12-13-2019, 08:30 PM | #1 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
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A 10-pack of DFRPG questions
It's time again to play Toss a Handful of Questions at the Forum!
1) Acid vials: Corrosion (Exploits 53) reduces DR by 1 per full 5 pts of basic damage. An acid vial does only 1d-3 damage. So, a standard acid vials doesn't reduce DR, and can't get past DR3 or higher. Do I have that right? (Side thought: Good non-magical locks in DFRPG can cost thousands of $, yet are automatically defeated by a $10 vial of liquid. Hmm, I'm not sure anyone would bother using such locks. . . ) 2) The temple is open . . . or is it?: Does the temple refuse to heal Excommunicated PCs? I haven't seen anything suggesting this, but let me know if I've missed something. (I would assume the official response is, "My child, the temple turns away no purse . . . er, person, right, no person in need.") 3) It's tough to be a druid: Nature's Strength reduces the potency of druidic abilities by 10% per -1, rounding down. This would mean that even the generic -1 penalty for dungeons reduces DR from the Nature's Shield ability by 1. Do I have that right? 4) Leohippus: I was going to ask what sort of hybrid the DFRPG karkadann is supposed to be – a lion head on horse, or horse head on lion, or what? But then I remembered that DF Monsters 1 should have a pic. And it does. So questioned cancelled. (The beast in the pic, by the way, looks like a lion and horse averaged out all around.) 5) Fear the 13: Here's a deeper question: Why the cap of 13 on Fright Checks? Why break from the usual "just roll the target or under" way of doing things? Say Normal Norm resists fear on 13 or less, and Fearless Frieda (before a cap) resists on 19 or less, thanks to spending much more on Will, Combat Reflexes, and Fearlessness. What's gained by ruling that both fail equally on a 14 or higher? Even when faced with a more easily resisted case (a small Elder Thing) that offers a bonus, Frieda oddly faces the same 10% chance of failure. It's not like beating Fright Checks is some awesome superpower that needs to be kept in check; complete immunity to Fright Checks is easily available to PCs through Unfazeable, and at low cost, too (15 points, which covers more than just Fright Check immunity). In short, the cap is no big deal, and it's easy enough to file it away as a mysterious working of the mind. So I guess the actual question is simply: Does the "rule of 13" for Fright Checks serve some important purpose that I'm missing? (Side thought: All that said, if there's going to be cap on Fright Checks, the use of the storied number 13 as the cap, and as the starting point for bad effects on the follow-up roll, is a nice aesthetic touch. : ) 6) A big change: As DFRPG makes pretty clear on pages like Exploits 95, target SM applies to ranged and melee attacks alike. That's a pretty big change from Basic Set (which mentions no SM mod for melee); it makes wee monsters pretty hard to hit, and it means every gnome PC enjoys a -1 penalty on foes' TH rolls, and every halfling PC a -2. Out of curiosity, a question for whomever's reading: If you weren't already using SM in melee before DFRPG, are you ignoring this change (or not even aware of it)? If adopting it, are you seeing players take a new interest in gnomes and halflings, to enjoy the new benefit? Have you gotten any complaints from players about the difficulty of hitting little monsters? (Maybe not, given the skill levels DFRPG PCs have . . .) 7) Cheetah Sprint: Say a martial artist uses Tiger Sprint to double Move, then uses Uninterrupted Flurry to take two Move actions every turn. She's now zooming along at 4x normal Move. I assume this is perfectly kosher (and fun!); am I missing anything that prohibits this? 8) Holy symbols: Do DFRPG clerics need a holy symbol for anything besides Turning? (An expensive symbol boosts Turning and Exorcism, so it's great to have one – but Exorcism, or anything other than Turning, doesn't appear to require a symbol at all.) 9) Talented medics: Chi Talent adds to what are called Chi Skills, including Esoteric Medicine (Chi), but Power Investiture does not add to Holy Skills (Esoteric Medicine (Holy) and Exorcism) or Druidic Skills (Esoteric Medicine (Druidic) and Herb Lore). Do I have that right? 10) Light range: For an Area spell, a radius of 1 means one hex; a radius of 2 means that hex, plus the surrounding six hexes; and so on. But my understanding is that distance for light sources works differently: a torch's distance of 2 doesn't mean the holder's hex and the hexes around it, but rather the holder's hex and up to 2 more hexes out (i.e., what would be radius 3 in spell terms). Do I have that right? Bonus question, one that I expect only an SJG insider could answer: This (now closed) thread notes that DFRPG's unusual book size (8"x10" instead of 8.5"x11") entailed considerable extra cost and labor. The question: Why was that size chosen? I like it, for no reason that I can explain in particular, but I wonder what spurred the idea. Better fit for a pre-selected box size? Just curious.
