Mods and DP

[Lyle H Janney <gwydion@purdue.edu>]

Wow, looks like a lot of GM's who have been around the game
for a good, long time are in agreement that mods should be
limited by their associated stats.  Moreover, that they've thought
this for a long time.  Hmmm, Dan, what do you think?

On the topic of that 'sacred and untouched ground' that Steve
alluded to; I could see limiting that as well.  Based on that huge
round of discussion and the pretty-much-official description that
Dan provided regarding DP (or specifically, how DP has been
viewed from the beginning by the game designers), my initial
thoughts are that if we are going to limit DP, then we should use
HEA (toughness to absorb the worst of the blow) and AGI
(juke/spin/twist to avoid the worst of the blow) in conjunction.

Perhaps something like (HEA + AGI) * 2.  Not too complex an
equation and it gives the average joe (not that any Joe I've ever
met has been average  :-)  ) a max of 40-44.  Adventurers who
are particularly gifted could get up into the range of 60-70 DP.
Hmmm, with reasonable limits on mods and DP, that parry skill
is looking better all the time.  :-)

Oh, here's an item that Kevin made me think of.  What about
those racial bonuses to mods?  First off, Kevin, giving racial
bonuses to mods and then allowing a higher cap on those mods
due to exceptional stats is way overkill (elves get +4 to MM
already and their exceptional PER gives them a cap of AGI+4)?
Ouch!  Don't get me wrong, Kevin, I can understand the desire
to modify the caps due to exceptional stats (and inferior stats
for that matter).  I just don't like non-humans getting that double
bonus.  Personally, I've long had a problem with the fact that
the adjustment to mods for race is a _bonus_.  That means that
as I start out with my orc warrior, my racial bonus to grapple is
worth 2000 eeps, but once I've bought up to GM 10, that racial
bonus is now worth 10000 eeps!  It's even worse if my orc isn't
a warrior (of course).  I would much rather see a flat assignment
to the mod that the adventurer can then buy up from based on
their background (i.e., all orcs are born and raised to grapple,
hence they start with a grapple mod of 4, additional training in
that area is based on their chosen profession).  Of course, if
this were the case, then I could see adjusting mods by +/-2 or
so for each rank of exception/inferior stat associated with the
mod.  Now, I know that this is a pie-in-the-sky kind of idea, so
we can drop this discussion right now and it won't really bother
me any more than the racial bonuses already bother me.  It's
just a thought.

Lyle