12-17-2017, 09:10 AM | #1 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
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More simple DFRPG questions: Terror, darts, and Tactics
A few simple questions. Would be great to hear the thoughts of Powers that Be, or anyone who wants to take a shot at these –
1. Say you run into a creature with Terror, necessitating a Fright Check – and the creature also happens to match one of your phobias. (It’s not just any ol’ scary snake; it’s a magically enhanced Terror Snake.) What happens now? It seems easy enough to roll a Fright Check for the Terror, and a separate Fright Check for the phobia, and let the results combine however seems fun. But am I missing something in the rules that officially combines these two Fright Checks into one penalized check or something? 2. Monsters’ Terror ability invokes a straight Fright Check: you meet the monster, you immediately roll vs Will (or 13, whichever is lower), and, if you fail, you suffer stun for at least as many seconds as your margin of failure, and then roll 3d + margin of failure on the Fright Check table for more fun effects. The Terror spell, meanwhile, runs like this: You meet the wizard, and he casts Terror, which you resist with your Will. This isn’t the actual Fright Check, so your Will isn’t capped at 13, but the Rule of 16 does come into play: the caster’s Terror spell is capped at 16 or your Will, whichever is higher. Margin of success or failure doesn’t matter in this Contest of Terror vs Will; there's just win or lose. If you win, the spell has no effect; if you lose, you go immediately to a Fright Check as described for monsters’ Terror, but at a -3. (This means you’re more likely to fail, and will suffer up to 3 more initial turns of stunning, and up to 3 points’ worse results on the Fright Check table, than you would have suffered from monster Terror). So, it would seem that the Terror spell is less harsh than monster Terror on one hand, as there’s that initial chance to completely resist the spell – but if it’s not resisted, the spell hits harder than monster Terror does. Do I seem to have these two variants of Terror squared away properly? 3. It’s pretty clear from listed weights (and common sense) that a throwing dart is not the same thing as a blowpipe dart. (All the same, in keeping with DFRPG’s overall impressive clarity, this should probably be made explicit somewhere…) Out of curiosity: Just what is the throwing dart? Whether the classic D&D wizards’ weapon, or the DFRPG equivalent, is this also a real-world thing? If so, who used it, and what does it look like? (It’s half the weight of a javelin; should I picture a half-length javelin?) 4. Not really a question, but a wee oddity (?) for your amusement: On Exploits p57, you can use Tactics skill to shout suggestions and boost an ally’s attack and defense rolls. This seems awfully cinematic, but also fun. I like. The wee oddity is that these same tactical insights don’t seem to help your own combat rolls in any way. Or to highlight the oddity a bit more: The knight with amazing Tactics-18 doesn’t get any bonuses on rolls from his own battlefield brilliance – but if the thief with his middling Tactics-12 advises the knight from the sidelines, the knight boosts his attack and defense rolls. (Overall, anyway; there’s some hit and miss, depending on the thief’s rolls.) No complaint here; "Yeah, it’s a little weird, but it’s fun" works for me. But if there’s more to the situation than I’m seeing, lay it on me!
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12-17-2017, 11:16 AM | #2 |
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Luxembourg
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Re: More simple DFRPG questions: Terror, darts, and Tactics
3: I think the throwing dart is a Roman Plumbata or similar. Basically weighted short javelin, not small darts
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12-17-2017, 01:03 PM | #3 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Wellington, NZ
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Re: More simple DFRPG questions: Terror, darts, and Tactics
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Rupert Boleyn "A pessimist is an optimist with a sense of history." |
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12-17-2017, 02:15 PM | #5 | |
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Saint Paul, MN
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Re: More simple DFRPG questions: Terror, darts, and Tactics
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12-17-2017, 06:33 PM | #6 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
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Re: More simple DFRPG questions: Terror, darts, and Tactics
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Re darts: Thanks to those who answered. I think plumbata sounds about right. (And... lawn darts? Well, those are made to be thrown in that goofy underhand way, so I take it that's not too serious a suggestion... but, hey, if it's amusing at the DFRPG table, that works too. "Imma show those Orcs that there's a reason these babies were banned in the US and Canada...")
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T Bone GURPS stuff and more at the Games Diner: http://www.gamesdiner.com Twitter: @Gamesdiner | RSS: here ⬅︎ Updated RSS link | This forum: Site updates thread (occasionally updated) (Latest goods on site: GLAIVE Mini levels up to v2.4. Update to melee weapon design tool, with more example weapons and commentary.) |
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12-17-2017, 10:17 PM | #7 |
GURPS Line Editor
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Montréal, Québec
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Re: More simple DFRPG questions: Terror, darts, and Tactics
1. Phobias and the effects of the Terror advantage aren't combined. Roll a self-control roll for the Phobia and a Will roll (capped at 13) for the Terror. If you fail either, add the margin to 3d and go crazy. This is one of those cases where more dice-rolling adds to the fun. Well, I think so. :)
2. Just as in GURPS, if you don't resist the Terror spell, you have a difficult Fright Check to attempt. This Fright Check isn't meant to be affected by the resistance roll vs. magic, and the Terror spell and Terror advantage don't work quite the same way. 3. The dart looks like a plumbata. Think of an arrow with a lead weight behind the head so that it comes down point-first on the enemy. Yes, a "war lawn dart." It was a real thing. 4. Tactics only helps real-time combat rolls when the person using it takes a whole turn for a Do Nothing maneuver while the person benefiting from it takes their usual maneuver. In effect, it's the result of having two brains working on the problem of not losing a fight. If you can somehow rig things so that you have two brains, go ahead and use Tactics to help yourself.
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Sean "Dr. Kromm" Punch <kromm@sjgames.com> GURPS Line Editor, Steve Jackson Games My DreamWidth [Just GURPS News] |
12-17-2017, 10:56 PM | #8 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: More simple DFRPG questions: Terror, darts, and Tactics
Hm. +1 attack and defense, and only requires 50 points of compartmentalized mind. Doesn't seem worth it..
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12-18-2017, 01:25 AM | #9 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
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Re: More simple DFRPG questions: Terror, darts, and Tactics
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2. The difference between the Terror spell and Terror advantage seems pretty clear by following the text, but thanks for the confirmation. Always a help to hear that I'm reading something correctly... 3. Okay, we'll go with the lawn darts image. By the rules, it's actually not a bad weapon: not so accurate, but it has the best range of any thrown weapon outside a boomerang. Orcs and lawns, beware... 4. You're right, the Do Nothing requirement is a big factor. This is a situation that would meld nicely with house rules making the effects of GURPS' Evaluate dependent upon a roll (vs Tactics in this case), with the out-of-melee advisor transferring his Evaluate to the fighter who's too busy to perform his own Evaluate... ...but, that's well outside of DFRPG territory. Never mind.
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T Bone GURPS stuff and more at the Games Diner: http://www.gamesdiner.com Twitter: @Gamesdiner | RSS: here ⬅︎ Updated RSS link | This forum: Site updates thread (occasionally updated) (Latest goods on site: GLAIVE Mini levels up to v2.4. Update to melee weapon design tool, with more example weapons and commentary.) |
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12-18-2017, 02:27 AM | #10 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Wellington, NZ
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Re: More simple DFRPG questions: Terror, darts, and Tactics
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OTOH, if you bought that for other reasons, and for whatever reason have nothing better to use it for on a given turn, you may as well take advantage.
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Rupert Boleyn "A pessimist is an optimist with a sense of history." |
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