Busy week, as usual lately.
- Ernie Gary Gygax Jr. - son of Gary Gygax and player of Tenser - has passed away. News on Gizmodo.
- When did 20s become automatic hits? Delta has a look. That wasn't a think when I was playing, has become a meme (as, per Fry, a "widely believed fact"), in the years since.
- A look at loot. A bit math-heavy for my own games but an interesting read.
- Next game is in a few weeks, I think.
Friday, February 28, 2025
Monday, February 24, 2025
What's your GURPS DF / DFRPG magic item placement approach?
Magic item in placement in GURPS Dungeon Fantasy and the Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game is naturally of a lot of interest to me. I started playing DF a bit late in the line's life - I wrote DF12 before I was able to get my first pure DF game going. I felt like I had to come up with my own approach since there was no system being handed down from above to determine treasure by level or monster type, as I had back in my AD&D and then Rolemaster days.
DF8 provides random treasure tables, which of course can place magic items. You can determine the total value of treasure to be placed used the tables in DF21 Megadungeons. The latter is what I developed out of my own thoughts on how to randomly allocate total value of treasure.
But I largely place magic items directly - either on a cost basis ($10,000 worth of enchanted items, and then I go pick) or a wing-it basis (I think these guys should guard Grimslaughter.)
I have an idea of what kinds of items I prefer to put down in the loot, too, as discussed previously.
But what about everyone else? What systems and approaches do you find works for you? What hasn't worked? Where are you at now, and where would you be if you started over again (or plan to do next time)?
DF8 provides random treasure tables, which of course can place magic items. You can determine the total value of treasure to be placed used the tables in DF21 Megadungeons. The latter is what I developed out of my own thoughts on how to randomly allocate total value of treasure.
But I largely place magic items directly - either on a cost basis ($10,000 worth of enchanted items, and then I go pick) or a wing-it basis (I think these guys should guard Grimslaughter.)
I have an idea of what kinds of items I prefer to put down in the loot, too, as discussed previously.
But what about everyone else? What systems and approaches do you find works for you? What hasn't worked? Where are you at now, and where would you be if you started over again (or plan to do next time)?
Sunday, February 23, 2025
DF Felltower: Looking back on magic item placement
Looking back on my Magic Item Placement post.
How am I doing on these themes?
The best is found, not bought.
This is still true for magic items. The opportunities to buy magic items are even more restricted than when we started the game and no freer than in 2016. PCs generally buy their consumables and armor, but the best armor out there was found in the dungeon - Magescale, Sterick's Plate, and the Targe of the Tiger - the latter two since lost and destroyed, respectively, the shield in the act of finding the first. Hooded Robes of Protection have turned up pretty often, but that's all of DR 2 and mostly useful as a Power Item.
But the good stuff is still found. Doing okay here.
Offensive is better than defensive.
The tendency of my players - maybe players in general, I can't say for sure - is defense. Given a choice between offensive firepower and survivability, they'll choose survivability. It makes sense, but it does mean they'd rather have DR than damage, HP than to hit, and immunities over attacks. So as stated in the original post, I lean heavily towards the former. I give out more offensive items not defensive items. That may encourage defensive builds even more, but I'm inclined to think not. Back when I gave our more armor and defensive magic items people just doubled down to maximize their value.
The PCs have found a few items which can be either/or - a Potion Ring, for example, which the players immediately decided was best for defense and allocated as such.
But largely, I've placed a lot of offensive weapons. Aecris came along, but Vic handed that out. I don't love it - I try to avoid post-DR damage adds as they are rarely decisive and always time-consuming - but it's an offensive weapon. Agar's Wand, which does fight for its wielder, is primarily defensive. It's the only one you'll see in my game. Even then, it is its own thing, and isn't just a magic sword someone can sic on foes. The players really want it to be a self-propelled semi-autonomous killing machine and try to use it as such, but it's one of the rare mostly defensive items I put out here.* Magebane (technically not magical), a Universal Sword, and Shieldslayer were all pulled out of Felltower.
I've put in magic arrows (which amusingly got sold, because they just tossed them in a pile of saleable weapons and didn't investigate them at all), a Wand of Fireballs (given to the best possible user in terms of accuracy, but who usually has 3-4 better things to do than fire 4d Fireball spells), and a few unique potions that largely disappeared into the "we'll use it someday" pile and may have been lost.
I feel like I've largely kept on with this one. Yes, I put in Gorilla Gloves and the armors mentioned above, and there are a few more items out there, but it's magical offense that is found most often.
Enhance but don't replace abilities.
I think I've done well on this one. One swords that'll fight for its wielder, a bracelet that dispelled magic, and a few utility items that do things nothing else quite does. But in general, the majority of items just enhance what people do already. They mostly let them do them better.
Not a lot of detail here, but I think I largely kept to this.
So far, I think I'm doing okay on this. I do it all by feel. But we're mostly on track.
* And it's aimed at wizards. It's a wizard's item, but a non-wizard stepped up and took possession of it. There has been discussion about finding a way to pass it on to to the wizard, but they haven't made any determination of how to do that. Or even ideas. The best so far is, "We should look into that" and fishing questions in my direction in the vague hope I'll provide a simple answer. No luck so far.
How am I doing on these themes?
The best is found, not bought.
This is still true for magic items. The opportunities to buy magic items are even more restricted than when we started the game and no freer than in 2016. PCs generally buy their consumables and armor, but the best armor out there was found in the dungeon - Magescale, Sterick's Plate, and the Targe of the Tiger - the latter two since lost and destroyed, respectively, the shield in the act of finding the first. Hooded Robes of Protection have turned up pretty often, but that's all of DR 2 and mostly useful as a Power Item.
But the good stuff is still found. Doing okay here.
Offensive is better than defensive.
The tendency of my players - maybe players in general, I can't say for sure - is defense. Given a choice between offensive firepower and survivability, they'll choose survivability. It makes sense, but it does mean they'd rather have DR than damage, HP than to hit, and immunities over attacks. So as stated in the original post, I lean heavily towards the former. I give out more offensive items not defensive items. That may encourage defensive builds even more, but I'm inclined to think not. Back when I gave our more armor and defensive magic items people just doubled down to maximize their value.
The PCs have found a few items which can be either/or - a Potion Ring, for example, which the players immediately decided was best for defense and allocated as such.
But largely, I've placed a lot of offensive weapons. Aecris came along, but Vic handed that out. I don't love it - I try to avoid post-DR damage adds as they are rarely decisive and always time-consuming - but it's an offensive weapon. Agar's Wand, which does fight for its wielder, is primarily defensive. It's the only one you'll see in my game. Even then, it is its own thing, and isn't just a magic sword someone can sic on foes. The players really want it to be a self-propelled semi-autonomous killing machine and try to use it as such, but it's one of the rare mostly defensive items I put out here.* Magebane (technically not magical), a Universal Sword, and Shieldslayer were all pulled out of Felltower.
I've put in magic arrows (which amusingly got sold, because they just tossed them in a pile of saleable weapons and didn't investigate them at all), a Wand of Fireballs (given to the best possible user in terms of accuracy, but who usually has 3-4 better things to do than fire 4d Fireball spells), and a few unique potions that largely disappeared into the "we'll use it someday" pile and may have been lost.
I feel like I've largely kept on with this one. Yes, I put in Gorilla Gloves and the armors mentioned above, and there are a few more items out there, but it's magical offense that is found most often.
Enhance but don't replace abilities.
I think I've done well on this one. One swords that'll fight for its wielder, a bracelet that dispelled magic, and a few utility items that do things nothing else quite does. But in general, the majority of items just enhance what people do already. They mostly let them do them better.
Not a lot of detail here, but I think I largely kept to this.
So far, I think I'm doing okay on this. I do it all by feel. But we're mostly on track.
* And it's aimed at wizards. It's a wizard's item, but a non-wizard stepped up and took possession of it. There has been discussion about finding a way to pass it on to to the wizard, but they haven't made any determination of how to do that. Or even ideas. The best so far is, "We should look into that" and fishing questions in my direction in the vague hope I'll provide a simple answer. No luck so far.
Friday, February 21, 2025
Weekly Roundup - 2/21/25
- I've started reading through Power-Ups 10. I have a lot to think about when it comes to potential implementation, but in generally I like skill trees so I like the basic concept.
- I've stalled briefly on Diablo. I've got a pack of Flesh Clan goatmen to deal with who can slaughter my guy before he can kill one. I've cleared everything short of them. I'll give it another few tries before I give up and start a new single-player game for my guy to level up in. I hate to give up on clearing a level, though.
- Our next Felltower game is in a few weeks. I can't wait to see how my players handle the situation they're in.
- If you're into DCC and mutants, the Mutant Crawl Chronicles is up on a Bundle of Holding.
- I've stalled briefly on Diablo. I've got a pack of Flesh Clan goatmen to deal with who can slaughter my guy before he can kill one. I've cleared everything short of them. I'll give it another few tries before I give up and start a new single-player game for my guy to level up in. I hate to give up on clearing a level, though.