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12-13-2019, 09:52 PM | #2 | |
Doctor of GURPS Ballistics
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Lakeville, MN
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Re: A 10-pack of DFRPG questions
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12-14-2019, 06:13 AM | #3 | |||||||||||||
GURPS Line Editor
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Montréal, Québec
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Re: A 10-pack of DFRPG questions
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If final, modified Will exceeds 13, reduce it to 13 for this purpose. That is, a roll of 14 or more is always a failure for a Fright Check.From p. B360: If final, modified Will exceeds 13, reduce it to 13 for the purpose of the Fright Check. This means that a roll of 14 or more is automatically a failure.There's no difference. Quote:
It is something of a big deal because "Those who fail a Fright Check suffer mental stun for seconds equal to their margin of failure – a potentially fatal development in combat!" There's no recovering early. So if the violet mold gets Norm and Frieda and they both roll 10, Norm is hors de combat for 7 full turns but Frieda, most likely for just 1. So the monsters hiding nearby get one free shot at Frieda, but Norm is toast. Quote:
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12-15-2019, 01:16 AM | #4 | |
Banned
Join Date: Mar 2006
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Re: A 10-pack of DFRPG questions
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12-15-2019, 01:17 AM | #5 | ||||||||
Join Date: Aug 2004
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Re: A 10-pack of DFRPG questions
Thanks for all the detailed answers!
Acid: Quote:
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I'll assume it happens once in a while in Town, but for the most part, people wanting to melt locks would be smart to keep it in the dungeons. Fright Check cap: Right . . . though the question then becomes "why does GURPS do this?" (Just to be clear, as these things are easily misunderstood online: This isn't a "Grr, this is wrong, I don't like it" matter; it's a "Hm, interesting, I wonder why" question.) Quote:
The cases with the cap are what make me ask why Frieda needs to fail 10% of the time even though she's spent lots of points on Will and Fearlessness, and even when the Fright Checks are easy ones with a bonus. Which is why I wondered whether the cap addresses some game balance problem that I'm not aware of, or brings in some desired trope from fiction, or whatever. If there's not a particularly pressing reason for the cap . . . Well, it doesn't seem a particular problem, but I think I'll try dropping the cap anyway and rolling Fright Checks like any other check. (The usual crit miss rules will still leave a chance that, even on an easy Fright Check, Frieda could snap in some odd way and freak out.) SM: Quote:
(Which leads me back to an old, old question to which I don't know a good answer: What's a fair character point cost for "foes take +/- 1 to hit you", as a trait all on its own? But that's a better discussion for GURPS, not DFRPG.) Holy symbol: Quote:
Esoteric Medicine bonuses: Quote:
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Book size: Quote:
Thanks again. There will be more, I'm sure!
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12-15-2019, 03:54 AM | #6 |
Night Watchman
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
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Re: A 10-pack of DFRPG questions
I think it dates back to the invention of Fright Checks in the first GURPS Horror. The reason seems to be so that Fright Checks are always something to be taken seriously, and not incurred lightly. Having higher Will and other bonuses mean that Fright Checks at penalties get easier.
