[PnP] my first post - a few very noob questions

[Scott M]

> Hiya.
>
>
> > 1) Can magic users wear armor and does it affect their ability to cast
> > spells? From my reading so far, I assume magic users can wear whatever
> > they like with no penalty. That seems strange to me.
> >
>   Yup, they can wear whatever they want as per the rules. Personally,
> my house rule is that for every AV of armor that they wear, the Cost per
> PMR goes up by 1. So, a caster casting a spell that costs 11 mana, and
> he can cast it normally at a rate of 3 per PMR would cost 3, 3, 3, 2
> normally; but if he is wearing 2 points of AV his cost goes up to 5, 5,
> 5, 4. The spell still takes the same length of time, but it just costs
> more mana.
>

I like what you posted. Thanks for the info. I think I'm going to try
a variant though, which is to subtract the AV from the casting speed
per phase. Just me, but I really like discouraging armor use for
mages.

>
> > 2) Are there any house rules to take OCV/DCV or the target's
> > agility/dex (or anything) into consideration when targeting them with
> > ranged weapons?
> >
>   Again, you are correct. However, it would be a simple matter to
> simply use the listed "Line" number as the missile OCV and then subtract
> the defenders DCV from that. So someone shooting a Heavy Crossbow at
> short rage at a target with DCV 4 would roll on line +2 on the Combat table.
>

I was thinking along the same lines if there wasn't a better rule.
Thanks. I feel compelled to include the OCV as well though (otherwise
all missile weapons just became a lot harder to use). So I'll probably
use the rules as written, modified by the OCV minus the DCV (so,
similar to melee attacks, just adding the range modifiers).


> > 3) Are there any house rules to keep the all-mighty Status roll from
> > making or breaking a new character? It seems that so long as you make
> > a status of 3 or higher, you don't really need to spend any initial
> > increases on cash. So now you have both a cash advantage and a
> > skill/character point/experience point advantage over characters with
> > a status of 1 or 2.
> >
>   I never had a problem with it, personally. Status is a double-edged
> sword. You may have more wealth (and thusly better equipment), but with
> that wealth you have all the responsibilities that comes with it. A
> Station 3 character has a business to run, faculty members to appease,
> higher-ranking officers to obey, etc. As long as you keep the
> "background" of the station in play, it all works out.
>  As a house rule, you could always just limit a characters station to 1
> or 2 for everyone.

You bring up a good point with the background. I haven't been using
that as much as I should have been. More, when someone starts as
status 3 or higher and gives up all their income for experience,
expertise points, or character points, I should come up with some
reason why a character from so much money would suddenly find themself
without. Probably he alienated the source of the cash flow, and that
would have repurcussions.


>
> > 4) Can I assume that most P&P GMs are VERY liberal with spell success
> > modifiers? It sure seems like the players can romp all over the NPCs
> > without them. As an example, "Abandon"; I like to assign a 5 to 10
> > penalty if the target is already leery of the caster, up to 25 if they
> > are already in combat. Meanwhile, I would consider a bonus of around
> > 10 if the caster can cajole the target into a discussion to at least
> > consider "forgetting all your woes" before casting his spell.
> >
>   Spells in P&P are *very* powerful. However, the big balancing factor
> for me has always been the uncertainty of the targets MDV. :) A high MDV
> and only a 'moderately bad' roll to cast can quickly result in an
> Abysmal Failure. I also have a house rule that limits the number of
> 'spells' a character can start with. The limit is based on a total
> number of  BMC's worth of spells. This way, a player can choose a list
> with a few high-power spells, a lot of low-power spells, or (most
> commonly) a general mix of them.
>   Adding modifiers in-game is also kind of expected in P&P. This isn't
> a game system that relegates the GM to nothing more than a player who
> rolls for the monsters. P&P expects that the Referee to actually be a
> master of the game. In this way, P&P is quite heavy on the "Referee
> adjudication" aspect of play. This is GOOD! So, keep applying those
> modifiers in an even manner and everyone will know what to expect.
>

Cool, thanks for the sanity check here.


> > 5) I do see ambush rules, but are there any rules (House or otherwise)
> > that dictate how soon two groups of travelers will see each other in
> > the wilderness? Or who will see each other first? The skills don't
> > seem to account for sensory perception very much – is that generally
> > ignored in games that you folks run?
> >
>   I have created my own stat called "Awareness" (I+A+Em / 3, ru). This
> is used for general 'awareness and perception in general'. I use it to
> see if a character notices scuff marks on the floor near a secret door
> in the wall, for example. If the characters specifically search an area,
> I move to appropriate skills (Survival, Tracking, etc.).
>  As for distance in a non-ambush situation...again, P&P makes the
> Referee earn his keep by using his brain. I just think of the situation
> and use my judgment. An Awareness check would probably be made; success
> indicating  a greater distance at which the 'targets' are noticed.
>

I really like the use of Survival for the affected terrain. I'm not
sure how I'm going to introduce alertness/stealth. I'm leery of adding
a ton of new skills, but I might toy with the idea of make some
derived stealth/alertness scores by using the associated survival
skill as modified by agility or intelligence, accordingly. I'll give
it a shot and let you know how it turns out.

> > Sorry if that's too much too fast. I'll take whatever kind of response
> > I can get.
> >
> > By the way, I live in Tarpon Springs, Florida and am always looking
> > for interested gamers. We're going to the Necronomicon in October 5,
> > 2007 at the Hyatt in downtown Tampa. A bunch of gamers get together
> > there each year. No P&P so far, but you never know what might show up
> > on the schedule.
>   hehe...I'm just about as far away from you as I can be and still be
> on the same continent (I'm in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada).  My brother is
> in Florida...can't remember where (he and his fiance just moved there
> last month).
>
>   Ask as many questions about P&P as you want...we are a pretty tight
> nit group here. :) Welcome aboard!
>
> Paul L. Ming
>
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Thanks again Paul. I really appreciate the feedback.