- Our next Felltower game is in a few weeks. I can't wait to see how my players handle the situation they're in.
- If you're into DCC and mutants, the Mutant Crawl Chronicles is up on a Bundle of Holding.
Thursday, February 20, 2025
How did I miss this? Power-Ups 10
Thanks to Blind Mapmaker for reviewing this . . . I completely missed this GURPS release.
Given that I've spent a bit of work on compressing the number of skills we use, this is right up my alley. I'll give it a look and see what might be a potential way to upgrade DF Felltower to a simpler skillset.
GURPS Power-Ups 10: Skill Trees
Given that I've spent a bit of work on compressing the number of skills we use, this is right up my alley. I'll give it a look and see what might be a potential way to upgrade DF Felltower to a simpler skillset.
GURPS Power-Ups 10: Skill Trees
Tuesday, February 18, 2025
DF Felltower: Tiger Sprint, Haste, and Serenity.
Our current martial artist PC did a lot of running around last session. Questions came up - not relevant at the time - about Tiger Sprint from DFRPG Adventurers, pg. 31.
Here is how we'll deal with it in DF Felltower.
First, although DFRPG doesn't show you under the hood, this is Enhanced Move with a Chi limitation (-10%). Thus, when we need rulings, especially with how it interacts with the non-DFRPG Power-Ups in other, GURPS DF sources, we'll have to go back to how it was built in GURPS before becoming a rules-lite version of itself.
It doesn't affect Basic Speed, Basic Move, or Dodge. It only works when Sprinting - from the second consecutive Move maneuver where you use all of your movement points to travel "along a relatively straight, smooth course" (p. B52).
How does this interact with . . .
Serenity (Pyramid 3/61, p. 12)? This improves DX, which improves Basic Speed, and thus improves Move before multipliers. For reasons mostly due to hating impenetrable defenses, I don't have any plans to allow the optional version of Serenity that affects Basic Speed. My post on the matter has been amended to make that clear.
Sprint Bonuses are a final add, and Tiger Sprint is used instead of the listed bonuses . . . taking the +20% for sprinting (min +1) to +50% and +100%. But DF Felltower doesn't use Sprinting. To be perfectly fair, this should increase the price of Tiger Sprint to 10 and 19, respectively, with a 1-point perk to cover allowing a non-used rule to apply. I won't do that.
Haste? Haste adds to your final numbers. We've been playing with Haste for a while and I have it add to your final numbers. If it adds to your base, then encumbrance should affect it. Have Move 6 and medium encumbrance? That's 6 x 0.6 = Move 3, and you get Haste +2, you're at Move 5 in DF Felltower. If it adds to the base, then it's 6 +2 = 8 x 0.6 = Move 4. No one liked that, so we don't do that. As a result, this also means that things that multiple move multiply your base, and then Haste is added afterward. This includes all similar effects from magic items. Speed elixirs do add to your base, as it specifies increasing Basic Speed, which then affects calculations down the line. So, Haste +2, for example, will add +2 to the final move after multiplying.
Some notes on all of this:
- This will not apply to Move and Attack. DFRPG Exploits, p. 33 is very specific about calling out Move and Move and Attack for how movement works. It then only references Move, not both Move and Move and Attack, under "Three-Minute Miles" and Sprinting on the same page.
I take that as sufficient evidence that you cannot "sprint" and do Move and Attack together.
- You must use all of your movement points for this; if you miss using your full movement points the sprint bonus ends. This may end up with seeming oddities like being able to run 18+ in one second or only half of that, not in between, but it's not unreasonable to have your weird Chi power only work under specific circumstances. If it bothers anyone sufficiently, it's probably better to save your 9 or 18 points and spend it on straight-up and more versatile Speed and Move.
- Although you can technically run in a circle with "forward movement," Exploits and Basic Set also say that when running away you only get a sprint bonus for "A straight, clear course (not twisting tunnels)" so I'll be harsh on attempts to zig-zag to keep speed up or otherwise min-max a sprint bonus.
- Perception rolls at speed will be penalized by your own speed on the Size and Speed/Range Table. It's hard to scout while running full speed.
I'll modify this post if anything changes or additional qualifications or notes need to be added.
These types of posts are fun, but this took a few hours of on and off writing, reading, and cross referencing. That's all for a movement powerup that someone may or may not take, and may or may not use. That's why I don't write as many as I used to back when I worked many less hours per week!
Here is how we'll deal with it in DF Felltower.
First, although DFRPG doesn't show you under the hood, this is Enhanced Move with a Chi limitation (-10%). Thus, when we need rulings, especially with how it interacts with the non-DFRPG Power-Ups in other, GURPS DF sources, we'll have to go back to how it was built in GURPS before becoming a rules-lite version of itself.
It doesn't affect Basic Speed, Basic Move, or Dodge. It only works when Sprinting - from the second consecutive Move maneuver where you use all of your movement points to travel "along a relatively straight, smooth course" (p. B52).
How does this interact with . . .
Serenity (Pyramid 3/61, p. 12)? This improves DX, which improves Basic Speed, and thus improves Move before multipliers. For reasons mostly due to hating impenetrable defenses, I don't have any plans to allow the optional version of Serenity that affects Basic Speed. My post on the matter has been amended to make that clear.
Sprint Bonuses are a final add, and Tiger Sprint is used instead of the listed bonuses . . . taking the +20% for sprinting (min +1) to +50% and +100%. But DF Felltower doesn't use Sprinting. To be perfectly fair, this should increase the price of Tiger Sprint to 10 and 19, respectively, with a 1-point perk to cover allowing a non-used rule to apply. I won't do that.
Haste? Haste adds to your final numbers. We've been playing with Haste for a while and I have it add to your final numbers. If it adds to your base, then encumbrance should affect it. Have Move 6 and medium encumbrance? That's 6 x 0.6 = Move 3, and you get Haste +2, you're at Move 5 in DF Felltower. If it adds to the base, then it's 6 +2 = 8 x 0.6 = Move 4. No one liked that, so we don't do that. As a result, this also means that things that multiple move multiply your base, and then Haste is added afterward. This includes all similar effects from magic items. Speed elixirs do add to your base, as it specifies increasing Basic Speed, which then affects calculations down the line. So, Haste +2, for example, will add +2 to the final move after multiplying.
Some notes on all of this:
- This will not apply to Move and Attack. DFRPG Exploits, p. 33 is very specific about calling out Move and Move and Attack for how movement works. It then only references Move, not both Move and Move and Attack, under "Three-Minute Miles" and Sprinting on the same page.
I take that as sufficient evidence that you cannot "sprint" and do Move and Attack together.
- You must use all of your movement points for this; if you miss using your full movement points the sprint bonus ends. This may end up with seeming oddities like being able to run 18+ in one second or only half of that, not in between, but it's not unreasonable to have your weird Chi power only work under specific circumstances. If it bothers anyone sufficiently, it's probably better to save your 9 or 18 points and spend it on straight-up and more versatile Speed and Move.
- Although you can technically run in a circle with "forward movement," Exploits and Basic Set also say that when running away you only get a sprint bonus for "A straight, clear course (not twisting tunnels)" so I'll be harsh on attempts to zig-zag to keep speed up or otherwise min-max a sprint bonus.
- Perception rolls at speed will be penalized by your own speed on the Size and Speed/Range Table. It's hard to scout while running full speed.
I'll modify this post if anything changes or additional qualifications or notes need to be added.
These types of posts are fun, but this took a few hours of on and off writing, reading, and cross referencing. That's all for a movement powerup that someone may or may not take, and may or may not use. That's why I don't write as many as I used to back when I worked many less hours per week!
Monday, February 17, 2025
GURPS DF Session 205, Brotherhood Complex 8 - Raid, Part V - Mopping Up & Pursuit
Actual Date: 2/16/2025
Game Date: 12/12/2024
Weather: Cold, clear, dry.
Characters
Chop, human cleric (301 points)
Brother Quinn, human initiate (125 points)
Duncan Tesadic, human wizard (335 points)
Hannari Ironhand, dwarf martial artist (316 points)
Amlaric, human squire (125 points)
Persistance Montgomery (303 point knight)
Thor Halfskepna, human knight (306 points)
Leon the Eye, human archer (125 points)
Aaron, Brandon, Cedric, Dortmund, Ernie, Ferd, Grunlark, and Hansel, human guards (62 points)
Bullworth and Oxford, human laborers (62 points)
Honest Charles LeGrand, human squire (125 points)
Vladimir Luchnick, dwarf scout (298 points)
We picked up where we left off.
Thor was facing a pair of cultists in the stairs - one running, and suffering from Magebane and one stunned and down at his feet - and a gnoll behind him. Meanwhile, Hannari was facing off with a cultist with a ready Ice Dagger. There were a couple of standing gnolls (including one lightly-injured one I think Hannari had thrown and everyone just assumed was dead in the confusion of the melee) and a number of badly mauled, weapon-arm-less mechanical knights.
