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Plane · 07-28-2020, 10:12 AM

using optional rules is already altering the rules but I like the idea of tweaking them further

I like a brutal "mostly always be penalizing" attitude (it reminds us to use rules and get comfortable with them, even if it's more crunch) so there are a couple things about Cole's Last Gasp (pyramid 3/44) I want to tweak to make it more brutal and punishing.

1) pg 4's "Gradual Impairment Due to Fatigue" only takes place when you PASS the 20% breakpoints (spending MORE than FP/5) which is basically rounding down penalties. Instead, round them UP, so you only are non-penalized at 100% FP, meaning ANY loss of FP will drop you into the first tier of suffering -1 to DX/IQ/HT. This can alternatively be thought of as making 100% the first breakpoint you begin applying penalties for dropping below. This makes everyone univerally weaker and much more hesitant about burning that first FP.

2) pg 9/10 no free steps or facing changes: always charge for them, ESPECIALLY if using the cost reductions at https://gamingballistic.com/2013/08/...ile-using-las/ of 1 AP for 1-50% move 2 AP for 50-100% move.

One idea is tracking and purchasing "refills" for a "Movement Point" pool (max capacity is your Basic Move) at the cost of 0.1 AP per 5% of your pool, which works out to spending 2 AP per 100% of the pool in fractions. Just halve the movement point cost of deceleration. So stepping forward from a standing posture (1 movement point) and then reducing momentum to 0 (0.5 movement point) costs a total of 1.5 movement points.

Like FP (and as proposed later for AP) one option might be to allow the MP pool to go negative too (just -1xMP). This would allow some more flexibility in locomotion before needing to spend AP to regain the capacity.

3) pg 10: no zero-cost events, charge 0.1 AP and track the tenths over time, eventually ten seconds of concentrating/aiming should probably tire you out, as should a lucky string of critical hits/defences.

pg 11: same if per the Action/Fantasy suggesting you are treating MoS 10 successes like criticals: this only reduces to 0.1.

4) pg 9 : the above also applies to maintain speed: except instead of charging 0.1 AP, charge 0.1 movement points per y/s velocity you're maintaining. This makes it take the same effort (0.5 MP) to maintain a 5/ys walking speed as to decelerate by 1y/s. Since 0.5 MP is 1/10 of 5 MP, it would cost 0.2 AP to refill that amount.

5) pg 8: also apply that 0.1 cost to 0 AP attacks like pulling a gun trigger. Instead of charging it to loose the arrow, after you've fully nocked it (costing 1 AP) it should perhaps cost 0.1 per second UNTIL you loose it. Crossbows would work like guns.

6) pg 10: also apply that 0.1 cost to full-second readies that are normally free (drawing sword, unholtering gun)

7) pg 10: aside for charging for changing posture, also charge to MAINTAIN any posture other than lying down (the most restful). Could be 0.1 per second for all of them, or maybe more if some seem less/more restful than others. Some find it more restful to sit compared to stand, or vice versa. Someone standing/sitting guard for hours could easily pay that by taking Do Nothing maneuvers on the regular to recover, but it would explain why people would lie down to maximize rest capacity.

If that's too brutal, instead of charging AP directly, you could charge MP amounts instead.

8) pg 8: successfully resisting a feint cost AP too, but only charge 0.1 as you would for a critically successful active defense. Or: see #13 below, whether you win or lose the contest you could just charge an amount determined by your own stand-alone margin.

9) pg 9 "Injury and Damage" the MoS of your HT roll (or critical success) will never fully mitigate AP loss due to injury, instead it can only reduce it to 0.1 AP loss.

10) pg 9: allow AP loss due to pain or injury to make AP go negative: allow it to go up to full negative AP (similar to the full negative FP cap) and require AP to be brought above zero before it can be voluntarily spent.

11) pg 11: instead of untriggered All-Out Defenses giving 2 free AP worth of defences and only giving an HT roll if untriggered, have it ALWAYS give you a HT roll to recover AP as an untriggered wait does, and just charge normally for the defences.

