This year, I made all of one purchase on Black Friday (well, Cyber Monday) that related to tabletop gaming.*
It was barely even a purchase. I took last-minute advantage of a Forge sale to get 10% off my yearly subscription to Forge's hosting of DF Felltower. I was able to move my renewal date ahead, get pro-rated on the price, and knock 10% off. So I saved a bit less than $5.
$5 as a gaming purchase on the biggest sale weekend of the year here in the US.
Why?
It's not like my gaming discretionary funds went down any - people still buy my books and SJG still pays me for writing work during the year.
I think it comes down to a bit of purchase fatigue and a growing lack of need.
I bought a few things over the year - DCC #100 and DCC Lankhmar, and How to Defend Your Lair. Maybe one or two other things I'm not thinking of. Even just those have given me a few things to read that I just haven't had time for. Some of the lack of time is from another purchase, Fire in the Lake. All good stuff.
I don't need minis since I haven't been painting, thanks to a decline in my ability to paint those small details effectively.
And there hasn't been a flood of new GURPS titles, has there? A few things here and there.
Plus I just don't need a lot.
The longer I run DF Felltower, the less published materials really help. I play with a smaller and smaller set of rules - not always simpler rules, but less of them overall. I don't need more. Generally, I start with "We're not using any of this, unless explicitly included." Most material stays that way. I just don't need to add a lot. We modify the living hell out of most things, and come up with our own rules for things to speed play along or provide versimilitude or enjoyment.
I have less time to digest and understand and incorporate what I read, too. So plunking down money on new gaming books takes away from what I value the most - having the time to play, or engage in my other hobbies, interests, and work.
It's kind of sad . . . but at the moment I feel a little disconnected from the creative work going on in the field. I do feel very connected to the creative work going on in my immediate circle. We'll see if that's a blip or a trend.
* I did buy some non-gaming stuff - replaced some worn-out footwear, replaced a piece of broken exercise equipment, and spent a wee bit on grappling. I bought a video game, too. I'm not against spending in and of itself.
Wednesday, November 29, 2023
Tuesday, November 28, 2023
Where is the treasure in Felltower megadungeon?
There is a lot of treasure in Felltower, but it's not evenly distributed across rooms or encounters. Where can you find it?
From most to least, here are the places - roughly - where you will or will not find treasure.
Dedicated treasuries. There are few of these in Felltower, but they exist. These places are usually guarded, trapped, hidden, or all three. They're loaded with treasure. The PCs found one of these after solving the "rotating statue" puzzle, and took home some serious loot - piles of coins, so much so that they missed some of them in a hidden compartment of a chest, a ring with wishes, and a few other significant magic items. Such places aren't terribly obvious, and are hard to blindly seek out, but they are out there . . . and have piles of loot. While not universally true, a well-hidden and (passively or actively) well-guarded location can be a sign of a potential hoard. Not always - some are just hidden and unguarded, other places aren't full of treasure but are guarded for other reasons . . . but the odds are in favor of loot behind loot-protecting defenses.
Hoards. Intelligent or otherwise treasure-hoarding monsters tend to have the biggest hoards. They may in fact exceed the dedicated treasuries - but they fall to second on this list because the amount of treasure can vary a lot more. The smarter, and the more powerful, the monsters, the bigger the hoard. It's almost directly linear because of the roll bonuses and penalties included in the treasure system I use (see DF21: Megadungeons.) These will be protected, and may not be with the monster itself - the loot might be hidden nearby. Do not expect an intelligent monster to carry its loot with it unless that's the only way to protect it. Sufficiently nasty monsters might feel free to leave their treasure out in the open, and even wander off away from it without fear of theft - knowing that the other dungeon dwellers won't molest it out of fear of the consequences. Most others will either need to stay close by, or leave it guarded - much like a dedicated treasury, with traps, concealment, and possibly guards.
