and I didn't notice as I put comics in it?
We had cats. Was it possible one sat on the board, dumped the contents into the comics box and therefore the open bag? I used to keep my bagged comics right near my gaming table.
Did I put them away in that bag and complete forgot about it right away?
I have no idea.
But now, decades after my last game of DCW, I have two full countermixes. It's definitely my old countermix - I'd glued wrecks to the back of their unwrecked cars, colored a few favorite black and white counters with colored pencils, and otherwise customized things. And here it is.
Weird.
My replacement mix, sorted, and my old, unsorted mix:
Er, anyone for DCW-era Car Wars?
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