Markdoc

Re: Best Battle Most awesomest fight ever? Ooo, hard to pick just one. My favourite though, was probably the battle that closed out my third fantasy campaign. I had been running a long political intrigue game where the players were a sort of "special forces" unit for the city guard in a very large, somewhat Lanhkmarish city. There had been strife between the major merchant houses, which it turned out had been fomented by an outside group hoping to profit from civil war. The players eventually tracked them down and after a long voyage attacked the bad guys in their fortress - and were promptly defeated. I then converted the classic "Escape from the Dungeon of the Slave lords" module and had the players escape - wounded, naked and unarmed - from their prison, under cover of a volcanic eruption, which was shaking the city. They managed to fight their way clear of the prison complex, regain their gear, fight their way through the panicking city and end up on the docks facing their arch-enemies, who were trying to load a boat with loot and escape. It was then an all-on smackdown fight to the finish (this time without lots of minions to interfere), with a clock ticking in the background. I had turned the clock around so the players could not see the face, though they could hear it ticking and I set random time intervals for 5-15 minutes on it. When the alarm rang, another belch of lava would push further into the city, showers of red hot boulders and ash would randomly pepper the area. Everyone was getting frantic as the lava got closer and closer.... Eventually the players prevailed, but not without fatalities among their own group. We normally finished that game around midnight, because people didn't like to play too late, but that time, we played through to 4 am and when we were finished, people were looking around going "Damn, is that the time?" cheers, Mark

Re: Fantasy Gambling Ideas Another possibility is a dice game from an old campaign of mine. Basically, take 6, 6-sided dice. In-game, the dice were blazoned with symbols, but you could use regular 6 siders. Each player - in turn - throws his dice, by shaking them in a cup, then placing the cup upside down (with the dice still inside). Then everyone places their bets. After betting, you can see what you have rolled by peeking under the cup. Then you lift your cup a fraction (shielding your dice), take out some of your cup and re-roll any of your dice you want: this time openly. The catch is, for every dice you re-roll, you have to remove one. There's another round of betting at this point. Then the cups are lifted to show all the dice. The winner is the guy with the most faces the same and the faces have values (3 4's are better than 3 3's, for example) - he takes the pot: if there's a tie, the winners split the pot. cheers, Mark

Re: Clever Future Weapons Yeah. One of the things that stuck with me is the different attitudes of combat soldiers and roleplayers. Roleplayers will argue endlessly about calibre and muzzle velocity and such. People who have seen combat seem to be more interested in mag capacity, how easy it is to keep clean and weapon weight. I also recall being shown one of the first Steyr AUGs to turn up in New Zealand (at university the father of one of our players was warrant officer at a nearby army camp and one of our players lived on base, so we were there fairly frequently). The thing that most impressed him? A transparent mag, so you could check how much ammo you had left. cheers, Mark

Re: Trade and Speculation in FH I'd definately be interested! cheers, Mark

Re: High STR + HKAs, thoughts Depending on what the other players' PCs look like, I might allow it. It's a very powerful power, but it's also set up with some major limitations, so he's not going to use it routinely. Still: 6d6 killing attack: that's going to generate 100+ STUN on a regular basis, not to mention being lethal against unarmoured foes. I'd be pretty cautious. cheers, Mark

Re: What happens when a new GM doesn't understand game balance

Re: Fishy, Fishy, Fishy, Fish! Amusingly, there's a lot in common between topics of this thread and my current FH game. It also is a setting where ancient powerful magics were once used and relics of astounding power can still be found here and there. And there are "things" - things in the fabric of the world, although they are only just starting to enter the story in a big way. This old magic really is "forgotten" - the barbarians who over-ran the remnants of that civilization smashed up all the stuff they didn't understand/couldn't control, so such relics are only found in very out of the way places. As a result the players are vaguely aware that "In the past there were powerful magicians" ... but that's about it, really. When they recently found the ruins of a sunken city on one sea voyage, they were all duly amazed. In this week's session, the players fell into the power of a group of sorcerors who found one such artifact: a dimensional gate. The players think the sorcerors are evil - meddling with things man was not meant to know. The sorcerors simply want to learn to build gates (a valuable skill in kingdoms scattered across many islands), and wanted to study this one. Unfortunately said gate was protected by powerful magical traps, which in the course of the evening got demolished. At which point the players discovered the traps were put there not to stop people getting to the gate, but to stop the things on the other side of the gate from coming any further .... cheers, Mark

Re: Clever Future Weapons Amusingly despite the paens of praise in terms of simple weapons, it's the guys with the fancy complicated weapons who seem to dominate the battlefield. To quote the world-conquering victorian soldiers "Whatever happens we have got, the Gatling gun and they have not" cheers, Mark