Finding the "lair" of an intelligent or otherwise treasure-hoarding monster is a good way to increase your odds of finding loot. Expect that they'll want to keep you as far away from their loot as possible in many cases.
Unguarded, Hidden Treasure. Some "empty" rooms and "looted" areas have loot. It's a relatively small proportion of them - less than 1 in 6 of them initially, and many have been looted over the decade of play. But one way to secure treasure is to stash it somewhere that people will either avoid, or just bypass. Expect such to be carefully hidden, and hard to find - simply wandering around with See Secrets making Per checks isn't likely to turn it up . . . although it's a good start. What you can find will vary, but generally is small compared to guarded loot.
Believe it or not, "empty" rooms with unguarded but hidden loot will generally be more valuable than wandering monsters or patrols out looking for, or responding, to trouble.
Wandering Monsters. These are the least loot-worthy foes and have the lowest amount of treasure as a group. This has come up pretty consistantly since we started playing, with players new to the group and old, veteran and new to game. It's the idea that adventurers should welcome wandering monsters, as they'll be something to fight and have treasure. This is almost 100% false. Occasionally, some wandering monsters will be intelligent, armed foes that can be defeated and looted for their gear. But they're the minority. The majority of Felltower wandering monsters are unintelligent predators or scavengers - rat swarms, stirges, puddings, oozes, spiders, and similar nasties. None of them carry loot and not a person in the game world is willing to fork over money for their remains. Some wandering monsters are made of valuable bits, but you're taking a high-risk low-reward approach here; fine if you just want enough XP to hit the threshold for low-point PCs but even then the odds aren't in favor of this working out for you.
Even when intelligent, armed foes "wander" up, they're likely the sharp edge of a larger group, they usually don't fight to the death, and they almost never carry their loot with them into combat.* They're the "wandering monster" you least want to encounter unless your plan is "let the enemy set the objective." The PCs have often done exactly this, but it's always ended up with a bigger fight, for less gains, than penetrating to a superior loot location would gain them.
Good luck, and good looting. And stop banging on doors hoping to attract treasure-bearing monsters. It's a shell game.
* Like Colonel Bat Guano.
From most to least, here are the places - roughly - where you will or will not find treasure.
Dedicated treasuries. There are few of these in Felltower, but they exist. These places are usually guarded, trapped, hidden, or all three. They're loaded with treasure. The PCs found one of these after solving the "rotating statue" puzzle, and took home some serious loot - piles of coins, so much so that they missed some of them in a hidden compartment of a chest, a ring with wishes, and a few other significant magic items. Such places aren't terribly obvious, and are hard to blindly seek out, but they are out there . . . and have piles of loot. While not universally true, a well-hidden and (passively or actively) well-guarded location can be a sign of a potential hoard. Not always - some are just hidden and unguarded, other places aren't full of treasure but are guarded for other reasons . . . but the odds are in favor of loot behind loot-protecting defenses.
Hoards. Intelligent or otherwise treasure-hoarding monsters tend to have the biggest hoards. They may in fact exceed the dedicated treasuries - but they fall to second on this list because the amount of treasure can vary a lot more. The smarter, and the more powerful, the monsters, the bigger the hoard. It's almost directly linear because of the roll bonuses and penalties included in the treasure system I use (see DF21: Megadungeons.) These will be protected, and may not be with the monster itself - the loot might be hidden nearby. Do not expect an intelligent monster to carry its loot with it unless that's the only way to protect it. Sufficiently nasty monsters might feel free to leave their treasure out in the open, and even wander off away from it without fear of theft - knowing that the other dungeon dwellers won't molest it out of fear of the consequences. Most others will either need to stay close by, or leave it guarded - much like a dedicated treasury, with traps, concealment, and possibly guards.
Finding the "lair" of an intelligent or otherwise treasure-hoarding monster is a good way to increase your odds of finding loot. Expect that they'll want to keep you as far away from their loot as possible in many cases.
