DFRPG questions: Discrepancy/errata (?) edition

[Balor Patch]

1) Of course, see DF11:5 for how it's officially done. I, on the other hand, think it should be multiplicitive. For instance, as the average ogre has double human ST so the maximum ogre should have double the maximum human ST, but never exceed IQ 14.

2) Yes, I think it (and the Kusari not being 2-handed) are typos ported over.

[sjmdw45]

Additional discrepancy: the rules for Homogeneous creatures on Exploits pg. 55 say they ignore all wounding modifiers for hit location, but the chart on the back of Exploits says they take extra injury for cutting/crushing hits to the neck (and face/skull too for corrosion).

[tbone]

Originally Posted by sjmdw45

Additional discrepancy: the rules for Homogeneous creatures on Exploits pg. 55 say they ignore all wounding modifiers for hit location, but the chart on the back of Exploits says they take extra injury for cutting/crushing hits to the neck (and face/skull too for corrosion).

Hm, good call. The table is in line with the text where piercing and impaling damage are concerned, but it also gives homogenous creatures their own special set of damage mods for corrosion, cutting, and crushing dam.

I go by the table, and I assume it's "correct" (if for no other reason than that tables feel more deliberate and "official" than text).

[sjmdw45]

Originally Posted by tbone

Hm, good call. The table is in line with the text where piercing and impaling damage are concerned, but it also gives homogenous creatures their own special set of damage mods for corrosion, cutting, and crushing dam.

I go by the table, and I assume it's "correct" (if for no other reason than that tables feel more deliberate and "official" than text).

It does feel more "official", but to me it also feels less logical. Why would a homogeneous creature like an earth elemental take more damage when you hit it in the neck than the leg or head? Even if that's the "official" rule I am inclined to go with "no wounding modifiers for hit location, period."

[Balor Patch]

Originally Posted by sjmdw45

It does feel more "official", but to me it also feels less logical. Why would a homogeneous creature like an earth elemental take more damage when you hit it in the neck than the leg or head? Even if that's the "official" rule I am inclined to go with "no wounding modifiers for hit location, period."

GURPS p.60 Homogenous explicitly includes No Brain and No Vitals. Those options are directly below it right along with others not mentioned: No Blood, No Eyes, No Head, and No Neck; so the lack of mention is probably not an oversight and the addition would need to be priced in. On the other hand, I'd almost always rather have HP +20 than Homogenous so maybe it is.

[sjmdw45]

Originally Posted by Balor Patch

GURPS p.60 Homogenous explicitly includes No Brain and No Vitals. Those options are directly below it right along with others not mentioned: No Blood, No Eyes, No Head, and No Neck; so the lack of mention is probably not an oversight and the addition would need to be priced in. On the other hand, I'd almost always rather have HP +20 than Homogenous so maybe it is.

At least in DFRPG play, Homogeneous makes monsters much tougher than +20 HP. A 45 HP Giant Ape still goes unconscious in one shot if you shoot it in the eye (or sword to the skull if you're flying), whereas a 15 HP Bronze Spider or 25 HP Earth Elemental takes several whacks with a sword to disable and are relatively impervious to arrows (since bodkins and cutting heads are mutually exclusive).

Ignoring all wounding modifiers for homogeneous also simplifies running homogeneous monsters: having to look up whether Earth Elementals have No Neck feels like a needless complication.

[mburr0003]

Originally Posted by tbone

4) Your procedures for searching sound fine. I only note that the book's text isn't clear. I'd like to see future updates note in both descriptions that Search is indeed used for searching packs/wagons, not only pockets, bodies, etc.

Just a note, not sure if it's been mentioned in thread...

Search† has undergone a slight shift over the course of 4e, it started in GURPS Basic Characters as "This is the ability to search people, baggage, and vehicles for items that aren’t in plain sight."

However it quickly became clear that there needed to be a "find stuff in an area" skill, so it was expanded in Action 2 Exploits and as well in After the End 2 The New World‡.

However in Dungeon Fantasy 2 Dungeons search remained relegated to patting down bodies for loot, not scouring whole rooms (for that see either Scrounging or Observation). This is carried over to DFRPG (I do like that in DFRPG how to 'search' a room is called in out in the skill description for Search).


† As well as Observation. In the DF/RPG line it's become the "search" for hidden things skill. Which is fine, the skill was needed after all... and it does minimize skill bloat a bit. I'm just annoyed a little by it is all... personally I use Search for "active searching" and Observation for "passive noticing", but that's my house rule. The other skills then can either substitute in for specific uses (Traps mostly) or act as a Complimentary Skill if lower.

‡ But only for finding specific items in an area in AtE. Finding "loot" in an area in AtE requires Scrounging or other specific skills, not Search.

[tbone]

Originally Posted by Balor Patch

2) Yes, I think it (and the Kusari not being 2-handed) are typos ported over.

Hm, I didn't see that one. Maybe the attack itself uses only one hand, but if the other hand is assumed to be holding on to the other end, yeah, I'd expect the "two-handed" dagger mark to be there.

[tbone]

Originally Posted by Balor Patch

1) Of course, see DF11:5 for how it's officially done.

Ah, checking that out just now: I think that really clears it up. The book's not setting any special features of ogres here; it's just noting a max HT 23, in the same way almost any monster/human/other creature might have max HT 20+. Nothing odd after all!