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12-15-2019, 06:27 AM | #7 | |
GURPS Line Editor
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Montréal, Québec
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Re: A 10-pack of DFRPG questions
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As written, between basic Will and the +2 from mandatory Combat Reflexes, the Fright Check profile of out-of-the-box delvers is {10, 11, 11, 12, 12, 13, 14, 14, 14, 14, 15} (mean 12.8, median 13, mode 14). All can optionally add at least one of IQ (and with it, Will), Will, Combat Reflexes, Daredevil, or Fearlessness; better than half can add two or more of those. And then there's holy warriors with Higher Purpose and bards with optional Xenophilia (yes, it gives a bonus), which are very likely applicable vs. the sorts of monsters that have Terror. And then there are whole parties getting a bonus from Leadership (Exploits, p. 57). In the face of that, a cap of 13 is mostly a way of ensuring that Terror stays scary without having to give all monsters a -3 or -4 that would paralyze all the "brave" – but lower IQ, and hence lower Will – fighters while the casters ignore it. It's also important to recognize that there are no "mundane" Fright Checks (for dead bodies, startling noises, unexpected violence, etc.) in the DFRPG. They're always caused by monsters, the Song of Terror, or spells like Mystic Mist and Terror. So this cap is a way to ensure that certain abilities aren't completely "nerfed" for delvers and monsters alike. It serves a purpose similar to the Rule of 16. In short, there are pretty good reasons in the DFRPG and GURPS Horror for this rule to exist, but they aren't the same reasons. I'll add that in either game, for characters for whom "I am FEARLESS!!!" is supposed to be a thing, there's Unfazeable. That costs 15 points and doesn't really do anything else useful, so the cap at 13 further makes heroes who have it stand out.
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01-23-2020, 10:14 PM | #8 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
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Re: A 10-pack of DFRPG questions
Aaaand here I am at it again, with 10 more DFRPG questions.
(Should I use a new thread for each such batch of questions? Savoire-Faire (Forum) mavens, please weigh in!) 1) A non-enchanting deal? The Magic Weapons and Armor Table on Adventurers 118 says a $2000 Deflect enchantment provides a +1 Defense Bonus, which I understand would aid any defense. Meanwhile, a $10,000 Defending Weapon/Shield enchantment also gives a +1 bonus, but to Parry or Block alone. Am I missing something, or is the latter a really bad deal? 2) Going bow-less I'm designing a smallish creature that throws smallish "javelins" - plain old arrows, in fact. (They're easy for the creatures to come by, and PCs on the receiving end of the attacks get to say "hey, free arrows!") So what are appropriate stats for a thrown arrow? An arrow is cheaper and lighter than a javelin, dart, or even dagger; maybe thr-2 imp, Acc 1, x0.5/x1, ST 3, Bulk -3? What do you think? 3) They grow so fast Not really a question, just an observation: The tomb bug in Monsters 2 plays the ol' xenomorph and/or wasp trick of placing eggs in a host. Always a classic! But I notice that at Size -1, the erupting hatchlings are each the size of a fair-sized dog, or a 10-year-old, or a gnome . . . and ten of these will burst out of a normal human victim. Yeah, I know, it's fantasy . . . but just try imagining how those things fit in there. Maybe they, I don't know, burst out at a way smaller size, then instantly expand to SM -1, like those sponge dinosaur toys? Or maybe the assumption is that the corpse just prior to eruption, now at -5xHP, is hugely, grotesquely bloated/distended? Okay, pointless ruminations ended. Back to actual questions: 4) Bardic Talent as a prerequisite Spells p7 says "Bardic Talent (Adventurers, p. 17) replaces Magery. The same level is needed as a prerequisite . . ." So when I see a spell in an appropriate bardic college listing Magery 1 as a prerequisite, I understand that to mean "Magery 1 or Bardic Talent 1". Yet some spells specifically note Bardic Talent anyway, like Detect Magic: "Wizardly: Magery 1 or Bardic Talent 1." Why specifically call out the latter for such spells, if Bardic Talent is already explained as a replacement for Magery? Or in short: How does "Wizardly: Magery 1 or Bardic Talent 1" differ from just "Wizardly: Magery 1"? (Wait, I think I see the answer now: Spells in appropriate bardic colleges always use the notation "Wizardly: Magery n or Bardic Talent m"; here, mentioning Bardic Talent isn't necessary, but it serves as a helpful reminder. Meanwhile, spells outside bardic colleges only say "Wizardly: Magery n", and it's understood for these that Bardic Talent is not a replacement. Sound right?) 