DF Town near Dungeon online resource

[b-dog]

One example I have is say a lumberjack. This guy would be an ordinary person but would likely be very strong (13+) from chopping wood all day and likely have high skill with his axe (15+). This guy would be average in most stats (10) but in his profession he would possibly exceed even an adventurer.

The same is true of a blck smith with his hammer; ST13+ and Hammer skill 15+.

Would this seem right? Thanks.

[Turhan's Bey Company]

Originally Posted by b-dog

Would this seem right?

No. The woodsman would probably have something like Professional Skill (Woodsman), while the blacksmith would have Smith. Their respective professions would not give them appreciable combat ability. Notably, they may be reasonably precise with their respective tools, but trees and bits of iron on a forge are generally known for not trying to get out of the way when you swing at them (so hitting things is a different proposition) and not trying to hit you back (so they never, ever learn to parry). Although their tools have a combat application, craftsmen don't learn that application.

Realistically, anyway. In a DF universe, it might make sense for them to have combat skills related to their tools, sorta like how everyone in a martial arts movie knows kung fu, from little kids to grandmothers.

[trooper6]

Originally Posted by b-dog

Sorry about that. I just thought you were messing with me. I guess I am hoping for some skills for the townspeople beyond the combat ones because the PCs can't really chop up the people in the town if they are good or neutral.

I play it by ear based on the guidelines I wrote.

You mentioned Lumberjack and Blacksmith.
I wouldn't personally write down any skills. I'd determine the tier of the Lumberjack, Blacksmith and then I'd just start GM'ing. Now, you may be playing a bit higher power than I tend to, so just add a Tier 4.
You can even name all the Tiers (1: Basic, 2: Journeyman, 3: Master, 4: Legendary)

But anyway. So the players come across a group of Lumberjacks in the forest near the town--they are heading into the town from some time in the dungeon. I decide we have 4 Basic Lumberjacks and 1 Journeyman Lumberjack who is the foreman for their work.

The Basic Lumberjacks have whatever central skills at 12, periphery at 10. The Journeyman has 14/12.

Off the top of my head central skills: Professional Skill (Lumberjack), Area Knowledge (Towndale)
Periphery: Current Events (Towndale). Survival (Woodlands)

In the middle of the encounter, one of the players asks if the Lumberjacks could help them track some wolves. I decide that tracking is neither Central nor Periphery...But...it could be that one of the young basic lumberjacks comes from a family of hunters, so that one...we'll call him Lars, has Tracking-10, and can try to help out.

Like that. There are no right or wrong answers. You can really just go with the flow.

[b-dog]

Originally Posted by Turhan's Bey Company

No. The woodsman would probably have something like Professional Skill (Woodsman), while the blacksmith would have Smith. Their respective professions would not give them appreciable combat ability. Notably, they may be reasonably precise with their respective tools, but trees and bits of iron on a forge are generally known for not trying to get out of the way when you swing at them (so hitting things is a different proposition) and not trying to hit you back (so they never, ever learn to parry). Although their tools have a combat application, craftsmen don't learn that application.

Realistically, anyway. In a DF universe, it might make sense for them to have combat skills related to their tools, sorta like how everyone in a martial arts movie knows kung fu, from little kids to grandmothers.

I was just thinking that the way GURPS works is that a character swings his weapon to see if he/she hits then after the other person would get a defense roll. So the person who is a lumberjack would have a great skill at hitting things with his/her axe I would think. To me it just seems that a person swing an axe day in day out would get very good at it and also become very strong.

[trooper6]

Originally Posted by b-dog

I was just thinking that the way GURPS works is that a character swings his weapon to see if he/she hits then after the other person would get a defense roll. So the person who is a lumberjack would have a great skill at hitting things with his/her axe I would think. To me it just seems that a person swing an axe day in day out would get very good at it and also become very strong.

The Axe melee weapon skill (well, any weapon skill) also includes parrying, feinting, etc. It is also about hitting things that are moving around and trying to kill you and not be hit in return. Whereas a the Professional Skill (Woodsman) would most likely include knowing where and how to chop trees...the right sort of places to chop, the right technique to make the tree fall right...it would probably also include some knowledge about trees...all sorts of things. BUT, in your game there's no problem deciding that your Lumberjacks also have the Axe melee skill as well. Maybe you have that skill be central, maybe you have it be periphery. Whatever you like.

[Stone Dog]

Originally Posted by b-dog

So the person who is a lumberjack would have a great skill at hitting things with his/her axe I would think.

In that they take all the options to aim and increase damage at the expense of defense every single time while moving at a predictable rhythm and standing in one place, sure they have great skill.

Not one scrap of that practice can translate into combat.

[maximara]

Originally Posted by b-dog

Sorry about that. I just thought you were messing with me. I guess I am hoping for some skills for the townspeople beyond the combat ones because the PCs can't really chop up the people in the town if they are good or neutral.

Well most of the skills are going to be in the 10-14 range. While it was there in GURPS 3e 4e explained it far better--skills used in common situations may get a bonus or you may not even have to roll against them. This means that sklls in the 14+ range are going to be rare.

Unless the party is from the area not all skills are useful. Area knowledge for example.

[thulben]

Originally Posted by Stone Dog

Not one scrap of that practice can translate into combat.

This may or may not be off-topic, but I disagree a little bit. I practice kenjutsu and one of the hardest things to learn is to be efficient in your cuts. That is to say let the weapon do a lot of the work. I'd imagine that a lumberjack who swings an axe all day has learned to be efficient or has learned to be very sore...

[jimminy]

Trooper6 speaks the truth. I use a virtually identical system for NPC stats even in my historical Crusades campaign. My players often fight similar bad guys of varying abilities (Saracen horseman, Saracen footsoldier, Saracen missile soldier, etc) and I even made quick character sheets for each of these, at the varying levels. So I have, say, Saracen horseman average, veteran and elite character sheets, and I'm ready for any combat, because even if the NPCs are different, the differences will be minor enough I can work them in during play. I have the same for the knight NPCs.

For most of these I don't even need character sheets. I only did it for Saracen horsemen because they had the Furusiyya style from Martial Arts, and I wanted to see how all the intricacies of that combat style were affected by basic stat and skill level changes. Same for the knights. Footsoldiers? After a few years of GURPS I don't even need a whole sheet. Knowing basic skill and stat levels is enough.

And, incidentally, I had made these NPCs up by guessing ballpark ranges for point cost of total stats and skills, and when I finally sat down and worked out every detail, the guesses were on the money within five points for every guy, so you get a feel for how NPCs work pretty quickly. I had guessed the point totals for different guys ranging from 100-300 points (so I would know what was a good challenge for my players), and they all turned out right when I totalled everything up.

It is a good way to do it. Then, even if I have someone REALLY different, like, super master amazing cavalryman with magery, all I would have to do is open my base sheet (or maptools token, as I often play using that) and change from there. It's a quarter of the work every time. I have my baselines and it's easy to go nuts on them once they're already worked out and saved.

[jimminy]

That said, of course, if you have a bar they always go to or a king they always speak to, having a whole character sheet wouldn't hurt. Even then it isn't always vital, but for any really fleshed out NPC who appears almost every game it wouldn't hurt.