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Old 01-08-2018, 01:22 PM   #251
larsdangly
 
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Default Re: December 26, 2017: The Fantasy Trip Returns Home

My comments on this topic will appear in the parallel 'rules wonk' thread...
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Old 01-08-2018, 06:32 PM   #252
Skarg
 
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Default Re: December 26, 2017: The Fantasy Trip Returns Home

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Originally Posted by Cat View Post
That was long ago in a college somewhat far away; I don't have our lab notes anymore. I do recall that the results were pretty clear-cut and linear after many trials. Max DX had the best chance of living the longest and continually leveling up. Max ST had the least chance. Mixed balance fell in the middle, with the higher DX end fairing better than the higher ST end. Best option was always to level-up DX before ST.

While the Max DX characters do little damage at first, living longer and leveling up, they steadily improve their ST and damage output.
But it's not true, mainly because they don't tend to do enough damage to win fights. I'm pretty sure you were doing something off. Both from years of playing the game, and from simulations we've run and discussed on the TFT email list, ST 8 DX 16 is not the ultimate 24-point Melee character. There's a healthy equivalence in the middle choices, and the best results in the sims one poster ran (of 1-on-1 duels) was IIRC the ST 11 DX 13 spear user, but not by that great of a margin, and assisted perhaps by some assumptions about the situation.

ST 8 in particular in Melee means you use a Sling (1d-2) and a Dagger (only good in HTH combat, where your low ST will also reduce your damage and your opponent will get +4 to hit you so your DX advantage would be negated).
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Old 01-08-2018, 07:35 PM   #253
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Default Re: December 26, 2017: The Fantasy Trip Returns Home

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Another reminder to take rules issues to the Roleplaying in General group. Thanks.
Andrew, do you consider this discussion of the statistical analysis a "rules discussion?" If so, I apologize for continuing to talk about it here -- it seemed to me it was more a "play balance discussion." But maybe you would actually prefer to see that kind of discussion over there too? I don't want to step on the policy here...
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Old 01-08-2018, 11:55 PM   #254
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Default Re: December 26, 2017: The Fantasy Trip Returns Home

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Originally Posted by JLV View Post
Andrew, do you consider this discussion of the statistical analysis a "rules discussion?" If so, I apologize for continuing to talk about it here -- it seemed to me it was more a "play balance discussion." But maybe you would actually prefer to see that kind of discussion over there too? I don't want to step on the policy here...
It's crunchy enough that I'd rather see all of that sort of thing together, yes. Let's leave this thread for more logistical questions/commentary about release timing and format and so forth.
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Old 01-09-2018, 02:33 PM   #255
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Default Re: December 26, 2017: The Fantasy Trip Returns Home

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It's crunchy enough that I'd rather see all of that sort of thing together, yes.
Roger that. Wilco.

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Old 01-09-2018, 11:29 PM   #256
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Default Re: December 26, 2017: The Fantasy Trip Returns Home

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Let's leave this thread for more logistical questions/commentary about release timing and format and so forth.
Okay, I'll bite. What IS the format you guys are thinking of? (I know -- "too early!") But are you at least considering doing a pocket version like you did with Ogre? I think a lot of us out here would be very supportive of that!

Oh, and congrats to Steve on getting the Triplanetary Kickstarter underway! I'm in!

Last edited by JLV; 01-09-2018 at 11:55 PM.
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Old 01-10-2018, 08:01 AM   #257
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Default Re: December 26, 2017: The Fantasy Trip Returns Home

I know even though I have them I'm hoping for reprints of Melee, Wizard and Death Test, and then a new edition of TFT:ITL that is the "everything Steve hoped it would be" edition.

And here, take my money!
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Old 01-10-2018, 12:03 PM   #258
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Default Re: December 26, 2017: The Fantasy Trip Returns Home

And Death Test II! Let's not forget that one! ;-)

But yeah, that's what I would totally love too. And here's my wallet...
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Old 01-10-2018, 12:53 PM   #259
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Default Re: December 26, 2017: The Fantasy Trip Returns Home

This is a great company, the original designer is at the wheel, and it's a great property with tons of potential. Anything they do will be terrific.
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Old 01-11-2018, 09:26 AM   #260
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Default Re: December 26, 2017: The Fantasy Trip Returns Home

Here's a high-level issue that I think reaches beyond the technical issues people are discussing on other threads:

TFT's one structural gap is an almost complete absence of commercially available 'dungeons' (or similar scale city or outdoor adventure sites) suitable for use by a group running a normal table-top gaming session (a few hours of play, with a GM). One of the things that stimulated the creation of the OSR (D+D-focused) community was the tremendous back catalogue of well liked dungeons of this sort. And, after an initial period focused (I would say pointlessly) on recreating a dozen new versions of classic D+D rules, most of the creative energy in the OSR community flowed toward making well produced, fun dungeons in that classic style. The collective weight of all this is quite large now.

TFT never really developed this kind of catalogue. All but one of its published dungeons are of the 'Solo' style; in this sense the game follows the T+T model rather than D+D. I love my solo dungeons, and they are a distinctive and fun part of the game. But they are not a good basis for forming and maintaining a regular gaming group. The one exception is Tolenkar's Lair. Which is great - I have no complaints about it and have had a blast playing it something like a dozen times. But imagine that D+D - over all its editions and decades of time - had never published a GM-suitable, largish dungeon after Caves of Chaos.

The third party community has put out quite a large number of dungeons over the last decade (I'm thinking of Dark City Games here). I haven't looked at many of them, but my understanding is they too follow the Solo dungeon style, and are thus most suitable for small scale modules and play without a GM'd group.

So: a call to arms for both SJG and the potential third party authors: we need to build up a catalogue of something like a dozen really creative, fun dungeons.

A related factor is the lack of a setting that is developed with maps and detailed descriptions, at the scale comparable to the Greyhawke boxed set or the Prax/Sartar area of Glorantha (so, a nice large scale map, a couple of regional maps, and 100 pages or so of detailed material). Cidri is a setting with great potential, but it is basically a concept presented for the GM's development. This is actually charming, as it keeps the creative energy flowing for the individual GM's and players. But it also presents a higher activation energy to participation than you encounter in OSR-style D+D.
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