Unguarded, Hidden Treasure. Some "empty" rooms and "looted" areas have loot. It's a relatively small proportion of them - less than 1 in 6 of them initially, and many have been looted over the decade of play. But one way to secure treasure is to stash it somewhere that people will either avoid, or just bypass. Expect such to be carefully hidden, and hard to find - simply wandering around with See Secrets making Per checks isn't likely to turn it up . . . although it's a good start. What you can find will vary, but generally is small compared to guarded loot.
Believe it or not, "empty" rooms with unguarded but hidden loot will generally be more valuable than wandering monsters or patrols out looking for, or responding, to trouble.
Wandering Monsters. These are the least loot-worthy foes and have the lowest amount of treasure as a group. This has come up pretty consistantly since we started playing, with players new to the group and old, veteran and new to game. It's the idea that adventurers should welcome wandering monsters, as they'll be something to fight and have treasure. This is almost 100% false. Occasionally, some wandering monsters will be intelligent, armed foes that can be defeated and looted for their gear. But they're the minority. The majority of Felltower wandering monsters are unintelligent predators or scavengers - rat swarms, stirges, puddings, oozes, spiders, and similar nasties. None of them carry loot and not a person in the game world is willing to fork over money for their remains. Some wandering monsters are made of valuable bits, but you're taking a high-risk low-reward approach here; fine if you just want enough XP to hit the threshold for low-point PCs but even then the odds aren't in favor of this working out for you.
Even when intelligent, armed foes "wander" up, they're likely the sharp edge of a larger group, they usually don't fight to the death, and they almost never carry their loot with them into combat.* They're the "wandering monster" you least want to encounter unless your plan is "let the enemy set the objective." The PCs have often done exactly this, but it's always ended up with a bigger fight, for less gains, than penetrating to a superior loot location would gain them.
Good luck, and good looting. And stop banging on doors hoping to attract treasure-bearing monsters. It's a shell game.
* Like Colonel Bat Guano.
Monday, November 27, 2023
More notes from Session 187
More notes from last session, DF Session 187.
Foundry VTT GURPS Package Problems:
- Silver-coated weapons do x1.5, not x2 like solid silver weapons, to werewolves. x1.5 is not an option on the wounding screen. Couple that with x1.5 for cutting and I need to be doing x2.25 . . . not an option. I ended up having to figure the damage and then add 10% to wounding. Annoying.
- it's nice that we can set certain statuses - reeling, fatigued - to automatically show up. It's bad that they show up for NPCs so PCs can see at a glance how harmed a foe is, even when they shouldn't know. I don't think I can fix that.
I kind of wish I had time to learn to code well enough to go fix this, but I have a lot on my plate professionally and personally that doesn't leave the room I'd need to put the work in that would help. Learning two other skills simulatenously as it is has been tricky enough.
Advantages
Regeneration seems powerful. 1 hp/second is 100 points. It's almost irrelevant in combat in DF. In AD&D, a troll healing 3 hp/round is massive, as rounds can go by without it getting hit and HP range from 12-54, average 33 HP. That's healing 9% of its HP per round. 1 hp per second in DF? Damage ranges from 2d-4d+ per blow, you can get hit with multiple blows per second, and even HP 20 is only 120 injury from instant death. It can take 10 seconds to undo one hit's worth of damage.
It's basically just one more thing for a GM to track.
Speaking of Regeneration, Kevin S asked if a troll werewolf would not regenerate from silver, fire, or acid, or it would regenerate from all of them. The answer is: find out when you fight them.
Power Ups
Hanari's player asked about buying Breakfall, but DF and DFRPG don't use techniques. He did find Tuck and Roll! in DFD: Thieves. I think they're both appropriate Power-Ups for Martial Artists. That said, I'm not sure I'd allow it as it conflicts very heavily with Catfall. In fact, cost-wise, it probably makes Catfall a poor choice. I'd rather not use it and essentially undermine a simpler but more expensive advantage; especially since it would also require a roll and a margin-of-success mechanic instead of a simple yes/no effect. I can see allowing Catfall for Martial Artists as a Power-Up.
