Grumpy Returns

[hcobb]

Dwarf "Hero" ST 12, DX 6(1), IQ 14, MA 10(6)
Miner’s pick(2d-1, 4/(DX-1) to hit anything) $ 50 8.0#
Plate Armor(5; -5 DX) $ 500 55.0#
Backpack $ 40 4.0#
Physicker’s kit $ 50 4.0#
etc.

Alertness, Dwarvish(native), Humanish, Literacy, Master Physicker, Miner(mundane), Physicker, Toughness I, Unarmed Combat I.
Lightning.

In combat Grumpy automatically succeeds (ITL 135) in tunneling around 10 inches off the floor under the foe every turn with 1d Lightning bolts, which inflicts "at least one die of damage to anyone within 3 hexes every turn." (ITL 71)

[Skarg]

Grumpy's adjDX with lightning would be -3. In original TFT (and some old-timers' campaigns), it'd be -7 because Grumpy isn't a wizard.

Wanted house rules:

Lightning Shapnel Damage
Instead of always rolling 1d6 for lightnng shrapnel damage, because that makes no sense for small bolts, instead roll an amount based on the strength of the bolt and the hardness of the ground that was hit. 1d is for a 3-die bolt hitting splintery hard rock. Subtract 1 to 6 for softer, less-shrapnel-producing earth. Subtract one for each point less strong the bolt is. (A 1-die bolt hitting typical dirt will do 1d-6 or 1d-5.)

Lightning Shrapnel Angle
The hexes affected by lightning shrapnel are based on the angle of impact. A steep angle will tend to only affect hexes behind the strike. Attacking the ground will tend to produce a steep angle. Use GM discretion.

Hitting A Particular Floor Hex With A Missile Attack
Like lobbing a molotail, shooting a particular hex of ground requires a to-hit roll at +4. On a miss, roll for scatter and then roll to see if things along the line to the floor hex are hit instead. If the direction of scatter is not along the line of fire, divide the scatter distance by 3.

[hcobb]

Grumpy is aiming at the toes of his foes and simply misses all the time to hit whatever rock is in a direct line behind them.

[Skarg]

Originally Posted by hcobb

Grumpy is aiming at the toes of his foes and simply misses all the time to hit whatever rock is in a direct line behind them.

Use the same scatter house rules as if you'd been intending to hit the ground in the hex.

e.g If Grumpy fires at adjDX -3 +4 = 1, rolls an 11 to hit, he missed by 10, so roll for scatter direction... he either overshot or undershot by 10 hexes, or to the side by 3 hexes. If he's closer than 10 hexes and undershoots, he has to roll to miss his own feet.

[hcobb]

What you'd have to do is determine in which direction Grumpy is missing and therefore whom he has to roll to miss along that line of flight.

[Skarg]

Originally Posted by hcobb

What you'd have to do is determine in which direction Grumpy is missing and therefore whom he has to roll to miss along that line of flight.

Yeah, that's what I wrote to do in "Hitting A Particular Floor Hex With A Missile Attack" in post #2 above. Sorry if it wasn't clear enough.