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Old 03-20-2018, 06:12 PM   #41
JLV
 
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Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Arizona
Default Re: Blasphemous Polyhedral Weapons Table

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim Kane View Post
Do you also recall the movie ,The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (aka Master Killer); starring Gordon Liu?

This is another martial arts film that had a distinctly TFT Death Test vibe!

JK
Sadly, I missed that one. I'll have to look it up...
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Old 03-20-2018, 10:04 PM   #42
Rick_Smith
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Coquitlam B.C.
Default How to make a Polyhedral Weapons Table work?

Hi all,
If we were going to build a new weapon table with polyhedrals (which new TFT won't), how would we want to work it? Should every weapon have a flat damage curve?

Building on how I've changed the weapons table so impaling weapons have a wider range of damage, how does this sound:


-- Swords are the basic weapon normally does Xd+Y where X tends to be a medium sized die. (e.g. 1d8+2). So it will a fairly predictable amount of damage.

-- Missile weapons, should do Xd-Y where X is big. (e.g. 1d16-3.) A lot can go wrong with an arrow shot which explains the subtraction. The large die gives us a nice big range.

-- Clubs and mass weapons like maces and hammers, should do 2dX or 3dX where X is medium sized dice. Fairly predictable damage with tails on each end. Perhaps give them some knock back or stun power.

-- Swung impaling weapons, like picks or pike axes. (3)dX where X are big numbers. The attacker picks the LARGEST value on the die for the damage but if the large number ties, it gets stuck. example: a military pick does (3)d12 so 3 twelve sided dice are rolled. They result in 10, 3, 10. The pick does 10 damage but since the 10 is a pair (or a triple), it gets stuck. (EDIT: This rule makes bigger weapons less likely to get stuck, so maybe some other mechanic. How about if all 3 dice are above average damage it gets stuck. This would give a 1/8 chance per attack.)

-- Charging pole weapons, could do (2)dX+2 where X is a medium die. The attacker picks the best result and adds two to it. So a spear might do (2)d6+2. The attacker rolls 2d6 and gets a 1 and 3. 3+2 = 5 damage. If the two dice tie, it gets stuck.

-- Morningstar or flails or other special penetrating weapons that are designed to get past armor. (3)dX (+Y) where X is a small die. and Y is a small integer. High die is the base damage. If the three different dice are a straight, then the value Y reduces the value of the armor. (In a morningstar's case Y reduces the shield's protection.) Example a small flail rolls (3)d4(+2) and gets a 2, 4, and a 3. Since 2,3,4 is a straight there is the 'armor penetration bonus' and the shield's protection is reduced by 2.


Now I've described 6 types of weapons. Maybe just swords and impaling weapons are enough. But I wanted to throw some ideas out there to get people's creative juices flowing. I think that we want more clever things going on that just giving each weapon a different flat probability distribution.

Warm regards, Rick.

Last edited by Rick_Smith; 03-20-2018 at 11:02 PM. Reason: Gave a new method for checking for getting stuck.
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Old 03-21-2018, 02:50 AM   #43
David Bofinger
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Sydney, Australia
Default Re: Blasphemous Polyhedral Weapons Table

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Originally Posted by Jim Kane View Post
Crossbows - which, being mechanically actuated and powered by stored energy - and making no difference who pulls the trigger in terms of damage delivered
I'm saying that each crossbow should have a preferred ST for which it's designed, and the name "crossbow" actually refers to a spectrum of weapons. But that's true of gladii as well: if the previous user was much stronger or weaker than you are it's unlikely this is your preferred weapon. One way to express the difference you identify between the weapon types is that the efficiency of the gladius degrades more gracefully than the efficiency of the crossbow as user ST mismatches weapon ST: for the gladius it's a gentle roll off on each side but for the crossbow it's a harsh inverse saw-tooth. I guess this is worth mentioning in the rules, but it doesn't greatly impact the broader idea, which stands or falls on other arguments.
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