Re: Mods and DP

["Greg Mowczko" <mooch@cioe.com>]

OK been too busy to get in on this  whole spew.

First let me say I don't agree on the caps on either MOD or DP.

DP cannot be limited. Once you limit DP you run into several things
most of which include
the word death. Say you put the cap on as Lyle computes below. You get
your Adventurer
up to his max 60 DP and you think your going to parry your ass off to
stay alive ( forget that
combats go on till death is achieved by either one side or the other
and parry is just a delaying
tactic on your half till help arrives ). So as your walking down the
road, with your merry little
batch of adventurers safeguarding this chick and here all important
cargo that her enemies have
found out about, the enemy steps out and WHAM Comet in your face. BAM
most of the people
are dead now and why? Well that firemage had nothing better to spend
his EPs on after he maxed
his DP and he surely doesn't need the Parry skill so what to spend
eeps on? Comet. OK my warrior
is not dead but with no one to protect and fear of another comet I am
forced to retreat knowing that
there is no way I can ever get revenge on the mage because he probably
has another Comet and most
definitely can fireball my ass once or twice more before I get to him.

MODs. These are tricky and the reason I don't want these capped is
because now some thing's
become IMPOSSIBLE to kill. Try killing a Gargoyle or something else
with a high DV. Its not
going to stand around waiting for you to connect since you have now
less than a 10% (avg.) chance
of hitting. Are GMs not going to use Gargoyles? Don't think so. There
are just some things that
need you to have the exceptionally high MOD ( and a buddy or 2 ) to
overcome.

I guess if you capped both more mages would have the eeps to make
items such as the +4 long sword.
Hell capping them also will just do away with the pure warrior. I mean
unless I start picking up every
weapon known I'm going to have to by Spells after I'm done becoming
the master weapon smith ( one
"job" skill is required I believe you need a hobby besides killing ).

BTW I'm for parry as a separate skill. I need Dom to just stand there
with his practice sword ( special sword
that CANNOT crit or do damage but has the right weight and feel ) and
block a warrior in training from
touching him for hours. Then just whip out 5 attacks that all hit as a
lesson in humility.


Greg


----- Original Message -----
From: "Lyle H Janney" <gwydion@purdue.edu>
To: <gmlist@cioe.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 28, 2000 11:34 AM
Subject: Mods and DP


> 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
>