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

[Scott M]

On 9/14/07, Burton Choinski <bchoinski at comcast.net> wrote:
> New Blood for the blood god! :}
>
>

Haha


> On Sep 14, 2007, at 10:00 PM, Paul L. Ming wrote:
>
> > 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.
>
> Interesting rule.  Armor affects can be handled in so many ways,
> depending on the "flavor" you want in your game world.  Another way
> to similarly handle this is to add AV to the casting roll, or AVx2 if
> the armor is primarily metal (i.e. increased armor makes success more
> difficult -- newbie wizards need not apply).  Similarly, AV can be
> added as Paul uses, or the AV/AVx2 added to BMC directly (thus
> affecting even low-level spell use).
>

Wow. Interesting thought adding to the BMC. I kind of like it because
it limits fighter/mage types to low level spells unless they remove
their armor. I'll have to mull that one over.

> >> 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.
>
> I've been doing this game for 20+ years (off and on) and even we are
> still looking at balancing tweaks.  I'm currently playing with a
> combat option (spell casting allows a -10 on an attacker's roll) that
> makes any wizard/warriors a bit more cautious about popping off
> spells when they are in the front row.

I'm thinking about treating the casting of a spell the same as
switching weapons, possibly entitling armed and adjacent opponents to
free attacks.


>
> >
> >> 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.
>
> Why A instead of D?  I understand I (understanding what you see) and
> Em (sensing).  Wouldn't D (hand-eye coordination) be better?  I
> presume you have a skill (Observation) that ties into it so that
> players can improve this (i.e. Observation skill is used, not
> attribute).  However, the use of pure stat does have an advantage in
> that legacy characters don't feel gyped if a new skill comes about
> later on.
>
> Our group has also observed a distinct lack of "Stealth" skill or
> "Awareness".
>

You nailed it. So have we. I'm going to try that idea inspired from
Paul's post, regarding the derived awareness/stealth values from the
pertinent wilderness survival skill (or trailing if urban) and agility
(for stealth) and intelligence (for awareness).