Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post

Anaraxes · 05-03-2021, 10:08 AM

One way to reduce lethality in TFT is the same way we used for AD&D 1e, back in the day: don't take <0 HP as "dead", just "unconscious" -- out of the fight, but not irretrievably dead. This is already a rule in TFT, but you can move the death threshold down further (say, -10, or -ST) to provide a comfortable window of being likely to survive even without Immediate Action - yet sufficiently big hits or sufficiently cruel enemies are still an immediate threat.

TFT was (and is) good for roleplaying because you have much more freedom to define your role -- that is, your character. D&D pre-packages character concepts into classes, and you pretty have have to play those classes as designed, or else suffer significant reductions in power and thus not holding up your intended party niche properly, forcing your friends to carry you. TFT has a lot more freedom to blend concepts, pick up an oddball weapon if you want, and so on. Imagine it, then build it. (GURPS is even better at this, but TFT is a heck of a lot simpler.)

05-03-2021, 10:08 AM	#13
Anaraxes Join Date: Sep 2007	Re: New to The Fantasy Trip. Got questions. One way to reduce lethality in TFT is the same way we used for AD&D 1e, back in the day: don't take <0 HP as "dead", just "unconscious" -- out of the fight, but not irretrievably dead. This is already a rule in TFT, but you can move the death threshold down further (say, -10, or -ST) to provide a comfortable window of being likely to survive even without Immediate Action - yet sufficiently big hits or sufficiently cruel enemies are still an immediate threat. TFT was (and is) good for roleplaying because you have much more freedom to define your role -- that is, your character. D&D pre-packages character concepts into classes, and you pretty have have to play those classes as designed, or else suffer significant reductions in power and thus not holding up your intended party niche properly, forcing your friends to carry you. TFT has a lot more freedom to blend concepts, pick up an oddball weapon if you want, and so on. Imagine it, then build it. (GURPS is even better at this, but TFT is a heck of a lot simpler.)