12) pg 4: adapt "Gradual Impairment Due to Fatigue" changes to B426 as "Gradual Impairment Due to Injury" changes to B419: drop IQ/HT/DX by 1 point per 20% lost HP too. A penalty to HT rolls will slow AP recovery for injured people, reflecting the body splitting energy between healing and movement.

13) addendum to number 3's indent: since MoS 10 successes and critical successes are meant to reduce AP by approximately one, MoF 10 failures and critical failures should increase AP by approximately one. Charge MOFx0.1 extra AP on failures to always make them more expensive than successes.

as one "less brutal" option: you might also apply AP discounts for successes at less than MOS10, perhaps MoSx0.1AP meaning you would actually reach 0.1 AP at MoS9, with MoS10+ having no added effect. This favors attackers who attack telegraphically: at +4 to skill vs +2 defend you're talking about a 0.2 AP difference over time based on margin "tenth" cost adjustments.

14) charge 0.1 AP per second to maintain an "on guard" mental state, otherwise B557 Unarmed Critical Miss result 13 conditions apply (-2 defenses, evaluate bonuses doubled against you, feint penalties are doubled). Those who roll this lose the option to "pay the tenth".

As this actually creates a sort of benefit to dropping one's guard, to keep the rolled result as just-as-bad you could force the charge of 0.1 anyway but have it ineffective.

15) charge 0.1 AP per second to maintain an "unstunned" mental state. As the above indent: those involuntarily forced into a stunned state should probably be charged 0.1 but suffer no benefit from it until the involuntary period ends: the AP charge reflects their struggle to regain the option to shift out of it. Only those who voluntarily adopt a "stunned Do Nothing" state (incur -4 to active defences, lose option to retreat, per B420) such as when trying to fall asleep will not be charged this AP. Those who fail self control roll for Berserk are unable to voluntarily enter this state, and so cannot avoid the discount.

Voluntarily entering this state should probably require a Will roll if in the presence of dangers that would motivate one to be alert to them.

If someone wants to go a step further (no defences at all, like an All-Out Attack or All-Out Concentrate) then this "All-Out Do Nothing" could them an extra +1 bonus to the HT roll to recover AP: so you roll HT+5 instead. A "Do Nothing while voluntarily stunning oneself" is already effectively "Committed Do Nothing": except replacing MA100's "no defence with limb, -2 with others" with "-4 to all".

You COULD perhaps invent a "Defensive Do Nothing" (merely +1 to active defences, half as good as All-Out Defense: Determined, just like Defensive Attack on MA100) which could also be perceived as a "Committed Defence" (as there is no factor besides rest being penalized, such as with attacking or if you had committed versions of Aim/Ready) falling somewhere between all-out defense and normal Do Nothing.

In this case the HT recovery should fall somewhere between an untriggered AOD (HT+0) and normal Do Nothing (HT+4) so HT+2 sounds about right. That's an effective -2 to the HT roll, which resembles MA100's -2 to damage on defensive attack.

16) charge 0.1 per second to maintain awareness of things around you. If someone opts to not pay this (should probably require a will roll if in presence of dangers) as per #15 above) then you are -4 to perception rolls to notice what allies or foes around you are doing. This prevents you from enjoying MA60's "abtract tactics" rerolls.

This is adapted from pg 22 of Technical Grappling ("One Foe") except there is not any foe to whom it does not apply. If you are paying the 0.1 you have the option to incur the -4 perception penalty to all but one who you get +1 bonuses against, as normal.

if the sum of 14/15/16 seems like too much (0.3 to avoid problems) you could lump two or all three together as a single set of penalties mitigated by a smaller expenditure of 0.1 AP. This would narrow the difference between alert resting characters in terms of energy conservation.

The idea in these last three was to exhaust people in fighting mindsets and incentivize zoning out for maximized recovery. Another approach might just be to give +1 to the HT rolls for recovering AP to those who voluntarily adopt the penalties. The latter isn't beneficial in applying them to non-recovery maneuvers though.

