[DF] Tiny tools

[tantric]

RE: DF3 pg 8

Any particular reason why only the even numbered SM's are given? My DF party is a 8" Pixie Holy Assassin, a 1.5' Sprite Bard, a 1' Brownie Scout, 1' Redcap Brigand and a 3' Mantid Martial Artist (my LittlePeople, not the DF races, obviously). Thank the powers that be that GCA will convert the equipment for me, otherwise I suspect my head would have exploded by now.

[SCAR]

Possibly because they make for easier fractions:
It's not to hard to extrapolate/guestimate the missing values for odd-SM's

Armor & Clothing

SM-3  x1/10
SM-5  x1/50
SM-7  x1/200

Weapons and Tools

SM-3  x1/3   x1/4   x1/3  -3
SM-5  x1/6   x1/14  x1/6  -5
SM-7  x1/14  x1/52  x1/14 -7

[Bruno]

I think they just covered the sizes from the races in DF3 - it's a setting specific rule, not a real "generic" rule - it's specifically distorted to scale with the disproportionately high strength the small races have been given.

[tantric]

it's specifically distorted to scale with the disproportionately high strength the small races have been given.

Hmm. I don't use the same scaling. I use:

SM	cm	ST 
-11	3	.15
-10	4.5	.2
-9	7	.33
-8	10	.5
-7	15	.66
-6	20	1
-5	30	1.4
-4	45	2
-3	70	3.3
-2	100	5
-1	150	6.6

Then multiply ST by:

Insectish x3 (Sprites, Pixies)
Amphibian x2 (Nixies)
Mammalian/Demihuman x1.25 (Brownies, Wereweasels)

So my SM-6 races have ST 3, which I thought was redonkulous. I just started them all with magical armor and weapons so that they have at least DR 1 and do 1d-5 damage, provided they have a sword or longbow.

[Mgellis]

Originally Posted by Bruno

I think they just covered the sizes from the races in DF3 - it's a setting specific rule, not a real "generic" rule - it's specifically distorted to scale with the disproportionately high strength the small races have been given.

If I was going for a generic version of those rules, I might use this...

Weight of armor and tools: uses the SM-1 = 1/2, SM-2 = 1/5, SM-3 = 1/10, etc. scale.

Cost, DR of armor, and minimum ST of gear: uses the actual SM scale: SM-1 = .7, SM-2 = .5, SM-3 = .3, etc. (where whole numbers are needed, round fractions down)

For weapons, first determine the weight using the SM scale (SM-1 = .7, etc.). Then find an appropriate weapon of the same weight. Use the cost, weight, damage, etc. for that weapon. When in doubt, each halving of weight will reduce damage for cut, thrust, etc. by 1 point.

So a SM-2 halfling's armor weighs 1/5 normal, costs 1/2 normal, provides 1/2 DR. His shortsword is treated as a 1-lb. weapon, so the stats for the large knife can be used.

An SM-6 pixie has a broadsword, but it only weighs .3 lbs. That corresponds to the dagger for thrusting damage (thrust-1 imp), price, etc. For cutting damage (nothing listed for the dagger), treat it as -1 to the damage from a small knife, since it is about half the size, or swing-4 cutting.

For characters below SM-6 (about 6 inches in height), the normal rules start to break down and a deci-scale combat system is needed.

Anyway, just my thoughts on this.

Mark

[tantric]

Here's my question: if I use the rule that insectoid faeries of smaller size have 3x expected ST, while amphibious ones have 2x and mammalian ones have 1.25x, how do I code that as an advantage? A 1' Sprite in my world can body toss a 1' Brownie, though the the Brownie pays 30 less points for having ST2 rather than 5 - so it's balanced, right?. Should I let the Brownie buy up ST if he wishes? A Brownie with ST 6 is like a human with ST 30, right? ARRRGHHHH.

The rule matters because I have such creatures as were-weasels, which should really be ST 1. This would all be well and good if I were playing Bunnies and Burrows, but I'm not, and there are were-wolves and bear and tigers to contend with, and I can't use relative ST. I see bugs as being much stronger for their size than mammals - but I'm not sure if that's an advantage if they still have to pay for the ST point for point.

[Bruno]

You don't pay for "expected" ST - you pay for ST.

That said, if nobody knows that Sprites are disproportionately strong, they have a small UB for the "Surprise" value - but as they're an entire race their reputation may precede them.

If you do charge them a UB (I'd say 5 or 10 points at most) then NPCs need to assume they're one-third as strong as they are. For that point cost, someone is going to try and trap the Sprite under a wicker basket or light bell jar, and be surprised when the Sprite just lifts it off casually. Someone will assume that a heavy, valuable object is safe from Sprites and let sprites near it unsupervised - and when it gets stolen, they won't think to check in Sprite-sized hollows in trees or holes in the ground because Psh, sprites couldn't possibly lift that.

It's like having an 8 year old girl with a ST of 20 in a non-supers game - The cost of the ST covers the sheer mechanical power of ST 20 (the BL, the thrust and swing damage, rolling against her in ST contests) but it doesn't cover the fact that even adult-sized handcuffs won't restrain her, and it doesn't cover the fact that regular doors won't stop her, or that she can overpower most guards.

This is why Supers suggests charging a UB for characters that pack as much "oomph" into a single person as an entire squad of soldiers. While bank guards may not be expecting a guy who can spit 8d lasers from his mouth, they ARE expecting armed robbers who could have AK-47s.

However nobody expects armed robbers with a tank; when the guy who spits lasers has the rough impact of a tank and can bounce rifle rounds, it's like hiding a tank in a man-sized parcel. The surprise value has a lot of tactical advantage.

[tantric]

That's what I figured. On to the next - does anyone have experience with using fractional attributes - or just using base 100? This would really solve most of my headaches, but I'm almost certain it would generate more than it would cure. Or, here's a thought, doing base 50 and using d30's instead of d6's......

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by tantric

That's what I figured. On to the next - does anyone have experience with using fractional attributes - or just using base 100? This would really solve most of my headaches, but I'm almost certain it would generate more than it would cure. Or, here's a thought, doing base 50 and using d30's instead of d6's......

Honestly, I'd just use Fudge at that point. Or possibly T. Bone's scaling rules if I really wanted to keep this in GURPS.

[demonsbane]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Honestly, I'd just use Fudge at that point. Or possibly T. Bone's scaling rules if I really wanted to keep this in GURPS.

That's one of the strong points of the FUDGE system. However, I understand people wants to keep using the GURPS system, instead, despite the lack of proper scaling rules.

I'll be happy if the upcoming 4e Low Tech fills the hole. After all, Dungeon Fantasy 3: The Next Level, gave us a kind of (maybe) temporary, quick and partial fix for some of these things, with the Tiny Tool rules.