Post originally by Will at 2003-04-10 11:32:13
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I had a similar experience with someone maxing out Occult, Sorcery, and Occult Library. Maybe not maxed... but damn high.
He picked Hero (as did most of the group... the limitations of paying more for drama points haven't sunk in yet).
In a memorable combat, he managed to fling 4 high powered attack spells, burning through 4 drama points and having helpers, and destroying a big godzilla-like creature.
Of course... I slightly cheated, since even 170 LP of damage wasn't enough for this monstrosity, and I was being generous with the help from others.
The drama point drain to pull this off, and the danger should one of those spells _fail_ to succeed by enough, counterbalance, I think.
Post originally by Steve D at 2003-04-10 11:46:37
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Ya nailed it. All the hiccups - and all the magic and majesty.
There is something uniquely special about Buffy. The source material is the perfect source material, but I've seen enough botched licenses to know that's never enough. This game gets the source right, so it just SINGS.
Me and Dan agree - this is the shiznit. This is the new milennium. Get into it.
Post originally by Dan Davenport at 2003-04-10 12:04:00
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Will wrote:
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<b>I had a similar experience with someone maxing out Occult, Sorcery, and Occult Library. Maybe not maxed... but damn high.
He picked Hero (as did most of the group... the limitations of paying more for drama points haven't sunk in yet).
In a memorable combat, he managed to fling 4 high powered attack spells, burning through 4 drama points and having helpers, and destroying a big godzilla-like creature.
Of course... I slightly cheated, since even 170 LP of damage wasn't enough for this monstrosity, and I was being generous with the help from others.
The drama point drain to pull this off, and the danger should one of those spells _fail_ to succeed by enough, counterbalance, I think.</b>
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The Drama Point drain, perhaps -- as stated in my review, my players probably ended up with too many DPs anyway. I'm not sure how big a problem the botch factor is, though. Given high levels of spellcasting ability combined with DPs, it seems fairly easy to ensure that your success levels will exceed the Power Level.
Post originally by Steve D at 2003-04-10 12:11:49
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I actually made the same mistake with DPs. I was playing online and so it was hard to tell my players how much they were cracking me up and going in the quote file, so I was giving DPs for each and every guffaw. Still, then I attacked them with six vamps vs three white hats (bad bad bad idea) so it worked out okay. But I think the best thing to do would just give out 1 or 2DPs at the end depending on how many times they go into the quote file.
As for mages, what about this for a possibility - they have to hit the power level EXACTLY. Go over by a lot and you get something akin to missing by a lot - your spell works TOO effectively.
Also remember the price of high sorcery (btw I doubt I'd ever let a player start with any sorcery) - once you can do something one way, its hard to go back. When you can change channels on the TV with your mind, why use the remote? Soon, magic becomes second nature. Like walking is.
Just so, when you take it away, they'll be crippled.
Post originally by Gerry Saracco at 2003-04-10 13:29:30
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Dan Davenport wrote:
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I'm not sure how big a problem the botch factor is, though. Given high levels of spellcasting....
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It works great when the spellcaster is of lower level. Our game has a white hat spellcaster with 1 or 2 levels in Sorcery, and Occultism of around 3 or 4. He tried a spell to trip someone, and the spell botched. The botch was that the spell would still work, but at a later time. The character reacted by falling down and claiming they were dizzy. The next episode, I had the spell go off at an appropriate moment, which probably helped saved the character from serious damage. The character felt the spell go off, hesitated a moment, then went on to use an axe on the fallen opponent.
So far, our spellcaster has mainly use the Telekinesis aspect of his Sorcery, as he doesn't really possess combat oriented spells. It seems to work pretty well in showing an beginning spellcaster
Post originally by Gerry Saracco at 2003-04-10 13:34:12
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First off, excellant review Dan.
I just wanted to say that in the two episodes I've run, none of the players seemed to have any problems with combat. I think the multiaction rules work well in helping to show the difference between someone like The Slayer and a White Hat. Even with the penalties, the Slayer pc in our group (who is just Hero level) rarely misses, even when doing multiple stakes to the heart. I think the only thing I do differently is have her roll for each attack separately, which allows for a bit more variance in damage.
As for the bads using quick stats: I think that was more of a space saving feature for the core book. I am pretty sure Monster Smackdown has full stats for the major bads. In my game, I use regular stats for the bads, and just use the quick stats for the generic "mook" types. It sure came in handy when the Slayer went one on one with a jive talking, kung fu using disco vampire who looked alot like Jim Kelly in his younger days.....
Post originally by Will at 2003-04-10 13:42:10
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Assume 5 Willpower, 5 Occult, and 5 Sorcery. That's a result from 16-25, depending on the roll.
Add another 10 for DP, so 26-35.
So with high willpower/occult/sorcery, you are guaranteed a success at up to power level 6 if you use a DP. Great.
Of course... you _have_ to spend a DP on it, rather than something else... you aren't spending it on reducing damage or other helpful things.
Actually... mmm. I kind of like the dynamic. Magic offers the lure of easy power... hey, by obsessively devoting your life to it, you can do amazing things.
But when your luck runs out...
If you attempt a Power Level 6 spell and _don't_ spend a DP... well. I'd hate to flub a spell that powerful.
Of course, this just encourages such a mage to try even _bigger_ spells. How about power level 10! Wooo!
And then the mage blows up.
Personally, I'm considering raising the botches... so that 1-4 is a delay, and add more disastrous categories past 16.
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<b>I just wanted to say that in the two episodes I've run, none of the players seemed to have any problems with combat. I think the multiaction rules work well in helping to show the difference between someone like The Slayer and a White Hat. Even with the penalties, the Slayer pc in our group (who is just Hero level) rarely misses, even when doing multiple stakes to the heart. I think the only thing I do differently is have her roll for each attack separately, which allows for a bit more variance in damage.</b>
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I didn't really mind the penalties for the multi-actions so much as the cap on the number of actions that could be attempted. I just like the drama inherent in a character having to scramble to do X number of things RIGHT NOW, and I feel that the lower ability scores of the White Hats are enough of a limit already.
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<b>As for the bads using quick stats: I think that was more of a space saving feature for the core book. I am pretty sure Monster Smackdown has full stats for the major bads. In my game, I use regular stats for the bads, and just use the quick stats for the generic "mook" types. It sure came in handy when the Slayer went one on one with a jive talking, kung fu using disco vampire who looked alot like Jim Kelly in his younger days.....</b>
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I've heard that as well regarding Monster Smackdown. And I agree: I'm okay with the quick stats as a space-saver.
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