07-28-2020, 10:12 AM	#16
Plane Join Date: Aug 2018	Re: Rules you ignore/alter. using optional rules is already altering the rules but I like the idea of tweaking them further I like a brutal "mostly always be penalizing" attitude (it reminds us to use rules and get comfortable with them, even if it's more crunch) so there are a couple things about Cole's Last Gasp (pyramid 3/44) I want to tweak to make it more brutal and punishing. 1) pg 4's "Gradual Impairment Due to Fatigue" only takes place when you PASS the 20% breakpoints (spending MORE than FP/5) which is basically rounding down penalties. Instead, round them UP, so you only are non-penalized at 100% FP, meaning ANY loss of FP will drop you into the first tier of suffering -1 to DX/IQ/HT. This can alternatively be thought of as making 100% the first breakpoint you begin applying penalties for dropping below. This makes everyone univerally weaker and much more hesitant about burning that first FP. 2) pg 9/10 no free steps or facing changes: always charge for them, ESPECIALLY if using the cost reductions at https://gamingballistic.com/2013/08/...ile-using-las/ of 1 AP for 1-50% move 2 AP for 50-100% move. One idea is tracking and purchasing "refills" for a "Movement Point" pool (max capacity is your Basic Move) at the cost of 0.1 AP per 5% of your pool, which works out to spending 2 AP per 100% of the pool in fractions. Just halve the movement point cost of deceleration. So stepping forward from a standing posture (1 movement point) and then reducing momentum to 0 (0.5 movement point) costs a total of 1.5 movement points. Like FP (and as proposed later for AP) one option might be to allow the MP pool to go negative too (just -1xMP). This would allow some more flexibility in locomotion before needing to spend AP to regain the capacity. 3) pg 10: no zero-cost events, charge 0.1 AP and track the tenths over time, eventually ten seconds of concentrating/aiming should probably tire you out, as should a lucky string of critical hits/defences. pg 11: same if per the Action/Fantasy suggesting you are treating MoS 10 successes like criticals: this only reduces to 0.1. 4) pg 9 : the above also applies to maintain speed: except instead of charging 0.1 AP, charge 0.1 movement points per y/s velocity you're maintaining. This makes it take the same effort (0.5 MP) to maintain a 5/ys walking speed as to decelerate by 1y/s. Since 0.5 MP is 1/10 of 5 MP, it would cost 0.2 AP to refill that amount. 5) pg 8: also apply that 0.1 cost to 0 AP attacks like pulling a gun trigger. Instead of charging it to loose the arrow, after you've fully nocked it (costing 1 AP) it should perhaps cost 0.1 per second UNTIL you loose it. Crossbows would work like guns. 6) pg 10: also apply that 0.1 cost to full-second readies that are normally free (drawing sword, unholtering gun) 7) pg 10: aside for charging for changing posture, also charge to MAINTAIN any posture other than lying down (the most restful). Could be 0.1 per second for all of them, or maybe more if some seem less/more restful than others. Some find it more restful to sit compared to stand, or vice versa. Someone standing/sitting guard for hours could easily pay that by taking Do Nothing maneuvers on the regular to recover, but it would explain why people would lie down to maximize rest capacity. If that's too brutal, instead of charging AP directly, you could charge MP amounts instead. 8) pg 8: successfully resisting a feint cost AP too, but only charge 0.1 as you would for a critically successful active defense. Or: see #13 below, whether you win or lose the contest you could just charge an amount determined by your own stand-alone margin. 9) pg 9 "Injury and Damage" the MoS of your HT roll (or critical success) will never fully mitigate AP loss due to injury, instead it can only reduce it to 0.1 AP loss. 10) pg 9: allow AP loss due to pain or injury to make AP go negative: allow it to go up to full negative AP (similar to the full negative FP cap) and require AP to be brought above zero before it can be voluntarily spent. 11) pg 11: instead of untriggered All-Out Defenses giving 2 free AP worth of defences and only giving an HT roll if untriggered, have it ALWAYS give you a HT roll to recover AP as an untriggered wait does, and just charge normally for the defences. 