tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958522416503442248.post5856598530602585874..comments2024-03-28T01:02:01.844-06:00Comments on Coins and Scrolls: OSR: 4 GLOG Classes for Loxdon College: Brawler, Duelist, Thief, and DandySkerpleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06393779599461560431noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958522416503442248.post-35900517802152744842021-04-28T21:30:25.872-06:002021-04-28T21:30:25.872-06:00Makes sense to me when you put it that way! A burg...Makes sense to me when you put it that way! A burglar with a bag full of lockpicks, and a wand of Knock if they get stuck, an assassin with a blade, a gun and a scroll of "Calamvri's Insidious Suffocation", that sort of thing?Spwackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07247063374457045751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958522416503442248.post-28829498119705028582021-04-22T17:49:04.234-06:002021-04-22T17:49:04.234-06:00Yeah that's true too, good point. You could wo...Yeah that's true too, good point. You could work a free disarm on a hit into that structure though. That's honestly probably better from a gameplay/narrative standpoint - you can potentially have some back and forth before you get your opening, instead of being able to swat the first sword that comes your way in every fight<br /><br />All this of course pending whether or not your playtesters actually do find the ability as currently written underwhelming which... may not happen at all!Tom Kilianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17086235205146158319noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958522416503442248.post-31457479013527503742021-04-22T04:58:22.383-06:002021-04-22T04:58:22.383-06:00Had Tales of Montmartre on cassette tape when I wa...Had Tales of Montmartre on cassette tape when I was younger. Could almost quote it from memory....<br /><br />Given the rise of face-to-face calls, &c, I'm surprised no pioneering cyberfops have developed a method of video duelling!Solomon VKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11763252777153908412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958522416503442248.post-84929727894859631302021-04-21T14:37:38.167-06:002021-04-21T14:37:38.167-06:00Aha! Another video! We must fight a duel!
[Pistol ...Aha! Another video! We must fight a duel!<br />[Pistol shot. Pistol shot.]<br />Honour is satisfied.<br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5E5Gxro-Cf4Skerpleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06393779599461560431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958522416503442248.post-58129819724899558682021-04-21T14:34:37.308-06:002021-04-21T14:34:37.308-06:00True, but player psychology is /weird/ and tends t...True, but player psychology is /weird/ and tends to trump math. "Roll under Attack to hit." "I hit! Yay!" "Great, do you want to try to disarm or roll damage?" "Oooh, tempting and exciting." vs. "Do you want to roll to hit or try a combat maneuver?" "Too many options! My brain! Augh! I'll just roll to hit."<br /><br />(Exaggerated, but you see what I mean? The attack->hit->disarm or damage is satisfying because it comes after a successful roll and presents a choice which the player can weigh fairly easily. The "what do you do on your turn" open-ended general-purpose combat maneuver roll, less so, and tends to be used less.<br /><br />But yes, more testing! Always more testing.<br /><br />Skerpleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06393779599461560431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958522416503442248.post-24276785965251873632021-04-21T14:29:34.348-06:002021-04-21T14:29:34.348-06:00An equally valid method of discourse.An equally valid method of discourse.Skerpleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06393779599461560431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958522416503442248.post-49227110313927526042021-04-21T06:20:50.986-06:002021-04-21T06:20:50.986-06:00Hmmm... "Punch Up the Conk"? I might hav...Hmmm... "Punch Up the Conk"? I might have called it "Boot to the Head"! <br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8VD4JXUozMThe Malumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12971459955701026406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958522416503442248.post-2334372184779395952021-04-20T22:10:59.552-06:002021-04-20T22:10:59.552-06:00Ah, but you see, the players have seen GLOG wizard...Ah, but you see, the players have seen GLOG wizards before. Wizards have brains full of spells, leaving very little room for "good ideas" and "backup plans". <br /><br />Besides, it's Endon. You don't have to be a spellcaster to be heavily entangled in magical industry. Keeping the spells inside your own head could be an asset or a serious security flaw.Skerpleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06393779599461560431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958522416503442248.post-58754015837443945162021-04-20T21:11:56.311-06:002021-04-20T21:11:56.311-06:00I would've thought that Loxdon College games w...I would've thought that Loxdon College games would have *everyone* be a wizard, and *also* be something else. Like if you were playing an Arthurian Legends game, *everyone* is a knight, but they might be the wise knight, or the rampaging knight, or the knight that knows some arcane lore, or the quick and cunning squire who is going to be a knight shortly.