Thor dealt with his opponents by slashing and stabbing the downed cultist, then turning and decapitating the gnoll behind him, and then going down the stairs after the rapidly-running cultist who'd failed to hurt him last time with Explosive Lightning.
Percy finished off a gnoll with some help from one-armed Vlad distracting it, and then waded into the remaining gnoll and knights. He'd kill the gnoll quickly and then slowly bash the knights down. Eventually, at the urging of Vlad, he swapped to his greataxe from his flail and finished the last knight off with two blows - one too little to penetrate the armor, the other enough to penetrate the neck and disable it.
Hannari threw a meteoric knife at the cultists he faced and wounded him, but took an Explosive Ice Dagger back. He was against a wall so chanced Parry Missile Weapons but it didn't matter - it blew up on contact and wounded him. He threw another knife but Missile Shield took care of that. So he ran up and slammed the cultist and knocked him down, and then finished him off (I can't remember how.) He spent some time retreiving his weapons from the body and heading downstairs.
Chop ran over to the NPCs and told them to come on up to the front, even as he put Stop Bleeding on everyone not obviously dead. Duncan, who'd tossed in a nearly harmless (3 damage on 4d-4) Lightning spell at a knight, headed over and gathered up Aecris and then headed over to search the bodies.
Once that all was done, Vlad snuck up to watch around the corner where the Iron Witch had run, and saw a closed door. He headed back to the PCs.
Meanwhile, Chop joined Thor and Hannari at the bottom of the stairs. Thor and Hannari ran out, taking turns and trying to find the cultist. He'd headed off into the darkness. Thor went one way, Hannari the other.
Thor ran around for a while, first map east and then map south (actually, north isn't up on the map, so whatever), and then south-east-north through a door and eventually found himself back near the stairs. He gave up, met up with a waiting Chop, and they went upstairs.
Hannari just kept going. He ran, forced doors, and then ran again. His ST is really up from (IIRC) a potion, so that let him force some doors he might not have otherwise. He ran and ran and ran. He found nothing.
Eventually, with the fight done above, Duncan cast Telepathy to talk to Hannari. Hannari said he was hunting wizards. They left him to do so for a while longer - maybe another 10-12 seconds? - and then asked him to return. He wasn't done hunting wizards. They moved to the room where the Iron Witch is - Seeker had failed, but Seek Earth said there was gold in there. Hannari said he couldn't hurt her, so why bother. But he crushed a Haste stone so he could run faster. With the distance he'd run, even a +2 is a big, big jump in overall movement.
He did eventually find a hallway with enough branches off of it to not be sure where to go. So he backed off entirely and headed back the way he had come.
Meanwhile, the PCs, along with their only three remaining mobile NPCs - the two laborers and Leon - moved up to a heavy door. They forced it opened and rushed in. Inside was a circular room with some spare but nice stone furniture, black carpeting, and hundreds of glinting stones set in the ceiling. They forced one door out of it, and started to peer down a rough-hewn tunnel off to another side.
That's where we called it, for time.
Notes:
- We stayed in combat time the entire session. I would have dropped out of it once pursuit was broken off, but circumstances prevented it. Hannari kept up his pursuit quite a while after being contacted with Telepathy, and it took a couple of requests to get him to try to rejoin the group to attack the Iron Witch. Then the PCs started to get in some healing, bring up guys from the back, and set up to go after the Iron Witch . . . so I couldn't just close up the fight, let them regather, and go. That made for a steep real time to game time ratio.
- Parry Missile Weapons vs. Missile Spells - I was asked if an incoming spell was Explosive, since apparantly PMW doesn't work against them. I can't find anything that says that. It's a bad choice against an Explosive spell, but it still "works." Also, explosive variants of spells don't look different. Dodge is always the better choice against a Missile spell unless you have to ensure it, at best, hits you and not others behind you or catches less people behind you in the blast.
- I'm continually offput a little by the exclamations of disappointed surprise people get when a) opponents aren't stunned or knocked down from a non-Vitals, non-Skull hit, or b) Wizards make a successful Will roll to not have their Missile spell affect them when injured. Uhm, without a penalty - and there are only a tiny handful of them - stunning happens at best half of the time. HT 11-12 is more typical, which means it's more like 25-37.5% of the time. Oh, and wizards throwing 9d spells aren't going to have Will under 13, and 14-15 is more likely. It's a nice thing if it happens . . . but it's not likely to happen. It's just a weird expression of surprise. Maybe it's in the same category as people who are surprised patrolling monsters don't have bags of treasure with them. Desire trumps actual knowledge of likelihood.
- I really like the confirmation roll in the GURPS module. We did have some teething issues with it as people add in a bucket of modifiers, then hit the roll, then confirm . . . and find that sometimes the auto-added penalties are already in. Sometimes the confirmation roll has a modifier from an unknown source . . . or so I hear. I didn't have any of that. I wonder if people aren't as keenly looking at, say, their chosen maneuver, or posture, or if they're in close combat or suffering from some other effect.
- We don't use Sprinting, but we did get derailed in a discussion of Tiger Sprint plus Serenity. I'll do a post on how they interact, but. It's possible Hannari was running with a sprint bonus, but we'll see - his player will read this and check. I don't use it at all, under any circumstances, but if someone wants to buy Tiger Sprint as a power-up, it'll be allowed and used per the rules in ways I'll outline in a post later this week.
- Forced Entry is, I think, the only ST roll we use. I do think it might be better to be an effect roll . . . I have to play around with that and see how I like it. Rolling damage would be a better way to handle it (and let people Slam through doors, sometimes), but it has some issues. Not the least of which is, what do I do with Forced Entry as a skill. And there are other issues, but it's worth some investigation. I'll come up with some ideas and then put them past my group. Done right, this can help simplify down to one system.
- MVP was Thor. It was a tossup between him (killing and pursuing and good-naturedly running around trying to find people) and Hannari (killing a cultist wizard and chasing another.) Thor won the die roll.
Game Date: 12/12/2024
Weather: Cold, clear, dry.
Characters
Chop, human cleric (301 points)
Brother Quinn, human initiate (125 points)
Duncan Tesadic, human wizard (335 points)
Hannari Ironhand, dwarf martial artist (316 points)
Amlaric, human squire (125 points)
Persistance Montgomery (303 point knight)
Thor Halfskepna, human knight (306 points)
Leon the Eye, human archer (125 points)
Aaron, Brandon, Cedric, Dortmund, Ernie, Ferd, Grunlark, and Hansel, human guards (62 points)
Bullworth and Oxford, human laborers (62 points)
Honest Charles LeGrand, human squire (125 points)
Vladimir Luchnick, dwarf scout (298 points)
We picked up where we left off.
Thor was facing a pair of cultists in the stairs - one running, and suffering from Magebane and one stunned and down at his feet - and a gnoll behind him. Meanwhile, Hannari was facing off with a cultist with a ready Ice Dagger. There were a couple of standing gnolls (including one lightly-injured one I think Hannari had thrown and everyone just assumed was dead in the confusion of the melee) and a number of badly mauled, weapon-arm-less mechanical knights.
Thor dealt with his opponents by slashing and stabbing the downed cultist, then turning and decapitating the gnoll behind him, and then going down the stairs after the rapidly-running cultist who'd failed to hurt him last time with Explosive Lightning.
Percy finished off a gnoll with some help from one-armed Vlad distracting it, and then waded into the remaining gnoll and knights. He'd kill the gnoll quickly and then slowly bash the knights down. Eventually, at the urging of Vlad, he swapped to his greataxe from his flail and finished the last knight off with two blows - one too little to penetrate the armor, the other enough to penetrate the neck and disable it.
Hannari threw a meteoric knife at the cultists he faced and wounded him, but took an Explosive Ice Dagger back. He was against a wall so chanced Parry Missile Weapons but it didn't matter - it blew up on contact and wounded him. He threw another knife but Missile Shield took care of that. So he ran up and slammed the cultist and knocked him down, and then finished him off (I can't remember how.) He spent some time retreiving his weapons from the body and heading downstairs.
Chop ran over to the NPCs and told them to come on up to the front, even as he put Stop Bleeding on everyone not obviously dead. Duncan, who'd tossed in a nearly harmless (3 damage on 4d-4) Lightning spell at a knight, headed over and gathered up Aecris and then headed over to search the bodies.
Once that all was done, Vlad snuck up to watch around the corner where the Iron Witch had run, and saw a closed door. He headed back to the PCs.
Meanwhile, Chop joined Thor and Hannari at the bottom of the stairs. Thor and Hannari ran out, taking turns and trying to find the cultist. He'd headed off into the darkness. Thor went one way, Hannari the other.
Thor ran around for a while, first map east and then map south (actually, north isn't up on the map, so whatever), and then south-east-north through a door and eventually found himself back near the stairs. He gave up, met up with a waiting Chop, and they went upstairs.