5) Order of boolean operators in prerequisites Take a prerequisite listing like "Wizardly: Magery 1 or Bardic Talent 1, and Foolishness." Does this mean a) "Wizardly: (Magery 1 or Bardic Talent 1), and Foolishness." or b) "Wizardly: Magery 1 or (Bardic Talent 1, and Foolishness)."? I think it's a). Right? 6) Plant Control vs animals The Plant Control spell notes, "Controls the actions of one large plant . . . A key spell for “green druids” – knowing it lets you use Beast Possession, Rider, Rider Within, and similar Animal spells on plant-class monsters!" How exactly does this work? To cast Beast Possession on a triffid, do I first cast Plant Control at the usual time and cost, then cast Beast Possession at the usual time and cost, and then – if both succeeded – finally start roaming around in my mobile cabbage? 7) Defensive fast-draw Say a kind-looking traveler suddenly attacks me as I ask him directions to the nearest necromancer lair. I resist surprise, but my sword is sheathed. Can I use Fast Draw to instantly bring the sword to hand and attempt a Parry? (Sounds like an obvious "yes" to me, but in all of GURPS and DFRPG, I don't recall ever seeing a mention of using Fast-Draw to instantly parry, only to instantly attack.) Also: If I attempt this action but fail the Fast Draw roll, what happens? I assume that it's the same as if I'd failed the actual Parry; I didn't have any other defenses lined up (i.e., I'm not on All-Out Defense (Double Defense)), so I get whacked. Sound right? 8) Eye of death in the side pocket When I wallop a creature for knockback, do I get to choose the direction in which it flies? Is this addressed anywhere in GURPS/DFRPG? 9) Bad deals, Part II This one's puzzled me for some time. Social Stigma (Minority Group) confers -2 on reactions, except among your own group, for -10 points. Social Stigma (Savage) confers the same, but also -4 on certain skill rolls, and a possibility of being outright barred from town. This is also -10 points. Shouldn't these carry different point values? 10) Glamour in Nordlondr Folk This book offers Elven Glamour, which adds +4 to Disguise and Mimicry (Speech). Also: "Anyone observing you gets a Will roll at -5 to pierce the illusion." How does this work? The target sees through the ruse by winning a contest of Perception or Observation vs the elf's Disguise +4, or a contest of IQ vs the elf's Mimicry +4 . . . but if the target fails that contest, he gets one more chance to pierce the illusion by succeeding at a straight-up Will -5 roll. Do I have that right? And while we're here, there's the leveled Resistant to Glamour trait (p6), described as offering +5 to resist or see through illusions/glamour. If that's per level, then Resistant to Glamour 3 [3] confers a +15(!) bonus. Do I have that right? Thanks in advance for any and all comments!
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01-24-2020, 01:37 AM | #9 |
Join Date: Apr 2013
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Re: A 10-pack of DFRPG questions
10) I'd say a successful Will-5 roll negates the +4 to Disguise or Mimicry.
8) I certainly wouldn't allow the attacker to automatically choose knockback direction. I'd let it fly if a player wanted to take a -4 to hit in order to control the direction, but don't recall a rule on that either. 7) If you have a ready weapon you can parry, if you used Fast-draw then you have a ready weapon, but you can't use a Fast-Draw during an opponent's action without a Wait maneuver. I don't recall if the cascading waits rule made it to DFRPG, or if that would a allow a Fast-Draw without also allowing a pre-emptive attack? 6) It says "knowing it" not "using it". If you have learned the spell then you can treat plants as animals for those specific spells. 5) Yes, the Talents are one group while the item beyond the comma is a different group. SJG is nicely reliable on punctuation. 1) It is a bad deal, but if you've already got Deflect and a yachtload of cash then maybe you don't need to ask the price. Similarly, going from +4 to +5 Puissance is probably less valuable then from +0 to +1 but fabulously more expensive. The prices could be much more rational if someone got excited about it. |
01-24-2020, 09:29 AM | #10 |
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: earth....I think.