I think our Bard will eventually want this, which is probably not something I want to deal with:
Artifact Lore. I think I just don't want to deal with this in Felltower. I'll constantly be rattling off values of items, even in combat (it's instant and on sight), list exact coin amounts in glimpsed hoards, explaining the powers of magic items which mystically everyone who can hear what I tell the bard knows (or he'll say it as a free action on his turn anyway), etc. It's not very old school, and DF Felltower aspires to an old school feel with new school rules. We don't have Analyze Magic spells and sages for nothing. I don't mind a bard recognizing storied artifacts, but that might need to be something that takes more time and closer examination.
Foundry VTT GURPS Package Problems:
- Silver-coated weapons do x1.5, not x2 like solid silver weapons, to werewolves. x1.5 is not an option on the wounding screen. Couple that with x1.5 for cutting and I need to be doing x2.25 . . . not an option. I ended up having to figure the damage and then add 10% to wounding. Annoying.
- it's nice that we can set certain statuses - reeling, fatigued - to automatically show up. It's bad that they show up for NPCs so PCs can see at a glance how harmed a foe is, even when they shouldn't know. I don't think I can fix that.
I kind of wish I had time to learn to code well enough to go fix this, but I have a lot on my plate professionally and personally that doesn't leave the room I'd need to put the work in that would help. Learning two other skills simulatenously as it is has been tricky enough.
Advantages
Regeneration seems powerful. 1 hp/second is 100 points. It's almost irrelevant in combat in DF. In AD&D, a troll healing 3 hp/round is massive, as rounds can go by without it getting hit and HP range from 12-54, average 33 HP. That's healing 9% of its HP per round. 1 hp per second in DF? Damage ranges from 2d-4d+ per blow, you can get hit with multiple blows per second, and even HP 20 is only 120 injury from instant death. It can take 10 seconds to undo one hit's worth of damage.
It's basically just one more thing for a GM to track.
Speaking of Regeneration, Kevin S asked if a troll werewolf would not regenerate from silver, fire, or acid, or it would regenerate from all of them. The answer is: find out when you fight them.
Power Ups
Hanari's player asked about buying Breakfall, but DF and DFRPG don't use techniques. He did find Tuck and Roll! in DFD: Thieves. I think they're both appropriate Power-Ups for Martial Artists. That said, I'm not sure I'd allow it as it conflicts very heavily with Catfall. In fact, cost-wise, it probably makes Catfall a poor choice. I'd rather not use it and essentially undermine a simpler but more expensive advantage; especially since it would also require a roll and a margin-of-success mechanic instead of a simple yes/no effect. I can see allowing Catfall for Martial Artists as a Power-Up.
I think our Bard will eventually want this, which is probably not something I want to deal with:
Artifact Lore. I think I just don't want to deal with this in Felltower. I'll constantly be rattling off values of items, even in combat (it's instant and on sight), list exact coin amounts in glimpsed hoards, explaining the powers of magic items which mystically everyone who can hear what I tell the bard knows (or he'll say it as a free action on his turn anyway), etc. It's not very old school, and DF Felltower aspires to an old school feel with new school rules. We don't have Analyze Magic spells and sages for nothing. I don't mind a bard recognizing storied artifacts, but that might need to be something that takes more time and closer examination.
Sunday, November 26, 2023
Revised DRFPG Shield Rush
Let's fix shield slams for DF Felltower.
A Shield rush is a slam with a shield (NOT a buckler) does slam damage, plus 1 point per point of shield DB, and the opponent subtracts 1 point per point of shield DB from their attack.
Got that? If you have ST 13 (1d thrust) and a Medium Shield (DB 2) you slam for 1d-2, +2 = 1d+1. Your ST 13 opponent does 1d-2, -2 = 1d-4.