Re: Scientists claim warp drive is possible

Re: And off we go! It'll be some time before I get around to posting this adventure, but this email about last night's session was sent by one player to the game list today, and I thought I'd share cheers, Mark

Re: URBAN FANTASY HERO -- What Do *You* Want To See? Cool - I'd forgotten that quote. As an aside, in my dimension-hopping Immortals game, Masters of Luck and Death, swords were a favoured weapon for exactly that reason: guns worked some places, and not others, magic the same. But pretty much everywhere, things reacted poorly to a sharp piece of metal through the body. cheers, Mark

Re: Training away DCV Penalties from Armor

Re: What happens when a new GM doesn't understand game balance

Re: Consolidating Skill and Combat

Re: What happens when a new GM doesn't understand game balance

Re: Training away DCV Penalties from Armor I allow the whole penalty to be bought off: people who spend their lives training in armour presumably get to be pretty good at it. cheers, Mark

Re: URBAN FANTASY HERO -- What Do *You* Want To See? In our games that mixed the two (or which matched magic and psionics), it was never a problem. If a mage wanted a gun, he got a gun. If on the other hand, he wanted a 2d6 RKA that he could take into a closely guarded building or onto a plane, or one that might look like natural causes, or one he could use on a target on the other side of the city, he used a spell. In practice, even where a gun was available, mages preferred spells, because they had levels in spellcraft but hadn't bothered to buy any in guns. That meant people who relied on mundane equipment had more points to spend in skills and physical stat.s which offset to some extent the fact that they had access to a much more limited set of powers. One other option, which we used in a short-lived urban horror/fantasy game was that mundane (ie: free) equipment automatically took a disadvantage Susceptible: magic which meant that the equipment took double damage from magical attacks and did half damage against magical defences. So a 6d6 dispel technology spell could cause any handgun to malfunction, but had little or no effect on my priest's twin .45s (bought with points) because they had been blessed and warded with holy signs Likewise, a forcefield that would stop only normal bullets wouldn't work so well against my attacks. Basically in that setting normal equipment was free, but unreliable. cheers, Mark

Re: Fantasy Gambling Ideas Here's one from my game: the players have actually played this several times, in-game. Shield push (note: not my invention: I just elaborated on an idea from RuneQuest) cheers, Mark

Re: Fishy, Fishy, Fishy, Fish! Actually, the Mage in my current FH game has a spell which functions very much like this*. In a recent adventure, the Players and their allies were able to destroy a much larger enemy fleet by luring it into a dangerous area of reefs and shoals and then tricking them into a maelstrom. Combine this with an Aid to Swimming - which can be cast on the ship - and change environment (tides and currents), all of which he has, and you have a medieval ship that can operate like a modern warship. * This spell allows the Wizard to sense movements and density fluctuations in the surrounding water. This form of vision allows him to see, even in total darkness, the types of creatures moving through the water nearby, the strength and direction of currents, and any fresh or salt water influx. Spatial Awareness (Unusual Group), Discriminatory (27 Active Points); Custom Modifier (only works in water; -½), Extra Time (Full Phase, -½), Requires A Skill Roll (-½), Requires Mana (-½), Costs Endurance (Only Costs END to Activate; -¼), Concentration (½ DCV; -¼) cheers, Mark

Re: Ability Check Variant: Count the Body When the game is built so that the range runs from "twice as smart" to "more than 200 times as smart" ... then, yeah. I don't think it's a great idea to stack the odds against a success when you move only one step up on what's supposed to be a very long ladder. I dunno if that's realistic (how exactly do we define "twice as smart" anyway?) - but from a gaming point of view it doesn't sound promising. cheers, Mark

Re: Would you ever allow a Large character as a PC? Yep, I'd allow it (in some settings: my current game is human only, so not there). I've played a large character in a FH game myself (a half-troll). As Fitz noted, being able to use large weapons and such is offset by the fact that the world is generally not built to your size: so there's plenty of space for disadvantages. In Hero system, the reach issue isn't a problem. In D&D, which is much more tactical wargame-like, yeah, I can see reach being a problem, since combined with other feats like Combat Reflexes, or Elusive Target, it allows you to dominate large sections of the board. If you want to do large size in D&D, the appropriate method is to use a monster template and adjust ECL accordingly, not try to do it with feats. A minotaur, for example is a +8 ECL creature - partly for size, partly for all it's other powers such as tracking scent, gore attack, extra STR, etc. Looking at other builds, large size seems to be +2 ECL, in general. In Hero, those are all things you buy with points, so it's a wash. As an aside, I was looking at new characters for our next d20 game and my wife always complains that she gets stuck playing the Cleric while I get to play "cool sword guy". I've settled on Eldritch Disciple for me - so I think I'm gonna make a Barbarian minotaur for her. "Daisy smash puny humans!" cheers, Mark

