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Old 05-15-2019, 06:46 AM   #32
Gnome
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Cambridge, MA
Default Re: Combat Mastery Talent

Quote:
Originally Posted by evileeyore View Post
What? Munchkinism is perfectly thematic and in the spirit of DF.

This is part of the problem I have with this "point crock" nonsense. The other part is the strong stench of badwrongfunism.
Other people are allowed to have opinions on what's fun and what isn't without it being badwrongfunism.

The problem with custom Talents that perfectly match a character's skill list is that it messes with balance between characters and forces decisions into a narrower band.
Forest Guardian is an example of a Talent that can potentially produce this problem. If I'm making a DF Scout, I'm stabbing myself in the foot by not making him a Wood Elf with max levels of Forest Guardian. This creates less variety among characters, which is my opinion is less fun. In DF, which is about munchkinism, it's especially important that players have options, since part of the fun of munchkinism is figuring out unique ways to be awesome. If every Scout looks exactly the same, the munchkin feels less like "wow, I figured out this totally OP build" and more like "well, I guess I have to make the obvious choice, since no other choices will ever be as good as this one."

I think this is what I mean when I describe a "point crock." A build that's so much better than rival options that everyone will want to use it. Some "point crock" advantages, like Combat Reflexes, are ok because they do less to pigeonhole or define the character. Even if every fighter type has CR, they can differ quite a bit. But Talents come with lists of skills, which will naturally go well with certain attributes, advantages, etc.; pretty soon, the whole character has been prescribed. Meanwhile, the Martial Artist is saying "why can't I have a cheap Talent that includes only the skills I want? How about a "mini-" version of Chi Talent that includes only Blind Fighting, Power Blow, Light Walk, Mental Strength, Parry Missile Weapons and Throwing Art? Those are the only skills I want after all..."
Now, as GM I suppose you could just say "yes" and allow everyone to invent Talents as they see fit. If everyone gets the point crock it's no longer a point crock! But some character types will benefit a lot more from this type of point crock than others, and so I think you still might get complaints...
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