I find that iffy for a couple of reasons:
- your shield should help, but I don't see why it should help based on size. Weight, construction, etc. yes, but just size? Eh.
- I don't see why your shield should provide DR for you based on size.
- I don't see why your shield makes you more likely to knock a foe down or overrun them - remember, the one who inflicts less damage can fall, and automatically falls if the ratio is 2:1 or more.
Here is what I prefer:
- Your shield provides DR 3 to you from the slam damage.
- Using a shield adds +2 to slam damage, +3 if spiked or dwarven, +4 if both.
- You opponent inflicts damage normally. If your opponent tries to block the slam and the DB of the shield matters, it provides DR 3 for them, too.
And that's that. You still can't shield rush with bucklers.
Oh, and by the way, shield rush, shield bash, whatever - you can still Block with your shield. Having consulted with shield users, it's odd that they can and can't in circumstances that seem otherwise the same.
Editing Later: Optionally, you can allow both bucklers and shields to shield rush. In this case, apply the damage from a shield rush with a buckler to the attacker's hand (since you can't as easily brace it with your body), that of the shield using attacker to the body (since you brace your arm and shield with the body)
A Shield rush is a slam with a shield (NOT a buckler) does slam damage, plus 1 point per point of shield DB, and the opponent subtracts 1 point per point of shield DB from their attack.
Got that? If you have ST 13 (1d thrust) and a Medium Shield (DB 2) you slam for 1d-2, +2 = 1d+1. Your ST 13 opponent does 1d-2, -2 = 1d-4.
I find that iffy for a couple of reasons:
- your shield should help, but I don't see why it should help based on size. Weight, construction, etc. yes, but just size? Eh.
- I don't see why your shield should provide DR for you based on size.
- I don't see why your shield makes you more likely to knock a foe down or overrun them - remember, the one who inflicts less damage can fall, and automatically falls if the ratio is 2:1 or more.
Here is what I prefer:
- Your shield provides DR 3 to you from the slam damage.
- Using a shield adds +2 to slam damage, +3 if spiked or dwarven, +4 if both.
- You opponent inflicts damage normally. If your opponent tries to block the slam and the DB of the shield matters, it provides DR 3 for them, too.
And that's that. You still can't shield rush with bucklers.
Oh, and by the way, shield rush, shield bash, whatever - you can still Block with your shield. Having consulted with shield users, it's odd that they can and can't in circumstances that seem otherwise the same.
Editing Later: Optionally, you can allow both bucklers and shields to shield rush. In this case, apply the damage from a shield rush with a buckler to the attacker's hand (since you can't as easily brace it with your body), that of the shield using attacker to the body (since you brace your arm and shield with the body)
Saturday, November 25, 2023
DF Session 187, Felltower 125 - Fighting the Werewolves
This is finishing up a fight started in a previous session.
Actual Date: November 24th, 2023
Game Date: October 29th, 2023
Weather: Light rainy, cool.
Characters
Chop, human cleric (298 points)
Duncan Tesadic, human wizard (297 points)
Hannari Ironhand, dwarf martial artist (290 points)
Persistance Montgomery, human knight (298 points)
Thor Halfskepna, human knight (297 points)
Urbaine Fabre, half-elf bard (298 points)
Vladimir Luchnick, dwarf martial artist (250 points)
We picked up in the middle of a fight with werewolves.
The PCs rushed forward, finishing off the badly wounded werewolves in front of them and moving into the room ahead.
Vlad saw three werewolves down the hallway were he'd seen a wounded one fleeing. He saw that one and two others - a human and a werewolf.
Persistance and Thor rushed over, only to find a Grease spell across the hallway. Persistance fell, and ended up crawling across the floor to reach the enemy. Thor slowly worked his way across the floor, blocking a fireball from a wand held by the human! Persistance took a couple of fireballs himself, getting badly burned and lit on fire despite his armor.