Re: And off we go! The two ships anchor in a small secluded cove a half day’s walk from the Thorn. Climbing a nearby hill, they shelter under a dolmen and spy out the land. All seems peaceful – small villages and the Thorn (a castle with spiky roofs) on the horizon with a small town below it. Gen and Aquila walk to town and enter through the palisade without too much trouble – things are obviously fairly relaxed, though there are plenty of soldiers about and 6 sleek war galleasses in the harbour along with a dozen other ships. They find rooms in an inn by the docks – facing a gibbet, it is called “the hanged pirate”. Talking with the innkeeper they soon find out that the town is basically a garrison town for the navy. They rest until nightfall, and then Aquila slips out and climbs the hill the castle. Scouting around the walls he finds an angle where a tower meets the wall that he thinks he could climb. He also finds two sally-ports. One has no keyhole and can clearly only be opened from the inside. The other, however has a lock. Aquila quickly picks this and finds a dark, narrow stair. He moves silently up it (GM’s note: he has 18- in stealth!), picks another lock and hides himself in a small antechamber. Through another door he hears several men talking, though it’s boring stuff about shipping, taxes and trade. Slipping away, he looks out a window and times the guards patrolling the wall until he has the timing down. He leaves, locking the doors behind him as he goes. On returning to the inn, he climbs out onto the roof and watches the guards patrolling with lanterns until he has their timing down too. Then he goes to sleep. The next day, Aquila goes up to the castle, pretending to look for work, while Gen stays at the inn keeping an eye out. Aquila pretends to be a bounty-hunter, and manages to get a look into the outer bailey of the castle. There is a temple there, built of dark stone like the castle, but outside it, there are statues of a hooded woman with a horse’s head. Since there are no horses in the archipelago (except for Lamoniak’s) this is distinctly odd. When the guard see him loitering, they order him away: apparently, this is the lord’s private chapel. Aquila asks about Vathmar and gives Thomas’ description as that of a man he is hunting, but draws a blank. On e thing strikes him as odd, though. Criminals – including pirates – are either fined, beaten, maimed or executed. People are normally only held prisoner for ransom or a special reason. What is the special reason for Thomas being held? Do they know he’s a pirate? Has he talked? Aquila takes some notes on possible bounties and leaves. Meanwhile the Sea Ghost has turned up in port with the rest of the PCs pretending to be a Noble (Lamoniak) and his retinue. Gen goes to meet them, posing as a servant sent ahead and the whole party moves to a better quality inn. After some discussion with a pair of merchants they meet there who have been at the castle, they learn that the Lord has a new leman, who has recently arrived. The lord seems very taken with her, but she is a bit mysterious: hardly ever leaves the castle. The PCs decide to go up to the castle to “pay their respects”. After some discussion, with the guards, they are asked to leave their weapons and they are sent to meet the castellan, passing the odd temple on the way. The Castellan talks with them a while and after receiving some “presents” invites them to stay at the castle and attend his lord. There will be modest feast that night in their honor. Obviously, the castellan decides that Lamoniak is a man of quality. They are shown to a series of rooms on the third floor, over the great hall and Gen goes out, ostensibly to run some errands, but really to spy out the layout. He soon discovers that the guards will not let him wander very far, but he does get the basic layout of the first three floors, including the kitchen and the guard barracks. He also sees how the castle gets its name: peering out the window, he notices that the castle roofs are guarded by cruel curved blades almost like sword blades set in the roof. This puzzles him greatly. In their rooms, they also discover that the large portrait over Lamoniak’s bed is fastened to the wall, and sounds hollow. A secret door? A murder hole? In the castle however, there is another person watching things. This is the lady Endre, who was bought to the castle some months ago under false pretences (GM note: new character, and new player). The Lady Endre is told her presence is not expected at the feast and that dinner will be served in her chambers. Curious, she slips out of her room and overhears the castellan instructing several guards to keep an eye on the visitors – and also placing several archers in the musicians’ gallery with orders to keep well out of sight unless summoned. It is clear that he is preparing for trouble. Endre is intrigued, but returns to her rooms. Later, the PCs are summoned to dinner. Lamoniak sits beside the lord Jasos, while the lord’s leman sits beside him. Bellona and Khatz are seated further down the table, with the armigers while Gen and Khelsen end up at the bottom of the table with the merchants and senior servants. The talk is lively, with Lamoniak talking of far off Remoulade and his wonderful castle, while Khatz entertains with tales of the contests at Houndsgard. However, there is something odd. The lord Jasos, while polite, seems almost bored and says