12) pg 4: adapt "Gradual Impairment Due to Fatigue" changes to B426 as "Gradual Impairment Due to Injury" changes to B419: drop IQ/HT/DX by 1 point per 20% lost HP too. A penalty to HT rolls will slow AP recovery for injured people, reflecting the body splitting energy between healing and movement. 13) addendum to number 3's indent: since MoS 10 successes and critical successes are meant to reduce AP by approximately one, MoF 10 failures and critical failures should increase AP by approximately one. Charge MOFx0.1 extra AP on failures to always make them more expensive than successes. as one "less brutal" option: you might also apply AP discounts for successes at less than MOS10, perhaps MoSx0.1AP meaning you would actually reach 0.1 AP at MoS9, with MoS10+ having no added effect. This favors attackers who attack telegraphically: at +4 to skill vs +2 defend you're talking about a 0.2 AP difference over time based on margin "tenth" cost adjustments. 14) charge 0.1 AP per second to maintain an "on guard" mental state, otherwise B557 Unarmed Critical Miss result 13 conditions apply (-2 defenses, evaluate bonuses doubled against you, feint penalties are doubled). Those who roll this lose the option to "pay the tenth". As this actually creates a sort of benefit to dropping one's guard, to keep the rolled result as just-as-bad you could force the charge of 0.1 anyway but have it ineffective. 15) charge 0.1 AP per second to maintain an "unstunned" mental state. As the above indent: those involuntarily forced into a stunned state should probably be charged 0.1 but suffer no benefit from it until the involuntary period ends: the AP charge reflects their struggle to regain the option to shift out of it. Only those who voluntarily adopt a "stunned Do Nothing" state (incur -4 to active defences, lose option to retreat, per B420) such as when trying to fall asleep will not be charged this AP. Those who fail self control roll for Berserk are unable to voluntarily enter this state, and so cannot avoid the discount. Voluntarily entering this state should probably require a Will roll if in the presence of dangers that would motivate one to be alert to them. If someone wants to go a step further (no defences at all, like an All-Out Attack or All-Out Concentrate) then this "All-Out Do Nothing" could them an extra +1 bonus to the HT roll to recover AP: so you roll HT+5 instead. A "Do Nothing while voluntarily stunning oneself" is already effectively "Committed Do Nothing": except replacing MA100's "no defence with limb, -2 with others" with "-4 to all". You COULD perhaps invent a "Defensive Do Nothing" (merely +1 to active defences, half as good as All-Out Defense: Determined, just like Defensive Attack on MA100) which could also be perceived as a "Committed Defence" (as there is no factor besides rest being penalized, such as with attacking or if you had committed versions of Aim/Ready) falling somewhere between all-out defense and normal Do Nothing. In this case the HT recovery should fall somewhere between an untriggered AOD (HT+0) and normal Do Nothing (HT+4) so HT+2 sounds about right. That's an effective -2 to the HT roll, which resembles MA100's -2 to damage on defensive attack. 16) charge 0.1 per second to maintain awareness of things around you. If someone opts to not pay this (should probably require a will roll if in presence of dangers) as per #15 above) then you are -4 to perception rolls to notice what allies or foes around you are doing. This prevents you from enjoying MA60's "abtract tactics" rerolls. This is adapted from pg 22 of Technical Grappling ("One Foe") except there is not any foe to whom it does not apply. If you are paying the 0.1 you have the option to incur the -4 perception penalty to all but one who you get +1 bonuses against, as normal. if the sum of 14/15/16 seems like too much (0.3 to avoid problems) you could lump two or all three together as a single set of penalties mitigated by a smaller expenditure of 0.1 AP. This would narrow the difference between alert resting characters in terms of energy conservation. The idea in these last three was to exhaust people in fighting mindsets and incentivize zoning out for maximized recovery. Another approach might just be to give +1 to the HT rolls for recovering AP to those who voluntarily adopt the penalties. The latter isn't beneficial in applying them to non-recovery maneuvers though.