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Re: A 10-pack of DFRPG questions
I am guessing it is because Defense Bonus (DB) does not stack, so if you have a shield with Deflect +1 and a suit of armor with Deflect +2, you only have +2 DB since it is the higher one. It also is only useful if you are using a shield, if you have a suit of armor with Deflect +2 but no shield, then you can't utilize that +2 DB. After all, Defense Bonus is what shields provide when used. This enchantment increases that, but you still need to use that shield.
Defending Weapon/Shield on the other hand always works, because you are either using the weapon/shield or not. Also note, this stacks with Deflect! So if you have a character that uses a shield all the time, you can take Defending Shield +2 and Deflect +2 for +2 DB and +2 to block on top of that. This is cheaper than Deflect +3. I agree with what you have, the weight is similar to a spike shuriken but more flimsy and longer which is reflected with your ST 3 and Bulk -3. Yeah, I would assume the body is somewhat bloated too, you would be surprised how big things can be inside another body, check out parasites in fish. Some of those things are almost as big as the fish, but the fish is still alive! The mentioning of Bard Talent is to let you know what level it needs to be to learn that spell. This is only seen within the allowed colleges for Bards. Page 7 of DF Spells: "Bards are limited to the Communication and Empathy, Knowledge, Mind Control, and Sound colleges." A Bard can not learn any other spells unless they also have Magery 0+. Page 73 of DF Spells: "Wizardly. An asterisk (*) indicates the spell is available to bards who can meet its prerequisites. Spells in colleges allowed to bards sometimes have prerequisites that fall outside such colleges; these are still marked because elven and half-elven bards with Magery 0 could learn those prerequisites!" It's A. Key word there is "Knowing". I take that as saying: In order to use Beast Possession, Rider, Rider Within, and similar Animal spells on plant-class monsters you must also have the Plant Control Spell. In other words, think of it as a prerequisite spell. You have to go outside those sources and into Martial Arts for the answer. Page 103 of Martial Arts: "• One fighter has a ready weapon; his opponent knows Fast-Draw. Roll a Quick Contest. The ready fighter uses weapon skill; his only modifier is +1 if he has Combat Reflexes. The unready fighter uses Fast-Draw skill modified as for a Quick Contest of Fast-Draw (above), with an additional -10! The winner strikes first. In a tie, the fighter with the ready weapon strikes first." More details on that page. It flies in the opposite direction; It flies away from you. Now, as GM, if your player says they attacked with a swinging attack, then as some flavor, their target COULD fly in whatever direction they hit it. (Baseball bat swing image here). But as far as rules go, knockback is the direction that is infront of you. You are trading no negative reaction to people within your own group with skill penalties. Being barred from towns is not really worth points. Basically -4 to certain skills and being thrown out of town is almost the same as no reaction penalty from own people + not being thrown out of town. Note that the cost of these disadvantages can vary depending on the type of game you are playing! In a game were everyone is a savage, then social stigma (Savage) would not give you any points! The +4 to Disguise and Mimicry (Speech) should be thought of as separate. The Elf is better than most people at disguise and mimicry because they have Glamour. They can attempt to dress up as someone else and change the way they talk to mimic someone else, both usage does not require the use of their Glamour, but they still get +4 to those skill rolls. If they decide to do away with practical disguises and use their Glamour ability, then anyone that sees them gets a Will-5 roll. So the best thing to do for a trickster is to first dress up as a target, mimic their speech, then glamour as another target! If someone breaks the glamour then they may still mistake you for the other! Resistant to Glamour trait is +1 per level, and each level cost 1 point. the wording of the description is for what the Hálfálfar has in its stat block (Resistant to Glamour 5 [5]) which is +5 resistance. This is because in DF, resistance to something is 1 point per level per +1 to resist. |
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