Another werewolf attacked from behind the PCs, and reached Chop before Hanari attacked him. Hannari slashed at him with his kamas, Duncan put 2-3 6d Stone Missile spells into him, and Vlad doubled back to try and hit him with an arrow. It took a while, but they eventually put him down, but not before sinking his canines into Hanari's left leg.
Meanwhile on the other end Chop eventually put Resist Fire on Persistance, Urbaine used Rapier Wit to stun a werewolf, and Thor used his sword to ct them up a bit.
Just as they were about to break through against the werewolves, Duncan put Flight on Hanari. Hanari flew up and into the fray and helped end it quickly. The two werewolves went down, and the "regular human" with the wand bounced Thor off of him when he was hit with a shield rush. He turned into a werewolf, dropping the wand and slashing away with his claws. Hanari cut him a few times from behind and Thor from the front and he dropped.
Chop went around and pressed silver coins into each and every eye (so, 16 sp) and Hanari gave all of them a finishing slash with his silvered kama. They looted the bodies and headed back home.
Back in town they paid $100 per injured person to cleanse their wounds from the werewolves, since they carry their curse in their bite and claws.
Notes:
- I need to do a revision of the shield rushing rules. We've used the rules as written because our new player knows them by heart, but I think they're actually kinda bogus. I'll explain in another post what I dislike and how I'll run them. I'm 99% sure Thor's shield is a buckler, not a shield, so we can add "knows them by heart but doesn't know Doug's PC's equipment by heart." Forgivable, but annoying to have yet another example of "forgot the rules that hurt me."
- Does it take 1 second and concentration for a werewolf to change forms? Eh, probably by the rules. Here? No. I don't think it's a big deal.
- Vlad wanted to take prisoners, again. No one listened, and I'm not sure why. Taking prisoners is tough when it's easier slightly delayed execution, or being brought back to town and killed there.
- Most of the discussion about the wand was about selling it and its value, and the importantance of getting the user before he used up more of the value of the treasure. Not, you know, the value of a Wand of Fireballs as an item. Same with the potions found a while back - luckily potions has a standard sale value so they're at best worth $100.
- XP was:
4 xp loot
0 xp exploration
1 xp first time on level 2
1 xp first time on level 3
1 xp first time on level 4
7 xp each.
No MVP on the final session because it was just 2 1/2 hours of a fight.
XP was good but it took 2 1/2 sessions for it. Had the party done the same stuff, but left after each session, I think the XP would have been 2 xp, 5 xp, and 5 xp. So pushing for maximum bonuses and delving until they found lots of loot really didn't pay off in a meta-game sense. Not that I want people delving solely on maximizing XP but it's a little frustrating to spend multiple sessions in the dungeon for sub-maximal gains, and then hear about how there needs to be easier areas to "level up."
Actual Date: November 24th, 2023
Game Date: October 29th, 2023
Weather: Light rainy, cool.
Characters
Chop, human cleric (298 points)
Duncan Tesadic, human wizard (297 points)
Hannari Ironhand, dwarf martial artist (290 points)
Persistance Montgomery, human knight (298 points)
Thor Halfskepna, human knight (297 points)
Urbaine Fabre, half-elf bard (298 points)
Vladimir Luchnick, dwarf martial artist (250 points)
We picked up in the middle of a fight with werewolves.
The PCs rushed forward, finishing off the badly wounded werewolves in front of them and moving into the room ahead.
Vlad saw three werewolves down the hallway were he'd seen a wounded one fleeing. He saw that one and two others - a human and a werewolf.
Persistance and Thor rushed over, only to find a Grease spell across the hallway. Persistance fell, and ended up crawling across the floor to reach the enemy. Thor slowly worked his way across the floor, blocking a fireball from a wand held by the human! Persistance took a couple of fireballs himself, getting badly burned and lit on fire despite his armor.