Hannari just kept going. He ran, forced doors, and then ran again. His ST is really up from (IIRC) a potion, so that let him force some doors he might not have otherwise. He ran and ran and ran. He found nothing.
Eventually, with the fight done above, Duncan cast Telepathy to talk to Hannari. Hannari said he was hunting wizards. They left him to do so for a while longer - maybe another 10-12 seconds? - and then asked him to return. He wasn't done hunting wizards. They moved to the room where the Iron Witch is - Seeker had failed, but Seek Earth said there was gold in there. Hannari said he couldn't hurt her, so why bother. But he crushed a Haste stone so he could run faster. With the distance he'd run, even a +2 is a big, big jump in overall movement.
He did eventually find a hallway with enough branches off of it to not be sure where to go. So he backed off entirely and headed back the way he had come.
Meanwhile, the PCs, along with their only three remaining mobile NPCs - the two laborers and Leon - moved up to a heavy door. They forced it opened and rushed in. Inside was a circular room with some spare but nice stone furniture, black carpeting, and hundreds of glinting stones set in the ceiling. They forced one door out of it, and started to peer down a rough-hewn tunnel off to another side.
That's where we called it, for time.
Notes:
- We stayed in combat time the entire session. I would have dropped out of it once pursuit was broken off, but circumstances prevented it. Hannari kept up his pursuit quite a while after being contacted with Telepathy, and it took a couple of requests to get him to try to rejoin the group to attack the Iron Witch. Then the PCs started to get in some healing, bring up guys from the back, and set up to go after the Iron Witch . . . so I couldn't just close up the fight, let them regather, and go. That made for a steep real time to game time ratio.
- Parry Missile Weapons vs. Missile Spells - I was asked if an incoming spell was Explosive, since apparantly PMW doesn't work against them. I can't find anything that says that. It's a bad choice against an Explosive spell, but it still "works." Also, explosive variants of spells don't look different. Dodge is always the better choice against a Missile spell unless you have to ensure it, at best, hits you and not others behind you or catches less people behind you in the blast.
- I'm continually offput a little by the exclamations of disappointed surprise people get when a) opponents aren't stunned or knocked down from a non-Vitals, non-Skull hit, or b) Wizards make a successful Will roll to not have their Missile spell affect them when injured. Uhm, without a penalty - and there are only a tiny handful of them - stunning happens at best half of the time. HT 11-12 is more typical, which means it's more like 25-37.5% of the time. Oh, and wizards throwing 9d spells aren't going to have Will under 13, and 14-15 is more likely. It's a nice thing if it happens . . . but it's not likely to happen. It's just a weird expression of surprise. Maybe it's in the same category as people who are surprised patrolling monsters don't have bags of treasure with them. Desire trumps actual knowledge of likelihood.
- I really like the confirmation roll in the GURPS module. We did have some teething issues with it as people add in a bucket of modifiers, then hit the roll, then confirm . . . and find that sometimes the auto-added penalties are already in. Sometimes the confirmation roll has a modifier from an unknown source . . . or so I hear. I didn't have any of that. I wonder if people aren't as keenly looking at, say, their chosen maneuver, or posture, or if they're in close combat or suffering from some other effect.
- We don't use Sprinting, but we did get derailed in a discussion of Tiger Sprint plus Serenity. I'll do a post on how they interact, but. It's possible Hannari was running with a sprint bonus, but we'll see - his player will read this and check. I don't use it at all, under any circumstances, but if someone wants to buy Tiger Sprint as a power-up, it'll be allowed and used per the rules in ways I'll outline in a post later this week.
- Forced Entry is, I think, the only ST roll we use. I do think it might be better to be an effect roll . . . I have to play around with that and see how I like it. Rolling damage would be a better way to handle it (and let people Slam through doors, sometimes), but it has some issues. Not the least of which is, what do I do with Forced Entry as a skill. And there are other issues, but it's worth some investigation. I'll come up with some ideas and then put them past my group. Done right, this can help simplify down to one system.
- MVP was Thor. It was a tossup between him (killing and pursuing and good-naturedly running around trying to find people) and Hannari (killing a cultist wizard and chasing another.) Thor won the die roll.
Sunday, February 16, 2025
Felltower pre-summary
Fun session today, but it didn't get resolved just yet.
- the PCs finished off the big brawl with the cultist wizards, Iron Witch of Cornwood, mechanical knights, and gnolls
- the iron witch and one cultist wizard managed to get away from the PCs
- Hannari and Thor chased the cultist wizard, split up, and spent a long time unsuccessfully persuing him
- the PCs got back together, mostly, and moved into the Iron Witch's room
Full summary tomorrow.
- the PCs finished off the big brawl with the cultist wizards, Iron Witch of Cornwood, mechanical knights, and gnolls
- the iron witch and one cultist wizard managed to get away from the PCs
- Hannari and Thor chased the cultist wizard, split up, and spent a long time unsuccessfully persuing him
- the PCs got back together, mostly, and moved into the Iron Witch's room
Full summary tomorrow.
Saturday, February 15, 2025
Noble Knight Clearance Sale
Just an FYI post - Noble Knight has a clearance sale going right now.
Clearance Items
Just a trio of GURPS-related items - an issue of Pyramid, an issue of Roleplayer, and another zine of some kind. But still, worth a quick look if you have some item you're in the hunt for, especially more recent D&D and Pathfinder items.
Clearance Items
Just a trio of GURPS-related items - an issue of Pyramid, an issue of Roleplayer, and another zine of some kind. But still, worth a quick look if you have some item you're in the hunt for, especially more recent D&D and Pathfinder items.
Friday, February 14, 2025
Friday Roundup 2/14/2025
Fun stuff for a Friday. Warning: may not include actual fun.
- Ian McCullom / Forgotten Weapons takes apart a functioning replica of Deckard's pistol from Blade Runner.
- I love fishmen, so I like this paint job on a Reaper fishman.
- Some detailed analysis of the Monster Manual here. Not the old one, the newer ones.
- Next Felltower is Sunday. The conclusion of the Brotherhood Complex brawl, and we'll see what the PCs do with it. And what they talk themselves into, and out of!
- Ian McCullom / Forgotten Weapons takes apart a functioning replica of Deckard's pistol from Blade Runner.
- I love fishmen, so I like this paint job on a Reaper fishman.
- Some detailed analysis of the Monster Manual here. Not the old one, the newer ones.
- Next Felltower is Sunday. The conclusion of the Brotherhood Complex brawl, and we'll see what the PCs do with it. And what they talk themselves into, and out of!
Thursday, February 13, 2025
GURPS VTT module updated
The GURPS module for Foundry was updated.
It seems to have solved the drag-and-drop damage problem . . . I can't be totally sure because we're mid-combat. But that was a big issue in our last session.
Some other bugfixes are in there, as well . . . but I don't know how many will actually affect us.
It seems to have solved the drag-and-drop damage problem . . . I can't be totally sure because we're mid-combat. But that was a big issue in our last session.
Some other bugfixes are in there, as well . . . but I don't know how many will actually affect us.
Wednesday, February 12, 2025
Diablo - Won
I finished Diablo tonight, in Normal mode, with now-25th level warrior Mirado.
- I'd forgotten that when you kill Diablo you just go to a cutscene, and then are returned to town. I'm glad I didn't need to mop up all of those teleporting wizards . . . but still, it feels very abrupt.
- The final levels were tough - it took a lot of trips, lots of potions, and almost bankrupted my guy in the process. So many witches. Sooooooo many witches. Tough when you're a melee guy without Teleport and without either mana or life steal.
- I restarted in Nightmare. Should be fun, but Hell mode is where it's really fun. I miss the days of using a trainer program to make a 50th level dude, use it to make a Hell-mode game, and dumping a too-low-level guy into it to try and survive. Ah, the good old days of hacking stuff to make it as hard as possible. I expected the early levels of Nightmare to be a bit of a slog, but at least the loot is worth more sold.
Fun game. I'm glad I messed around and got it working.
- I'd forgotten that when you kill Diablo you just go to a cutscene, and then are returned to town. I'm glad I didn't need to mop up all of those teleporting wizards . . . but still, it feels very abrupt.
- The final levels were tough - it took a lot of trips, lots of potions, and almost bankrupted my guy in the process. So many witches. Sooooooo many witches. Tough when you're a melee guy without Teleport and without either mana or life steal.
- I restarted in Nightmare. Should be fun, but Hell mode is where it's really fun. I miss the days of using a trainer program to make a 50th level dude, use it to make a Hell-mode game, and dumping a too-low-level guy into it to try and survive. Ah, the good old days of hacking stuff to make it as hard as possible. I expected the early levels of Nightmare to be a bit of a slog, but at least the loot is worth more sold.
Fun game. I'm glad I messed around and got it working.
Monday, February 10, 2025
Logic behind allowing and disallowing Power Ups in DF Felltower
DF Felltower tries to play like an old-school, early-edition RPG game. It's heavily influenced by AD&D, Rolemaster, and my earlier-edition GURPS games. It is intended - like normal DF - to be a higher-powered version of the same. You sure don't start at "1st level" in DF.
