Death Tests & Wizards

[Shostak]

Maybe the Thorsz just doesn't like wizards or something, because his Death Tests seem less friendly to wizards than heroes. Consider: any wizard using more than 1 ST in a room will see their ST diminish just by virtue of casting spells, because they are only allowed time enough to rest to recover 1 ST after clearing a room. Assuming there is a physicker in the party, up to three fighters can suffer two hits without a net loss of ST, and up to four can if there are two physickers. I'd be curious to know if anyone other than me house rules a longer rest permissible after clearing a room, to allow wizards to be on more even footing with their mundane companions.

[tomc]

I let the wizards rest and recover 2ST per room. Then again, one can go overboard with this, especially if, like me, you use the Wizard as a big gun to bail you out with missile spells.

[Skarg]

I see your point, and when playing Death Test to try to win most efficiently, I tend not to bring a wizard because of the limited resting time.

However no, I don't increase the limit, as I don't really want to change it to be easier on wizards.

I also don't think that, even if I did care about trying to "balance" for wizards, that it would really be needed.

Physickers require a reduction in combat stats (or spell variety, if you sneakily make a wizard physicker).

While it depends on your group, tactics, and point level of your wizard, I think there are ways to use a wizard effectively despite the low amount of rest. For example, if the three fighters can usually handle the room contents, the wizard can judiciously assist them when/if needed, and not use any spells in some rooms. Some spells cast at the right time can be decisive in the harder fights.

[Senturian]

DT1:
If you are using WIZARD, all WIZARD rules except experience apply.
All combat in the DEATH TEST labyrinth is considered "one fight."
Thus, wizards have no opportunity to recover lost strength by resting, and
must ration their energy carefully - and hits cannot be healed except by
magic, for either wizards or heroes, until you are out.

Why are you changing the rules to make it easier to complete?, Choices, tactics and some luck are what's required. Make do with what you've got. It's called DEATH test and wasn't built to be fair, "survival of the fittest", I believe.
Wizards do have an advantage, they can fight like a warrior and when needed, use their special skill set.

DT2 allows resting for 15 minutes per room.

[Shostak]

Originally Posted by Senturian

Why are you changing the rules to make it easier to complete?, Choices, tactics and some luck are what's required. Make do with what you've got. It's called DEATH test and wasn't built to be fair, "survival of the fittest", I believe.
Wizards do have an advantage, they can fight like a warrior and when needed, use their special skill set.

I've run characters through DT and DT2 more times than I can count. A party of all warriors has a chance of everyone making it out. A party of all wizards doesn't, unless they are fairly high point-value. So, I tweak the rules to try to make it a little more even. It is also an attempt to let wizards get the same kind of XP bonuses that the heroes can.

[amenditman]

A party made up of all wizards goes dungeon delving....

Wait, what? That's just silly. Wizards are very powerful in certain circumstances and very weak in others. Should always be a party of mixed types/specialities/talents.

[Shostak]

Originally Posted by amenditman

A party made up of all wizards goes dungeon delving....

Wait, what? That's just silly. Wizards are very powerful in certain circumstances and very weak in others. Should always be a party of mixed types/specialities/talents.

Why is that silly? I respectfully disagree. Nobody would describe a party of all mundane fighters going in as silly.

[Senturian]

"Combined arms hits the enemy with two or more arms simultaneously in such a manner that the actions he must take to defend himself from one make him more vulnerable to another".

still, DT1 with a party of Wizards using Aid and Illusion of 2 warriors costs 4 fatigue per room as battles don't usually last more than 12 turns.
The Wizards use bows upon entering the room.
The illusions, with any amount of armor, are used for distracting by engaging, as targets or suicidal attacks.
the only downside is that it takes 2 turns to get everyone into the room.
Any PC that is targeted, defends in some way.
So how easy is it for a party of 6 to defeat any of the room's occupants?
the rules include a disbelieving section regarding parties of more than 4 which doesn't apply to animals. If they do try to disbelieve, it's a waste of an action if directed at one of the Wizards. The percentage of success is low against an Illusion as most other opponents have an Intelligence of 8, and is almost a waste as well.
the first room (Red) is free. I usually have 1 person wearing leather open the chest and set his hex on fire. 1 fatigue, no damage, all the spiders dead. 4 gold bars.
that leaves at most 6 rooms. North being the easiest path in the official version and I think Wizards would find it easier than Warriors.
Were you trying to get out or become a Thorsz' guard?

DT2 is something else. Captain Ayoch, Irrissee and the palace architect did a good job. I haven't figured out a fool proof way to get thru it yet.

[amenditman]

The DT is primarily mundane challenges which the heroes are best suited to face and wizards are least prepared to face on a fast paced, continuous basis.

Wizards can do better than heroes for a short time, but fatigue will be their downfall very quickly.

The rules of DT1 prevent anyone from getting any rest at all.

[Axly Suregrip]

Originally Posted by amenditman

The rules of DT1 prevent anyone from getting any rest at all.

Hi Amenditman. Hope you are doing well.

I believe the DT1 rules predate the Advanced Wizard (now ITL) rule for fatigue recovery of 1 pt / 15 minutes. A fair house rule would be to apply the DT2 rule of 15 minutes rest per room and still the wizard will tire too quickly for DT1.

A more than fair, but hey it is about having fun, is to give your wizards more time per room. Try it and tune it for your group. Maybe 30 minutes per room will be the balance your group needs to keep wizard viable but not over powering. Maybe more.