<br /><br />Sporty Wizard. Probably-Evil Wizard. Smuggling Wizard. Party Wizard. That sort of thing. You've all got the wizard school that you are going to be learning, but it's what you do outside of class that matters a bit more just yet.Spwackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07247063374457045751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958522416503442248.post-28852128531316279512021-04-20T14:52:46.614-06:002021-04-20T14:52:46.614-06:00Retroactive thiefs are one of my recurring themes ...Retroactive thiefs are one of my recurring themes when designing things. Every PC behaves as a thief, but thieves retroactivelly saying what they have or what they stole fit so well the archetype and provides help for a lot of situations in-game. Also makes them feel like they are "always aware" which is a very thief thing.Jack Tremainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12906068267967864239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958522416503442248.post-24705087740228247112021-04-20T14:18:00.764-06:002021-04-20T14:18:00.764-06:00You’ve still got to hit that attack roll before yo...You’ve still got to hit that attack roll before you get a shot at forcing the save though. Effectively two chances for the target to avoid the effect, where usually there’s only one (or occasionally none, with some abilities that use a consumable resource). As an effect disarming is better than a trip or shove for sure, but less potent than a single-target sleep spell, which fills a similar “save to probably win” effect (the NPC may have a backup weapon, be dangerous without one, beat the player in a dive for it, or otherwise complicate things if they have a chance).<br /><br />Something to watch in play testing I guess!Tom Kilianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17086235205146158319noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958522416503442248.post-45785262599626380722021-04-20T11:47:16.604-06:002021-04-20T11:47:16.604-06:00I see your Spanish Chest and I raise you a Vorpal ...I see your Spanish Chest and I raise you a Vorpal Blade! [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLbr0BtfA7s]<br /><br />Re. The Brawler, you may find useful/entertaining a read of George Macdonald Fraser's Black Ajax. Helped inspire the pugilist mentioned here: https://worldbuildingandwoolgathering.blogspot.com/2021/02/motorcycle-leathers-of-united-provinces.html<br /><br />I have to say, I hadn't looked too closely at the GLOG thus far. I may have to dig in a little deeper.Solomon VKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11763252777153908412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958522416503442248.post-54888993511558137932021-04-20T11:35:30.282-06:002021-04-20T11:35:30.282-06:00Fair, and it may be adjusted with testing. I run c...Fair, and it may be adjusted with testing. I run combat maneuvers as stat opposed by stat, with a difficulty mod for the maneuver being attempted. Disarm would typically be Str/Dex vs. opponent's Str/Dex, with maybe a -2 penalty. Nobody wants to lose their weapon, and they're fairly focused on it (as opposed to being pushed/tripped).<br /><br />So, right away, those are worse odds than an opponent's Save. Let's say the PC has 12 in all stats and is fighting an equally skilled opponent. 12 - [12-10], with a further -2 penalty for the manuver, is 8, so the PC would have to roll under 8. Or, as I typically do when GMing, I'd do half the math and call for "Roll under Dex -4" to succeed.<br /><br />But a low-level NPC is going to have a Save of 5 or 6, maybe as high as 8. That's effectively like asking for a roll under 15-12 to succeed; much better odds! Saves scale much more slowly than Stats, both for PCs and NPCs. For very weak enemies, their Save might only be 1 or 2. <br /><br />You only catch their weapon if you succeed on a Save. I figure that's a nice theatrical bonus, not the main intended use of the ability.<br /><br />Without a weapon, most sensible NPCs will either surrender outright or test Morale.<br /><br />The main change I'm contemplating for the Duelist is an improvement (per template or every 2 templates) to the Attack stat itself. It's on the likely side of being included, but I need to do a bit more testing.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Skerpleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06393779599461560431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1958522416503442248.post-16677002581297213732021-04-20T10:10:09.970-06:002021-04-20T10:10:09.970-06:00The Duelist's disarm ability seems burdened by...The Duelist's disarm ability seems burdened by too many rolls:<br />1/fight<br />If you hit<br />And the opponent fails a save<br />And you succeed on a save<br /><br />So a limiting condition and then two points of failure (plus a third dice roll for an extra bonus), versus the attack roll's one. It's already something you'd only want to do in specific situations where "just kill them with damage" isn't the optimal path. Arguably this is like hitting and then rolling low for damage, but that still advances you towards a goal because you and your allies can keep doing damage in subsequent attacks. Whereas as successful save to avoid being disarmed nullifies the maneuver completely, and now you've spent your ability. I think I'd make the one disarm per fight automatic, pending a successful attack roll, and keep the save to catch it.<br /><br />Alternatively, if attack roll -> save is just how combat maneuvers work here, you could remove the 1/fight clause and say "when you disarm an opponent, you may make a save to catch the item in a free hand". So you're either giving the duelist one free combat maneuver per fight, or you're encouraging use of the regular combat maneuvers by giving them a potential bonus.Tom Kilianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17086235205146158319noreply@blogger.com