But in any case, GURPS DF isn't quite like the source material. I end up disallowing a lot of potentially potent and/or useful adventures. No chi blasts, no magic bolts, no special kill shots, no special skill at parrying with your bow . . . not even if I wrote the damn ability up in the first place. I know cool, and I know the rules, but I also know DF Felltower isn't a kitchen sink game.
How do I decide?
- Is it basically mundane? If the ability is largely just a souped-up mundane ability . . . it's likely going in. I don't mind more power. I like more power. It allows me to put in more and more powerful foes.
- Is it wiz-bang and video gamey? It's likely staying out. If it allows you to bend reality to pull off some cool move . . . or bypass some core power limitation of the basic rules . . . it's out.
- Does it usurp another template? Does it let you replace another template's core skills? Thieves as combat coordinators, scouts as spellcasters, wizards as missile spell machine guns . . . not for DF Felltower.
- Is it a "must have"? Probably not allowed. If it's the kind of thing that, once allowed, isn't something a template can do without . . . I won't include it. I don't want a splatbook approach where a new power comes along and you must buy it or be permanently relegated to second class in your own field.
That's pretty much how I pick and choose.
And, importantly:
The default answer is no. It needs to be "Hell Yes!" or the answer is no. I don't need a Power Up to argue for exclusion, but for inclusion.
But in any case, GURPS DF isn't quite like the source material. I end up disallowing a lot of potentially potent and/or useful adventures. No chi blasts, no magic bolts, no special kill shots, no special skill at parrying with your bow . . . not even if I wrote the damn ability up in the first place. I know cool, and I know the rules, but I also know DF Felltower isn't a kitchen sink game.
How do I decide?
- Is it basically mundane? If the ability is largely just a souped-up mundane ability . . . it's likely going in. I don't mind more power. I like more power. It allows me to put in more and more powerful foes.
- Is it wiz-bang and video gamey? It's likely staying out. If it allows you to bend reality to pull off some cool move . . . or bypass some core power limitation of the basic rules . . . it's out.
- Does it usurp another template? Does it let you replace another template's core skills? Thieves as combat coordinators, scouts as spellcasters, wizards as missile spell machine guns . . . not for DF Felltower.
- Is it a "must have"? Probably not allowed. If it's the kind of thing that, once allowed, isn't something a template can do without . . . I won't include it. I don't want a splatbook approach where a new power comes along and you must buy it or be permanently relegated to second class in your own field.
That's pretty much how I pick and choose.
And, importantly:
The default answer is no. It needs to be "Hell Yes!" or the answer is no. I don't need a Power Up to argue for exclusion, but for inclusion.
Sunday, February 9, 2025
More Power for Dungeon Warriors & Felltower: Final Availability List (Feb 2025)
The article More Power for Dungeon Warriors in Pyramid 3/61: Way of the Warrior and in Dungeon Fantasy Pyramid Collection has a number of Power-Ups created by Sean Punch and me.
This is a comprehensive list of what is available, and unavailable, for purchase in DF Felltower.
Please note that all purchasing rules still apply - what's available at start-up, prerequisite point investments for combat perks, prerequites, etc. This is only a list of what's available, and doesn't override the rules anywhere else unless explicitly noted below.
Available
Put it in His Eye
Ramming Speed
Retroactive Poisoning (only for Assassins, Druids, Evil Clerics, Thieves, Unholy Warriors)
Sacrificial Block
Third Hand
Willful Warrior
Greater Weapon Bond (Not recommended; this doesn't give any plot protection to your gear; we do not use Signature Gear in DF Felltower.)
Heroic Reserves
Peerless Slayer Training
Two-Weapon Mastery
Ultimate Ramming Speed
All Barbarian Power-Ups (Mountain of Meat, Sure-Footed, Greater Cleaving Strike, Naked Rage)
Both Holy Warrior Power Ups (Emergency Casting, Holy Weapon)
Most Knightly Powers (Bodyguard, Weapon-and-Shield Fighter, but not Tactician)
Most Martial Artist Power-Ups (Fists of Power, Grand Flying Kick, Hundred-Handed Strike, Chain Belt, Inner Alchemy, Mr. Pushy, Master of Lethal Strikes, Rolling Throw, Serenity (DX version, not Speed version), but not Chi Blasts or Unarmed Master, which doesn't play well with DF Felltower's generous unarmed rules)
All Scout Power Ups
All Swashbuckler Power Ups
Unavailable
These abilities are not in use.
Double-Ended Weapon Training
Heroic Sacrifice
Double-Ended Mastery
Interdiction
Killer Hair (for PCs, anyway, it might be a monster ability)
Wizard Hunter
Tactician
Prior discussion on the blog is overruled by mention here.
This is a comprehensive list of what is available, and unavailable, for purchase in DF Felltower.
Please note that all purchasing rules still apply - what's available at start-up, prerequisite point investments for combat perks, prerequites, etc. This is only a list of what's available, and doesn't override the rules anywhere else unless explicitly noted below.
Available
Put it in His Eye
Ramming Speed
Retroactive Poisoning (only for Assassins, Druids, Evil Clerics, Thieves, Unholy Warriors)
Sacrificial Block
Third Hand
Willful Warrior
Greater Weapon Bond (Not recommended; this doesn't give any plot protection to your gear; we do not use Signature Gear in DF Felltower.)
Heroic Reserves
Peerless Slayer Training
Two-Weapon Mastery
Ultimate Ramming Speed
All Barbarian Power-Ups (Mountain of Meat, Sure-Footed, Greater Cleaving Strike, Naked Rage)
Both Holy Warrior Power Ups (Emergency Casting, Holy Weapon)
Most Knightly Powers (Bodyguard, Weapon-and-Shield Fighter, but not Tactician)
Most Martial Artist Power-Ups (Fists of Power, Grand Flying Kick, Hundred-Handed Strike, Chain Belt, Inner Alchemy, Mr. Pushy, Master of Lethal Strikes, Rolling Throw, Serenity (DX version, not Speed version), but not Chi Blasts or Unarmed Master, which doesn't play well with DF Felltower's generous unarmed rules)
All Scout Power Ups
All Swashbuckler Power Ups
Unavailable
These abilities are not in use.
Double-Ended Weapon Training
Heroic Sacrifice
Double-Ended Mastery
Interdiction
Killer Hair (for PCs, anyway, it might be a monster ability)
Wizard Hunter
Tactician
Prior discussion on the blog is overruled by mention here.
Saturday, February 8, 2025
Diablo: Things I'd Forgotten
Diablo very much influenced Dungeon Fantasy - potion belts with 8 potion slots, hack-and-slash gaming, town is safe, magic items are found or purchased but not made, etc.
There are a few things I'd forgotten, though:
- Quests sometimes trigger new areas in old areas. You might find a crack in a wall that wasn't accessible before when you get a quest, or a chest you can't open until you've met the quest-giver.
- You increase stats, but increasing spells is all about finding magic in the dungeon.
- Unique items are always interesting, even if only useful for a while.
- Mood music is awesome.
Amusingly, some stuff I just remembered - Tab for the automap, arrow keys to move it around, Shift+Click to stand in place and swing, right click to cast spells . . . I haven't played in close to 30 years but I remember the keystrokes like they were yesterday.
And I remember the Battle.net only helm Lightforge . . . which was totally sweet. They said it was only accessible by a lucky drop in the demo version, but it was a hacked item. My friend Ed traded for them and got all of us one each. And me, two, after my first guy was lost in a computer failure. But I digress . . . got to go back to clearing the Bone Chamber . . .
There are a few things I'd forgotten, though:
- Quests sometimes trigger new areas in old areas. You might find a crack in a wall that wasn't accessible before when you get a quest, or a chest you can't open until you've met the quest-giver.
- You increase stats, but increasing spells is all about finding magic in the dungeon.
- Unique items are always interesting, even if only useful for a while.
- Mood music is awesome.
Amusingly, some stuff I just remembered - Tab for the automap, arrow keys to move it around, Shift+Click to stand in place and swing, right click to cast spells . . . I haven't played in close to 30 years but I remember the keystrokes like they were yesterday.
And I remember the Battle.net only helm Lightforge . . . which was totally sweet. They said it was only accessible by a lucky drop in the demo version, but it was a hacked item. My friend Ed traded for them and got all of us one each. And me, two, after my first guy was lost in a computer failure. But I digress . . . got to go back to clearing the Bone Chamber . . .
Friday, February 7, 2025
Random Thoughts & Links for 2/7/2025
It's Friday, time for random thoughts and links.
- Diablo lead progammer David Brevik describes DF Felltower, although you do have a lot more up-front customization of characters in Felltower thanks to GURPS.
But the main thing is loot? Killing monsters and loot, story not needed? Yes. That's my game.