Another werewolf attacked from behind the PCs, and reached Chop before Hanari attacked him. Hannari slashed at him with his kamas, Duncan put 2-3 6d Stone Missile spells into him, and Vlad doubled back to try and hit him with an arrow. It took a while, but they eventually put him down, but not before sinking his canines into Hanari's left leg.
Meanwhile on the other end Chop eventually put Resist Fire on Persistance, Urbaine used Rapier Wit to stun a werewolf, and Thor used his sword to ct them up a bit.
Just as they were about to break through against the werewolves, Duncan put Flight on Hanari. Hanari flew up and into the fray and helped end it quickly. The two werewolves went down, and the "regular human" with the wand bounced Thor off of him when he was hit with a shield rush. He turned into a werewolf, dropping the wand and slashing away with his claws. Hanari cut him a few times from behind and Thor from the front and he dropped.
Chop went around and pressed silver coins into each and every eye (so, 16 sp) and Hanari gave all of them a finishing slash with his silvered kama. They looted the bodies and headed back home.
Back in town they paid $100 per injured person to cleanse their wounds from the werewolves, since they carry their curse in their bite and claws.
Notes:
- I need to do a revision of the shield rushing rules. We've used the rules as written because our new player knows them by heart, but I think they're actually kinda bogus. I'll explain in another post what I dislike and how I'll run them. I'm 99% sure Thor's shield is a buckler, not a shield, so we can add "knows them by heart but doesn't know Doug's PC's equipment by heart." Forgivable, but annoying to have yet another example of "forgot the rules that hurt me."
- Does it take 1 second and concentration for a werewolf to change forms? Eh, probably by the rules. Here? No. I don't think it's a big deal.
- Vlad wanted to take prisoners, again. No one listened, and I'm not sure why. Taking prisoners is tough when it's easier slightly delayed execution, or being brought back to town and killed there.
- Most of the discussion about the wand was about selling it and its value, and the importantance of getting the user before he used up more of the value of the treasure. Not, you know, the value of a Wand of Fireballs as an item. Same with the potions found a while back - luckily potions has a standard sale value so they're at best worth $100.
- XP was:
4 xp loot
0 xp exploration
1 xp first time on level 2
1 xp first time on level 3
1 xp first time on level 4
7 xp each.
No MVP on the final session because it was just 2 1/2 hours of a fight.
XP was good but it took 2 1/2 sessions for it. Had the party done the same stuff, but left after each session, I think the XP would have been 2 xp, 5 xp, and 5 xp. So pushing for maximum bonuses and delving until they found lots of loot really didn't pay off in a meta-game sense. Not that I want people delving solely on maximizing XP but it's a little frustrating to spend multiple sessions in the dungeon for sub-maximal gains, and then hear about how there needs to be easier areas to "level up."
Tuesday, November 21, 2023
Monday, November 20, 2023
Uniform Range and Acc for Missile spells?
Would it harm anything to make all of the missile spells range 40/80, Acc 2? Even Curse-Missile?
I'm thinking no. It slightly nerfs a few (Lightning, with its 50/100 Acc 3, for one) but smoothes it all out in terms of rules since we'll never need to look anything up. Acc 2, 40/80, effects as listed.
You could potentially sweeten up one of the weaker missile spells - like ice dagger - with more Acc. I'm inclined to sweeten that one up with a (2) armor divisor, but whatever, you can note that in the spell description instead of needing a table.
Unless my players have a reasonable objection, I will make this change to the basic Acc and Range of Missile spells for DF Felltower.
I'm thinking no. It slightly nerfs a few (Lightning, with its 50/100 Acc 3, for one) but smoothes it all out in terms of rules since we'll never need to look anything up. Acc 2, 40/80, effects as listed.
You could potentially sweeten up one of the weaker missile spells - like ice dagger - with more Acc. I'm inclined to sweeten that one up with a (2) armor divisor, but whatever, you can note that in the spell description instead of needing a table.
Unless my players have a reasonable objection, I will make this change to the basic Acc and Range of Missile spells for DF Felltower.
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