Test 1, fight 1 -- Mojo vs. Yaw

[jeep]

I hope I'm allowed to discuss this now...

He uses 2 spears as main weapon, but also carries a two-handed sword with him. Vor is usually covered from head to toe with a full platemail. Although it slows him down, it gives him very good protection.

Two large, unwieldy weapons and full plate mail while carrying a 2H sword? How much does that affect CRD? Should be a LOT- even accounting for unusually high STR and CRD, that's got to be difficult. Also, what is the two weapon penalty? Some of the numbers seem high to me.

-JEEP

[jeep]

From what I was told, only heavy weapons are considered two-handed, and everything else (light and medium) are one handed weapons.
And I don't see why someone can't carry a two-handed weapon in a sheath while fighting with other weapons.

Right, I wasn't thinking about the rules, since those are open to change still...

Have you used a spear? They are 2H weapons for sure, even when thrown the off hand has a lot to do. It's hard to have any control in H2H combat with one hand. I had my grip peeled off once and could barely do anything with that hand. Even had I been gripping it in the middle, it would have been difficult. And it was only a 5' spear- which is short.

As to carrying the 2H weapon, they are large- heavy and bulky. They are a bear to draw from a sheath. Getting ready with a 2H sword should take a round, unless it's drawn already- IMO.

-JEEP

[jeep]

NOW, the real question is: Can Vor find a good spot in the world or will he just get shunned and be so abrasive that no one will group with him?

An optimized character like this SHOULD beat a generalist character.

-JEEP

[jeep]

Well, with low status, CHA, and EMP, it would not be unreasonable for the mods to break him out of any group (except maybe all slith groups). Think of the most annoying/abrasive person you can think of-- that's probably still a 2 CHA.

As to should an optimized Level 0 be able to defeat level 4 generalist? Depends on what a level means. Let's try to see what this means in the real world. Vor is significantly stronger than the strongest human and quicker than the quickest human. On top of that assume about 5 years training to get black belt equivilent in his weapon skills (which is generally a "competant" fighter).

Your elf was a borderline weakling that moves well and only had half the training in battle (say a brand new brown belt student). He should have been destroyed easily. I know I defeat new brown belts relatively easily unless they have additional training or street skills, then it's a little more difficult.

So let's add some experience to your elf. In order to compete, he needs to overcome not only the experience gap but the natural aptitude gap. I don't know (and am not supposed to know) what each level means, but I'll assume 4 years training. Now our Brown Belt is likely to be a black belt, possible getting ready to promote to 2nd black. IRL, a black belt with SIGNIFICANT natural aptitude will still probably destroy this person. Let's add a few more years experience... I would expect a 4th black to be able to hold his own with a black belt with significant natural aptitude. In most arts, moving from 1st to 4th black will take 6-12 years of dedicated study. What level does that put him at?

-JEEP

[jeep]

I don't think that's true. People will make the specialists. That's why we are testing. We need to make sure they are allowed, but not broken.

-JEEP

[jeep]

Another way to reduce overly specialized characters might be to change the character creation rules. It might be too late to make any changes there (and it it probably overstepping what we'd want to do) , but it was fun to think through anyway.

What follows are some ramblings and wild musings. You won't miss anything if you ignore the post.

Instead of giving 35 points to buy attributes, you can give 4000 experience points that are not tied to any Aspect. They can use that experience to buy their initial stats and abilities. That should encourage more balance in creation... They can create a completely balanced player with 3 5s and the rest 4s (as they can today) and have 200 left over for skills, so two areas of compentancy. That's probably a little light, so could have some small increase based on REA, etc.

Nithrar, which I tried to keep fairly balanced, could not quite be created in this scheme. He'd be short by 80 points.

Code: Select all

      Attribute  Skill
Lvl  cost         cost
1    40           10
2    120         30
3    240         60
4    400        100
5    600          x
6    840          x
7    1120        x

So everyone could still start with 4s across the board and three 5s.  To have a 7, you lose a lot more elsewhere.

Racial modifiers become more or less valuable depending on how much investment you put in initially.

Actually, I know I mentioned to not have initial experience tied to an aspect but you could manage racial modifiers by doing that.

Of the 4000, [i]Race[/i]get X extra Body Initial Experience.  

Or you could force more balance by:  All characters get 400 Body, 400 Mind, 400 Heart, and 400 Spirit experience (those are modified by racial modifiers) and 2400 generic experience.