- I've been thinking about my game's rules. I feel like I keep trying to simplify, and cut out things - rules, especially - that I feel don't add enough fun to justify the cost in time and complexity. But I also feel like that's becoming less true as I go on. A couple of rules I'd quietly dumped have been revived after pushes from players. A rule or two I'd downrated in effect have returned to the foreground a bit. If I started from scratch, my preferred ruleset for Felltower would be shorter, and although my players seem to agree in principle, actual practice is causing more rules and rulings to track. Hmm.
- Chester looks at Unlimited Adventures - a Gold Box CRPG toolkit.
- Diablo lead progammer David Brevik describes DF Felltower, although you do have a lot more up-front customization of characters in Felltower thanks to GURPS.
But the main thing is loot? Killing monsters and loot, story not needed? Yes. That's my game.
- I've been thinking about my game's rules. I feel like I keep trying to simplify, and cut out things - rules, especially - that I feel don't add enough fun to justify the cost in time and complexity. But I also feel like that's becoming less true as I go on. A couple of rules I'd quietly dumped have been revived after pushes from players. A rule or two I'd downrated in effect have returned to the foreground a bit. If I started from scratch, my preferred ruleset for Felltower would be shorter, and although my players seem to agree in principle, actual practice is causing more rules and rulings to track. Hmm.
- Chester looks at Unlimited Adventures - a Gold Box CRPG toolkit.
Thursday, February 6, 2025
A Snowy Day in Hell: Diablo
Out of nowhere, yesterday, I decided I wanted to play Diablo 1 again. I fiddled around until I got it to work - and oddly, it didn't seem to love sitting on my main partition so I stuck it on a USB key and it worked fine. I patched it up to 1.09, used a patch to keep it stable on Windows 10, and fired it up. And then a good chunk of my day was back-filled and front-empty thanks to a snow and ice storm. So I played Diablo for breakfast today.
Mirado the Warrior is now level 9 and slogging his way through the upper 4 levels of the dungeons below the old church in Tristam. I spent a good deal of time getting sucked into the loot rewards, just one more fight to level, and the OH SHIT RUN of it all. I don't feel overwhelmed but I sure as hell feel a little nervous with every door I open and every corner I turn.
I played D3 for a little bit a while back, the demo anyway . . . and I wasn't enjoying it. I felt like I was just clicking and hoping. It looked good, but I didn't feel that existential fear of my guy getting popped like in Diablo 1. I felt like I couldn't beat the Skeleton King, but not like I was afraid of losing my guy or like I had any real stakes other than some time. I could have gotten the upgraded D2, or installed D2 and the expansion from my disks . . . but it was Diablo itself that seemed like a great way to spend some time. Much simpler - Warrior, Rogue, Sorcerer - and less worry about skill tree builds.
I played this game so damn much back in the day. I think I capped out at level 48 with one of my guys - Cthulbert - and played with my lamented lost buddy Ed, Don, my coworker Jesus (not Hey-soos, rather Gee-Zus), and a few others here and there. Fun stuff.
If anyone knows a way to get rid of the need for the CD, that would be nice, as my main play machine doesn't have a CD-ROM. If you've done it, let me know what worked - I tried searching for all sorts of methods and tried them to no avail, so don't drop me a link unless it's described what you had work for you. Thanks guys, and see you in Hell! (Aka levels 13-16)
Mirado the Warrior is now level 9 and slogging his way through the upper 4 levels of the dungeons below the old church in Tristam. I spent a good deal of time getting sucked into the loot rewards, just one more fight to level, and the OH SHIT RUN of it all. I don't feel overwhelmed but I sure as hell feel a little nervous with every door I open and every corner I turn.
I played D3 for a little bit a while back, the demo anyway . . . and I wasn't enjoying it. I felt like I was just clicking and hoping. It looked good, but I didn't feel that existential fear of my guy getting popped like in Diablo 1. I felt like I couldn't beat the Skeleton King, but not like I was afraid of losing my guy or like I had any real stakes other than some time. I could have gotten the upgraded D2, or installed D2 and the expansion from my disks . . . but it was Diablo itself that seemed like a great way to spend some time. Much simpler - Warrior, Rogue, Sorcerer - and less worry about skill tree builds.
I played this game so damn much back in the day. I think I capped out at level 48 with one of my guys - Cthulbert - and played with my lamented lost buddy Ed, Don, my coworker Jesus (not Hey-soos, rather Gee-Zus), and a few others here and there. Fun stuff.
If anyone knows a way to get rid of the need for the CD, that would be nice, as my main play machine doesn't have a CD-ROM. If you've done it, let me know what worked - I tried searching for all sorts of methods and tried them to no avail, so don't drop me a link unless it's described what you had work for you. Thanks guys, and see you in Hell! (Aka levels 13-16)
Wednesday, February 5, 2025
VTT Gripes & Praises
Comments on the VTT we use - Foundry, hosted on Forge, using the Unofficial GURPS module.
This is all for Session 204.
Praises
- the new GURPS module for Foundry has a die roll confirmation - you can now see the net roll, with your mods, before you roll it. It's very handy. It's an extra step on each roll, but it saves a lot of pre-roll double checking, or post-roll calculation.
- the damage dialog gives calculations for major wounds, shock, knockback . . . and you can roll for the victim and apply prone, stunning, shock, etc. with a button click. Very nice. If we can be sure the calculation is right, I can inflict knockdown and stun on PCs instead of having the dely of waiting for the player to pull up a sheet and roll.
- the numbering at the end of the NPCs was sufficient to differentiate them.
- there is an editable status effect I think we can use for Resistances and such.
- Overall, the experience is getting smoother.
Gripes
- drag-and-drop damage doesn't work well anymore. If there are multiple actors in one hex, the top one is selected for the damage dialog. This was literally just fixed.
- I still can't easily add new combatants to a fight without revealing them. If there is a way to add someone to combat as invisible on the turn tracker by default, I'd love to know. The gnolls weren't a surprise because someone saw them populate the turn order before I could make them invisible until they were within sight.
- Sometimes when I marked someone as fallen, they disappeared from the map for the players. Since bodies are bad footing for our purposes, that is bad. I had to leave everyone up and on the turn tracker, which isn't ideal.
- I still need a way to mark statuses on NPCs without revealing them. The PCs spotted a pair of disabled mechanical knights and no one even remarked on them . . . because they could see the disabled icons on them. They should have had to at least question if they were active for a second, not get the answer from icons I put down.
- Facing is still weird as you move your guy . . . and being able to draw a path and then click to move along it would clear up a lot of questions about how people moved around.
This is all for Session 204.
Praises
- the new GURPS module for Foundry has a die roll confirmation - you can now see the net roll, with your mods, before you roll it. It's very handy. It's an extra step on each roll, but it saves a lot of pre-roll double checking, or post-roll calculation.
- the damage dialog gives calculations for major wounds, shock, knockback . . . and you can roll for the victim and apply prone, stunning, shock, etc. with a button click. Very nice. If we can be sure the calculation is right, I can inflict knockdown and stun on PCs instead of having the dely of waiting for the player to pull up a sheet and roll.
- the numbering at the end of the NPCs was sufficient to differentiate them.
- there is an editable status effect I think we can use for Resistances and such.
- Overall, the experience is getting smoother.
Gripes
- drag-and-drop damage doesn't work well anymore. If there are multiple actors in one hex, the top one is selected for the damage dialog. This was literally just fixed.
- I still can't easily add new combatants to a fight without revealing them. If there is a way to add someone to combat as invisible on the turn tracker by default, I'd love to know. The gnolls weren't a surprise because someone saw them populate the turn order before I could make them invisible until they were within sight.
- Sometimes when I marked someone as fallen, they disappeared from the map for the players. Since bodies are bad footing for our purposes, that is bad. I had to leave everyone up and on the turn tracker, which isn't ideal.
- I still need a way to mark statuses on NPCs without revealing them. The PCs spotted a pair of disabled mechanical knights and no one even remarked on them . . . because they could see the disabled icons on them. They should have had to at least question if they were active for a second, not get the answer from icons I put down.
- Facing is still weird as you move your guy . . . and being able to draw a path and then click to move along it would clear up a lot of questions about how people moved around.
Tuesday, February 4, 2025
Rules and Rulings from Session 204
Rules and rulings from DF Session 204.
- At one point Hannari did a Move and Attack - ran up, threw at a cultist from a yard away, and then the cultist's explosive spell went off. He had 1 more movement point, but you can't use ordinary movement points as a Retreat reaction by my ruling. I don't think anything in GURPS supports using "Move" to escape the blast radius of an explosion or effect unless it's specifically a non-instant effect (Shape Earth comes to mind, nothing else does offhand.) Since he'd used Move and Attack he couldn't use Retreat. When a blast went off behind him a split-second later (from a cultist throwing on his turn, a bit further down the move order) he similiarly couldn't use that one last move point to move forward and further away from the blast radius. Someone argued for forward momentum, which might make some logical sense, but again, nothing in the rules allows for it. I don't want to get into the precendent of allowing people to have momentum and prior movement give combat bonuses since GURPS similarly doesn't penalize you for lacking such things. Had he been able to use Retreat, the fact that he'd moved 8 yards in one second in a straight line wouldn't have impeded him, so moving 8 yards in a straight line doesn't aid him, either.