little, beyond asking Lamoniak the occasional question. When Lamoniak aks him about the statues by the temple he briefly comments that they represent a cult figure. Lamoniak mentions that the igure’s head resembles that of a horse, which appears to startle the Lord briefly though he says he does not know what a horse is and soon subsides. His mistress, on the other hand watches Lamoniak closely, and though he is normally an excellent judge of character, he finds that he cannot read her body language at all. In fact, her pale face and dark eyes, though apparently attractive make him feel uneasy, almost repulsed. He also notices that the lord often exchanges glances with her and she shakes or nods her head as though answering some unspoken communication. The dinner party ends suddenly when the Lord Jasos announces that he is retiring early and things break up soon after. The PCs retire to their rooms, though not before Bellona steals a knife from off the table and they discuss the Lord and his odd leman. They can’t work out her position, though the fact that no-one ever introduced her means she can’t be a noble. Meanwhile, as the dinner is going on, Endre finds herself not being watched for the first time. The guards are stationed at the head of the stairs by the great hall. She goes upstairs into the lord’s rooms and has a good look around. She’s been here before but never unescorted. The solar upstairs is dominated by a large table with a slate top on which is carved a map. Small wooden ships decorate it. On a nearby stool are some papers. Endre glances through them but they just seem to be naval orders – something about setting a squadron of ships to wait off the coast for the signal. Clearly it’s a trap set for someone, but it means nothing else to her. Looking behind an arras, she discovers a hidden door! She unbolts it and passes through a small antechamber with locked chests and some clothing to a narrow stair that runs down to a door. She realizes she has found a secret exit, but the door out is a stout iron door and she cannot open it. After looking around and finding else nothing exciting, she slips back to her rooms. She hears the lord’s party coming up the stairs and afraid of being caught snooping hides behind a curtain by one of the windows. As the lord’s party passes she hears him saying to his mistress “You’re sure he recognized the name? Could he be an agent of the cult?” before they passed out of hearing. Even more curious, Endre returns to her rooms. At the same time, in the town, Aquila and Dalarna are worried that they have heard nothing from the rest. They go to the Sea Ghost and consult with Adriana and hatch a plan to find out what is going on. The plan involves getting a castle guard. This proves fairly easy – they soon find one in a nearby inn and after a few drinks he is chatting happily with Adriana. He is willing to make a short detour with her ... which ends in dark alley with a blow to the head from Aquila. They wrap him in a cloak and spirit him onto the Sea Ghost, where Aquila takes and dons his livery and then using his Magic gift and a mirror copies the man’s face. He heads up to the castle, and soon passes the gates. Aquila cannot get to where the players are – there are too many guards, but he hangs around and is soon rewarded by Atun, Lamoniak’s servant heading down to the kitchen to eat leftovers with the rest of the servants. He drops his disguise, intercepts Atun and soon finds out where the party is staying. He then manages to find a stairwell which leads him out onto the wall walk, and looping a light line that he had hidden under his cloak round a machiolation slides down into the dark below the walls, before he is noticed by the guards and then heads back into town to meet up with Dalarna. In the kitchen Atun chats with the other servants and soon finds out that no-one much likes the Lord’s mistress. She turned up about the time the temple was renovated and the new statues put up. Now the temple is only for the lord and a few of his close associates to worship at – everyone else has to go to the temple in the town. He also finds out that prisoners are kept in griffin tower – one of the wall towers in the outer ward – though there are only a couple being held there now in the oubliettes: they (and the prison guards, headed by a generally disliked man called Darl the torturer) get food every morning carried from the kitchen through a small door and out across the ward. Atun goes back upstairs and passes this information on. The PCs discuss it all. It seems clear that Thomas is alive and in the oubliette in Griffin tower. Exactly why they are keeping him alive – but well locked up is not clear. Perhaps they hope to pry the location of Pirate cove out of him with powerful magic? Could it be that the Lord’s mistress is actually a cult priestess? While they chat, Khatz examines the painting over Lamioniak’s bed more closely and discovers that the eyes of the picture are actually separate – they can be slid sideways to leave a spyhole! Now that he knows there a space behind it, he and Gen fiddle about with the picture, eventually managing to find a bolt that holds it shut and getting it open –it reveals a small space and a short passage inside the wall. But just as they are examining it, there are loud voices raised outside the door to their rooms!

Re: Jumping mouth!

Re: And off we go!

Re: And off we go! And the rest of the group