TFT Game Design Issues

[Kirk]

Originally Posted by tbeard1999

Agreed. If I were the TFT Czar, I'd limit the changes to:

1. Correcting errors/misprints/typos;

2. Resolving ambiguities/inconsistencies (does the Missile Weapons DX bonus count for determining rate of fire? What about DX penalties for aimed shots?);

3. Fixing serious game balance issues (nerfing boomerangs, revising bolas, nerfing some pole weapons and charge attacks);

4. Polishing rough systems (maybe re-working the experience points a little; deleting or simplifying some peculiar weapons);

5. Clarifications (clarify whether halflings are 32 point characters for experience, or express experience levels as "extra attribute point 1-4; extra attribute point 5-8);

6. Nerfing cheesy exploits (making job rolls for 50 weeks just to build attributes; throwing wizard's staves at an opponent to cause it to explode for 3d damage);

7. A few Needful Things (a healing spell; alternate death rules; designer's notes);

8. Deleting and possibly fixing anything that just doesn't work (the TFT system for gaining experience probably should be revised, as it really doesn't capture the power differences between monsters - currently a 7 hex dragon is worth 74 ep; about the same as 3 ST12 DX12 myrmidons); and

9. Updating the rules organization and style to be more coherent and modern.

I'd leave additional attributes, talent points, new defense rules, etc., for future supplements. Because TFT has not officially existed for 35 years, there are a LOT of house rules out there that are probably far better conceived and playtested than typical RPG house rules. The problem is that they are often incompatible with other house rules that address the same issues.

Regarding "attribute bloat"... That seems to be the most common complaint, so I'd address it somehow. There are zillions of ways to go at the problem, so I'll only list a few.

Maybe the initial TFT RPG rules should flatly state "This game works best for characters with no more than (say) ten extra attribute points. More powerful characters will need the future T-BASE (the TFT Bad-Ass System Expansion)."

Or tweak the experience point levels so that characters with XX extra attribute points are almost impossible to get.

Steve might want to include some comments on how long a group should expect to play before reaching various levels of extra attributes. I.e., "you should expect to go through X normal game sessions to get to your 4th additional attribute point. Y game sessions to get to your 4th additional attribute point." Etc.

Without going point by point, I would be in general agreement. Does a reduction in the roll to hit due to range, for instance, possibly eliminate an archer's ability to shoot twice that turn?, etc. etc. could be clarified. If aiming, do you go at your regular DX with a reduced chance on the roll, or does the aiming make you "slower" and therefore shooting later in the turn?, etc.

These type of things could be clarified so as not to be "house ruled" differently across the TFT gaming world.

And don't forget aging! :) If a character actually campaigns *and* manages to survive (and in TFT that is no small feat as it is a deadly game system, making the experience that much sweeter) and is able to become a 50+ point character, then attribute loss due to aging will surely take him down as the day is long.

When we were in our late teens we often tried to model our current skills and abilities on ourselves, converting them into ST, DX, IQ and talents. We knew the aging rules were there, but had a hard time imagining being 60 and having a decade of degradation to our attributes to accommodate! :)