- How do slams and knockdown and knockback interact? My players argued that knockback should occur before knockdown, basically because of the wording for Knockback, where you may fall and that's discussed after. Under Slam, it doesn't say either way, it only says knockdown. I disagree - I think if you do so much damage that you automatically knock someone down, you should get to overrun and trample them. But I did agree to run it the way they want to. I may need to enforce Knockback rules for crushing damage from now on. I generally ignore it because it's more calculations, more rolls, and rarely significant. I think everyone has images of knocking down NPC after NPC after NPC as they pinball off of each other. I doubt it'll ever come to that. I may have to make a ruling to cover situations were this doesn't make sense, and where trampling is the most logical effect. I'll probably have to argue rules again when that comes up, but I think if you can trample, that should be the default effect of a slam, and foes shouldn't be knocked back and away from the trample. Once again, a ruling makes another special case . . . which is why I largely ignored knockback until people wanted it back.
- I basically don't track shield damage unless someone has an attack that can reliably one-shot a shield. It's just too much headache in a VTT. People do ask pretty often, but the answer is pretty much, no, don't bother.
- Someone suggested that it would be cool if your missile spells got larger as you put more dice into it. No, no, no, no, no. No, as the GM, this would not be cool. People would want Per rolls to see how big it was. They'd argue that it should be Per-based or IQ-based Thaumatology and then later argue it should be Observation or Tactics or whatever the heck they're good at because "my guy should be experienced at this." Then they'd want to be able to guess within a die. Then people would want a perk to allow them to have missile spells that don't give away their power by size. Nevermind it makes no sense with Lightning even if makes sort-of sense with Stone Missile. Then people will ask about scaling to SM. This is pure give-a-mouse-a-cookie territory and doesn't add anything to the game except, "Wow, that Stone Missile was 18d, it must have been so big!"
- At one point Hannari did a Move and Attack - ran up, threw at a cultist from a yard away, and then the cultist's explosive spell went off. He had 1 more movement point, but you can't use ordinary movement points as a Retreat reaction by my ruling. I don't think anything in GURPS supports using "Move" to escape the blast radius of an explosion or effect unless it's specifically a non-instant effect (Shape Earth comes to mind, nothing else does offhand.) Since he'd used Move and Attack he couldn't use Retreat. When a blast went off behind him a split-second later (from a cultist throwing on his turn, a bit further down the move order) he similiarly couldn't use that one last move point to move forward and further away from the blast radius. Someone argued for forward momentum, which might make some logical sense, but again, nothing in the rules allows for it. I don't want to get into the precendent of allowing people to have momentum and prior movement give combat bonuses since GURPS similarly doesn't penalize you for lacking such things. Had he been able to use Retreat, the fact that he'd moved 8 yards in one second in a straight line wouldn't have impeded him, so moving 8 yards in a straight line doesn't aid him, either.
- How do slams and knockdown and knockback interact? My players argued that knockback should occur before knockdown, basically because of the wording for Knockback, where you may fall and that's discussed after. Under Slam, it doesn't say either way, it only says knockdown. I disagree - I think if you do so much damage that you automatically knock someone down, you should get to overrun and trample them. But I did agree to run it the way they want to. I may need to enforce Knockback rules for crushing damage from now on. I generally ignore it because it's more calculations, more rolls, and rarely significant. I think everyone has images of knocking down NPC after NPC after NPC as they pinball off of each other. I doubt it'll ever come to that. I may have to make a ruling to cover situations were this doesn't make sense, and where trampling is the most logical effect. I'll probably have to argue rules again when that comes up, but I think if you can trample, that should be the default effect of a slam, and foes shouldn't be knocked back and away from the trample. Once again, a ruling makes another special case . . . which is why I largely ignored knockback until people wanted it back.
- I basically don't track shield damage unless someone has an attack that can reliably one-shot a shield. It's just too much headache in a VTT. People do ask pretty often, but the answer is pretty much, no, don't bother.
- Someone suggested that it would be cool if your missile spells got larger as you put more dice into it. No, no, no, no, no. No, as the GM, this would not be cool. People would want Per rolls to see how big it was. They'd argue that it should be Per-based or IQ-based Thaumatology and then later argue it should be Observation or Tactics or whatever the heck they're good at because "my guy should be experienced at this." Then they'd want to be able to guess within a die. Then people would want a perk to allow them to have missile spells that don't give away their power by size. Nevermind it makes no sense with Lightning even if makes sort-of sense with Stone Missile. Then people will ask about scaling to SM. This is pure give-a-mouse-a-cookie territory and doesn't add anything to the game except, "Wow, that Stone Missile was 18d, it must have been so big!"
Monday, February 3, 2025
GURPS DF Session 204, Brotherhood Complex 8 - Raid, Part IV - Mechanical Knights, Gnolls, and Cultists
Actual Date: 2/2/2025
Game Date: 12/12/2024
Weather: Cold, clear, dry.
Characters
Chop, human cleric (301 points)
Brother Quinn, human initiate (125 points)
Duncan Tesadic, human wizard (335 points)
Hannari Ironhand, dwarf martial artist (316 points)
Amlaric, human squire (125 points)
Persistance Montgomery (303 point knight)
Thor Halfskepna, human knight (306 points)
Leon the Eye, human archer (125 points)
Aaron, Brandon, Cedric, Dortmund, Ernie, Ferd, Grunlark, and Hansel, human guards (62 points)
Bullworth and Oxford, human laborers (62 points)
Honest Charles LeGrand, human squire (125 points)
Vladimir Luchnick, dwarf scout (298 points)
We started where we left off three weeks ago. The PCs were in a big fight with a bunch of mechanical knights and the Iron Witch of Cornwood (an iron-bodied wizard).
Thor was fighting with a single knight, Percy four or five of them, and Vlad (armed with Chop's club, eventually), Chop, and Duncan another. As the session began, Thor broke away from the knight he was fighting and ran around the melee to reach the Iron Witch. Percy kept fighting the knights surrounding him, backed by Agar's Wand playing defense. Percy systematically crippled the hammer arms of the knights (he kept saying, "sword arm") and taking out their legs. They kept after him, shield bashing from seated or prone position. They hit him a fair number of times, but never managed to inflict any damage through his DR. He was briefly spiked in the back by one before he was able to cripple its arm. This kept him busy for most of the action.
Thor got around to the Iron Witch and slashed her in the chest with his meteoric iron long knife, cutting her but not deeply. She ran after tossing a Stone Missile at Thor that he blocked. He followed. In a few seconds, it was clear he was falling behind - his Move 6 vs. her Move 7.
Vlad and Duncan pounded away at the knight in front of them, and Duncan eventually nailed it with a hard shot with a Stone Missile in the right arm and finished it off; it dropped, motionless.
Chop moved up and got off a long-ranged Stone to Flesh and restored Hannari. Hannari took off after the Iron Witch, throwing a meteoric iron kama at her foot to cripple or trip her up. It hit, but did so little it didn't do more than dent her and didn't stick in or hinder her. She kept running, now pursued by both Thor and Hannari. Hannari quickly broke off the chase, because he figured he couldn't really harm her. Thor did a few turns later, after she ran around a corner, because he was just falling further behind.
As they headed back toward Percy, the door to the stairs down - which was right in the fight area - opened up, and a mass of gnolls burst out and attacked Hannari and Thor. They ran back to the other PCs, pursued by gnolls. Backing the gnolls were cultist wizards - those same five guys they'd tangled with repeatedly before (putting the firm lie to the tentative belief that they'd "killed" one in a prior delve).
The gnolls rushed the PCs. Percy broke off from the crippled knights and moved into the fray, launching three strikes at the lead gnoll . . . and hit him three times in the skull, taking him to below -10xHP. Thor and Hannari got into a rough line with Percy and Agar's Wand. The crippled knights started to crawl up behind the PC line. Percy and Agar's Wand went to town. Thor managed to slash one gnoll and wound him badly. Hannari put one down (I think not fatally). Percy killed or knocked out nine of them, and Agar's Wand three more.
As he was doing so, the five cultists emerged from the stairs. Two were briefly within two yards of one another so Hannari threw a Magebane grenade. One dodged out of the gas cloud, the second was caught in it and lost access to his Magery. Hannari ran up to the cultist wizards, and spiked one point-blank in the face with his meteoric iron kama. It knocked the cultist out, and so his Explosive Stone Missile went off. Hannari wasn't able to dive away and took serious damage, as did a gnoll that was too close to the both of them. Another cultist threw an Explosive Fireball that hit the floor right behind Hannari, lighting him on fire (and the gnoll, as well) with 10 base damage. A third threw an Explosive Ice Dagger and further injured Hannari.
