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

[Scott M]

>  Oh, and when I say we, you are now a part of we.

Thanks for the warm welcome, Albert.

> Yes, they can wear any armor they chose.  I use house-rules for maximum AV
> based on SB + StB, but I tend to be a really mean GM.  Going above that
> point adds 2x the difference to all rolls.  Also, some spells go poorly in
> some armors (fireball in quilted, heat in plate, etc).  I love peripheral
> damage

Honestly, I think I like your SB + StB rule for all players, not just
magic users (or maybe you meant that already?) There are just no real
rules (in any system) to properly communicate how uncomfortable it is
to wear bulky armor. I like associating the freedom of not having to
worry about penalties with the similar freedom from being cooped
up/restricted that one gets while wearing heavy armor.

>
> 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? It seems that an active person should be harder to hit
> than say, a tree. So far it seems the only difference between
> targeting a human and a tree, is that a human could choose to use his
> shield if he has one (although I suppose he could dodge if he wanted
> to give up his turn).
>
> And the tree is immobilized (-20), and huge (- more based on size).  Dodging
> actually has little effect on missile fire, I apply rules for speed
> (modifying range), but those are just me.  I add 1/2 the movement that phase
> to the distance for calculating the range of projectile weapons.  In
> throwing situations, I use Half the difference of DCVs (why would OCV be a
> factor?) as a roll modifier.

I missed that. (the -20 for being immobilized and size modifiers).
That's an excellent point. That said, I'm still not sure all living
targets should be equally easy to hit. Now if the target is not aware
of the attack like you imply above, that's a different story, but I
guess I'm concerned with a fighter who is aware of the archer, but not
spending a turn to dodge. I figure he should get the same bonus to
avoid an arrow as he would to avoid a sword strike.

I think OCV should be a factor because it is a factor in melee
attacks. If I plan to apply DCV to missile attacks as it is applied in
melee attacks, it makes sense to all apply the shooter's OCV to offset
that (as it is done with melee attacks).

>
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> Magic is insanely powerful, but you need successes to advance it.  By the
> time the casters become "Overpowered" in my games, they have EARNED it.  If
> they can survive the failures and modified abysmals in the meantime.  It
> also leaves them with a lingering fear that.. hey... this guy could have a
> mana protection amulet... crap, I'm not getting possessed again!!
>

I hear what you're saying. My problem is that it lends itself to magic
users going from being utterly useless to quite unstoppable as soon as
they attain a few key spells. Hopefully enforcing modifiers won't
cripple magic users too much and will offer an advantage to magic
users who augment their spells with actions - allowing weak mages to
be more effective, and tempering the landside victories of more
powerful mages.

>
> 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 think there is something about that in book 2 or 4, but not 100% sure.  I
> typically top-of-the-head using factors like Survival level and Empathy.
>

Most folks seem to agree with you here and I'm going to try that as
well, thanks.