Quote:
Originally Posted by tbeard1999
You make a good point. TFT dungeon adventures are viable as long as the GM selects monsters that are appropriate for TFT characters. ...
|
Hi Ty, everyone.
This thread was talking about TFT dungeon adventures (and seemed to be discussing adapting lower level D&D adventures to this theme).
A couple of points: First the majority of my TFT campaign is NOT happening in dungeons. (Then again, I've added several talents to support non-combat stuff, as the base talent list is heavily combat focused.)
Second, I would like to muse on what sets apart a TFT dungeon from typical D&D dungeons? Does TFT have a unique selling point, which will help it differentiate itself from the rest of the market? (I welcome further thoughts on this as some good ideas here may help TFT survive...)
-- Mass combat. I run games with political savvy PC's and they often have a bunch of minions, followers and allies to help in fights. The enemy have plenty of troops as well. TFT can handle big fights with 20 guys on a side. Other times I've had a party of 5 guys fighting a hymenopteran hive with more than 50 bugs swarming in from all sides.
When running these big combats, I tend to stream line things and eschew fancy rules. I'll sometimes appoint a player as assistant GM to run half the battle. But TFT adventures could have a set piece battle with a lot of troops.
-- Maneuver is important. Most D&D combats I've seen are tactically dull. PC's run up and then hack and hack, rarely moving from their spots. Where as TFT is dynamic - sides and rears are key, pole users want room to charge, areas of terrain can get Shadows, Fires, Slippery Floors, etc.
I think that TFT adventures should support this with tactically interesting puzzles where maneuver is rewarded. As I've said before, counters for terrain (rough ground, brush, thorns, etc.) make it easy to break up a big blank map.
I've played several of George Dew's programmed adventures, and one place where he fell flat was most of his fights were tactically dull.
-- Fights are more dramatic. Healing and resurrection is so easy in D&D that fights are fairly mundane. In a D&D adventure, you might clean out 30 rooms without breaking much of a sweat. In the TFT fights, in my campaign or the other TFT campaigns around here, there tend to be fewer fights but they are much more nerve wracking. Death is close and healing is hard.
I suggest that TFT adventures have fewer rooms, but make those rooms more complex and interesting.
It sounds like Steve Jackson has already decided on adding a very powerful healing spell, but I hope he reconsiders. There are several ways to add healing spells to TFT, but make it tough enough to use, to break the D&D fight / heal cycle.
-- Fewer and Weaker Magic Items: This may just be what is common in the local TFT campaigns, but it seems to me that in D&D campaigns there are a LOT of magic items. But in most TFT campaigns, there are fewer magic items and they are more limited. In particular, the absolutely brilliant idea of the LIMIT / EXPUNGE (L/E) combo meant that not every item used by a bad guy could be looted. My players put L/E on their best magic, (it discourages thefts), and my NPC's use this a lot. Some items are planned to get these eventually, but since L/E is usually put on last, the items which are missing them are half built, and so weaker.
I would encourage builders of adventures to include L/E items for their bad guys (not every item but a good number). I would also encourage a bunch of weaker magic items are added to the magic item list. A haste ring that adds +4 MA rather than doubling it. A Slow Missiles ring rather than reverse missiles. A Haze ring rather than Blur.
If TFT has smaller and weaker magic items, the heroes have to be heroes from their internal fortitude, and less because of their magical inventory.
***
GURPS: Dungeon Fantasy failed in part, (I think), because it didn't identify or market what was cool about it. If a somewhat unsatisfied D&D player saw GURPS: DF in the store, what on the box would make her say, "this sounds better than my D&D game!"?
I think that some careful thought should be made to say 'why is TFT better' and then the game and adventures should be deliberately designed to _emphasize_ those strengths. Those strengths need to be the highlight of the marketing campaign.
What do you guys think? Any unique selling features I've missed?
Warm regards, Rick.