Thor ran up and ran over one of the cultists with a slam, only to get caught in a 6d Explosive Acid Ball ("I should start regarding my outer layer of heavy plate as disposable.") He turned after the fireball cultist, and knocked him down and into the stairwell. He was zapped with Explosive Lightning but his Resist Lightning kept him from harm. Chop healed up Hannari with a long-ranged Major Healing.
Even as all of this happened, the disabled knights kept crawling up. Duncan retrieved Thor's flaming sword, and Chop backed off from the knights.
That's where we left it - the Iron Witch of Cornwood had fled, the mechanical knights are down to five or six badly mauled constructs with non-functioning weapon arms and and at least one non-functioning leg, and a few gnolls are still up. The cultist casters only have two still standing - one affected by Magebane and fleeing down the stairs, another backed off to a T-intersection and readying a (presumably explosive) Ice Dagger.
Notes:
- This writeup was a wee bit more detailed, but somehow, when I closed it out to do other work I managed to lose a chunk of what I wrote. So you get the summary of the summary.
- Several players wanted to do another turn or so, just to finish the fight. Maybe, but who is to say what's finished? Will they grab bodies and leave? Stop and try to rest? Try another "rest at the entrance" and regroup to come back after the remaining dwellers in the dungeons? Way too much to resolve . . . and from my perspective, even if finising is a quick 1-3 more turns of fighting, that leaves the players 2-3 weeks of planning their healing spells, discussing ways to maximize their looting, etc. complete with all of the questions they'll ask in between. I'd rather they have to make quick decisions quickly, not with weeks of planning based on certain knowledge. Not since it'll take the whole day anyway even if we don't start in combat. So ending "early" (a little later than our usual time) was better from my perspective. If everyone was gung ho on finishing it I might have, but it wasn't unanimous for continuing, either.
- MVP was Percy for killing/knocking out 9 gnolls in a handful of seconds; Agar's Wand took down 3 in that same time. 12 out of 16 went down just from Percy and his gear. Agar's Wand got right into slaying the evil gnolls, even as it wouldn't pound away at the mindless automatons they wanted it to fight.
Rules & Rulings
VTT Gripes
Game Date: 12/12/2024
Weather: Cold, clear, dry.
Characters
Chop, human cleric (301 points)
Brother Quinn, human initiate (125 points)
Duncan Tesadic, human wizard (335 points)
Hannari Ironhand, dwarf martial artist (316 points)
Amlaric, human squire (125 points)
Persistance Montgomery (303 point knight)
Thor Halfskepna, human knight (306 points)
Leon the Eye, human archer (125 points)
Aaron, Brandon, Cedric, Dortmund, Ernie, Ferd, Grunlark, and Hansel, human guards (62 points)
Bullworth and Oxford, human laborers (62 points)
Honest Charles LeGrand, human squire (125 points)
Vladimir Luchnick, dwarf scout (298 points)
We started where we left off three weeks ago. The PCs were in a big fight with a bunch of mechanical knights and the Iron Witch of Cornwood (an iron-bodied wizard).
Thor was fighting with a single knight, Percy four or five of them, and Vlad (armed with Chop's club, eventually), Chop, and Duncan another. As the session began, Thor broke away from the knight he was fighting and ran around the melee to reach the Iron Witch. Percy kept fighting the knights surrounding him, backed by Agar's Wand playing defense. Percy systematically crippled the hammer arms of the knights (he kept saying, "sword arm") and taking out their legs. They kept after him, shield bashing from seated or prone position. They hit him a fair number of times, but never managed to inflict any damage through his DR. He was briefly spiked in the back by one before he was able to cripple its arm. This kept him busy for most of the action.
Thor got around to the Iron Witch and slashed her in the chest with his meteoric iron long knife, cutting her but not deeply. She ran after tossing a Stone Missile at Thor that he blocked. He followed. In a few seconds, it was clear he was falling behind - his Move 6 vs. her Move 7.
Vlad and Duncan pounded away at the knight in front of them, and Duncan eventually nailed it with a hard shot with a Stone Missile in the right arm and finished it off; it dropped, motionless.
Chop moved up and got off a long-ranged Stone to Flesh and restored Hannari. Hannari took off after the Iron Witch, throwing a meteoric iron kama at her foot to cripple or trip her up. It hit, but did so little it didn't do more than dent her and didn't stick in or hinder her. She kept running, now pursued by both Thor and Hannari. Hannari quickly broke off the chase, because he figured he couldn't really harm her. Thor did a few turns later, after she ran around a corner, because he was just falling further behind.
As they headed back toward Percy, the door to the stairs down - which was right in the fight area - opened up, and a mass of gnolls burst out and attacked Hannari and Thor. They ran back to the other PCs, pursued by gnolls. Backing the gnolls were cultist wizards - those same five guys they'd tangled with repeatedly before (putting the firm lie to the tentative belief that they'd "killed" one in a prior delve).
The gnolls rushed the PCs. Percy broke off from the crippled knights and moved into the fray, launching three strikes at the lead gnoll . . . and hit him three times in the skull, taking him to below -10xHP. Thor and Hannari got into a rough line with Percy and Agar's Wand. The crippled knights started to crawl up behind the PC line. Percy and Agar's Wand went to town. Thor managed to slash one gnoll and wound him badly. Hannari put one down (I think not fatally). Percy killed or knocked out nine of them, and Agar's Wand three more.
As he was doing so, the five cultists emerged from the stairs. Two were briefly within two yards of one another so Hannari threw a Magebane grenade. One dodged out of the gas cloud, the second was caught in it and lost access to his Magery. Hannari ran up to the cultist wizards, and spiked one point-blank in the face with his meteoric iron kama. It knocked the cultist out, and so his Explosive Stone Missile went off. Hannari wasn't able to dive away and took serious damage, as did a gnoll that was too close to the both of them. Another cultist threw an Explosive Fireball that hit the floor right behind Hannari, lighting him on fire (and the gnoll, as well) with 10 base damage. A third threw an Explosive Ice Dagger and further injured Hannari.
Thor ran up and ran over one of the cultists with a slam, only to get caught in a 6d Explosive Acid Ball ("I should start regarding my outer layer of heavy plate as disposable.") He turned after the fireball cultist, and knocked him down and into the stairwell. He was zapped with Explosive Lightning but his Resist Lightning kept him from harm. Chop healed up Hannari with a long-ranged Major Healing.
Even as all of this happened, the disabled knights kept crawling up. Duncan retrieved Thor's flaming sword, and Chop backed off from the knights.
That's where we left it - the Iron Witch of Cornwood had fled, the mechanical knights are down to five or six badly mauled constructs with non-functioning weapon arms and and at least one non-functioning leg, and a few gnolls are still up. The cultist casters only have two still standing - one affected by Magebane and fleeing down the stairs, another backed off to a T-intersection and readying a (presumably explosive) Ice Dagger.
Notes:
- This writeup was a wee bit more detailed, but somehow, when I closed it out to do other work I managed to lose a chunk of what I wrote. So you get the summary of the summary.
- Several players wanted to do another turn or so, just to finish the fight. Maybe, but who is to say what's finished? Will they grab bodies and leave? Stop and try to rest? Try another "rest at the entrance" and regroup to come back after the remaining dwellers in the dungeons? Way too much to resolve . . . and from my perspective, even if finising is a quick 1-3 more turns of fighting, that leaves the players 2-3 weeks of planning their healing spells, discussing ways to maximize their looting, etc. complete with all of the questions they'll ask in between. I'd rather they have to make quick decisions quickly, not with weeks of planning based on certain knowledge. Not since it'll take the whole day anyway even if we don't start in combat. So ending "early" (a little later than our usual time) was better from my perspective. If everyone was gung ho on finishing it I might have, but it wasn't unanimous for continuing, either.
- MVP was Percy for killing/knocking out 9 gnolls in a handful of seconds; Agar's Wand took down 3 in that same time. 12 out of 16 went down just from Percy and his gear. Agar's Wand got right into slaying the evil gnolls, even as it wouldn't pound away at the mindless automatons they wanted it to fight.
Rules & Rulings
VTT Gripes
Sunday, February 2, 2025
Fellower pre-summary
We played Felltower today.
- the PCs mostly demolished the last of the mechanical knights . . . mostly.
- the Iron Witch was forced to flee, but the only one who could harm her that was nearby wasn't fast enough to catch her.
- a bunch of reinforcements showed up - gnolls and cultist spellcasters!
- Percy showed everyone what he was born to do - crush skulls and take names.
We had to leave off mid-fight, again, despite some excellent progress.
Full summary tomorrow. It was a good one.
- the PCs mostly demolished the last of the mechanical knights . . . mostly.
- the Iron Witch was forced to flee, but the only one who could harm her that was nearby wasn't fast enough to catch her.
- a bunch of reinforcements showed up - gnolls and cultist spellcasters!
- Percy showed everyone what he was born to do - crush skulls and take names.
We had to leave off mid-fight, again, despite some excellent progress.
Full summary tomorrow. It was a good one.
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