Vanguard00

I've used a lot of the competitions already mentioned (jousts, wrestling, bardic, etc), and I've also stolen liberally from Scottish Highland games, lumberjack contests, ancient and modern olympics, etc.

When you see the same barbarian hacking down a tree faster than anyone, splitting a stump at twenty paces with an axe, then trying to catch a pig with both man and animal greased up but GOOD...man, that's comedy.

The suggestion for basing competition on skills is one I'll use next time, too (I like the tracking example).

Re: Bardic competition

Originally posted by The Mad GM

I don't know about you, but I wasn't born under a rhyming planet. But it seems unfair to allow such a ripe opportunity for roleplaying to default to dice rolls, however.

 

Any idea how this might be made more playable? I was thinking something more along the lines of "Who's line is it anyway?" No need to get epic, and frankly the tastes of most medieval fairs would have been more the bawd than the bard (at least judging by SCA revels, which may be dangerous).

Well, if you're asking how you should a bardic competition and actually RP it...hrm...okay, so I don't have a lot of suggestions.

Here's one, though. Give your players time to sit down and write something. Give them suggestions on the theme, and tell them the easiest way to do this is to rewrite the words to a song they know. They don't even have to tell you what song it is. For example, if you know "Turn the Page" by Bob Seger, with a little imagination it wasn't hard for me to turn that into "Comes The King" for a game I was in way back when...

Perhaps make them come up with a single stanza/verse but assume the bard PC finished it. That sort of thing...

G'luck

Re: When do heroes get charged for excesive force?

Originally posted by JSenecal

I'm starting a new game in the standard Champions setting. In the first encounter, the two normal thugs received 4 or 5 body damage. To me, that seems enough that they needed hospitalization.

 

So the question is, in Millennium City, is this too much force to use against thugs threatening innocents with machine guns? Would the cops start hunting the heroes as a result?

 

And the closely related question, is this appropriate for a character with Code Against Killing (they weren't close to death after all)?

 

Since new players are involved, I would talk to the players and explain how much force is too much before I start any in-game ramifications.

Regarding the damage received, I'd say yeah, the thugs might need a trip to the hospital. That could indicate some broken bones, serious lacerations, or 2nd degree burns (or worse). It's not life-threatening, but expect a lot of pain and discomfort (assuming they have the standard 10 body).

Regarding "is this too much force"...not necessarily. If the thugs were threatening innocents with machine guns then yeah, take 'em out. Would the cops start hunting them? Seriously doubtful under the circumstances you gave.

Regarding your closely related question, that would depend on the PC. Did they use their maximum-damage attack that actually has a chance to kill normals? If so, then they were in the wrong. Did they do that amount of damage knowing they wouldn't kill them but still seriously hurt them? Then yeah, I'd say the character's okay, if towing the line a little bit.

And don't talk to the players OOC. Use in-game dialogue to let them know the ramifications. In one of my earliest PBEMs I had a police officer basically give my hero the drill. "If you want to be a cape in my city here are the rules. Break 'em and I'll come after you just like I do the rest of the scum." Or something like that. Give them a good reason in-game to mind their manners and to be careful of their actions. Have a local newspaper/reporter say that if those guys had been hit much harder they might not have survived, and just what were the heroes thinking...something along those lines.

THEN discuss it with your players OOC so they know fully what is expected (i.e. discuss exactly what "Reluctant to kill" means, etc).

Re: What do you have in your coinpurse?

Originally posted by Shaddakim

I'm doing some re-vamp work on my campaign and have a question for everyone:

 

Does the money in your game have specific names for the coins (penny [copper], denarii [silver], noble [gold], bar [platinum]) or do you use the generic version (cp, sp, gp, pp)?

Give the coinage names, by all means. It's these "little" details that promote the feeling of "realistic" fantasy. Even if it's only basic and/or thinly-veiled thievery, the names of money can make a big difference in believability.

For example, go with something basic:

gold = Imperials

silver = Orbs

copper = Crescents

Then, when working on another land, give them different names and slightly different values. For example:

2 Dragons (of Kyrindor) is equal to 3 Imperials (of Byrash)

...or something along those lines.

Worldmaker's system is an excellent example of something more extensive, but don't be afraid to use something simple like a name change, either.

Re: New Idea for Starting

Originally posted by Sterling

I wanted to run a 75+75 campaign but I love the story of the beginning hero who is struggling but learns fast. Characters with Destiny written across their forhead . So I am starting the characters with 25+75. So they have all their disads and have plenty of points for background, racial abilities, nifty skills while still giving them plenty of room to grow. Then I plan on increasing the xp given per adventure by a about a small amount to increase their rate of growth. I am finding the characters the players build very usable without being to big as starting fantasy heroes.

 

Sterling

In a similar vein I usually start games at 50+50, or 25+75, or (rarely) 50+75. I'm interested in a character taking disads that work for him/her, not someone who enjoys the excessive free points. Like Sterling, I also enjoy rewarding characters for good RPing, and I have always thought that a character built on 125 starting points (with disads) and spending 25 xp is infinitely better than a character built with 150 pts. I like my characters to grow.

By the same token, I've been known to give extra points to those with good background. Someone who wows me with an exceptional background might get anywhere from 5-15 bonus pts to start with.

Lastly, there's nothing that says everyone has to start at the same level. For example (and this campaign was YEARS ago), I had four players submit their PCs: a commoner, a soldier, an apprentice wizard, and a "worldly" priest (and former warrior). They were given, respectively, 75pts, 100pts, 100pts, and 125pts to work with. I enforce a certain amount toward skills (for example, the warrior-turned-priest had to spend some for both warrior and priestly skills/talents), and it actually worked out fairly well. Everyone did a really good job, and the commoner-turned-adventurer ended up being the leader purely by right of excellent RPing.

Just my "too sense" on the subject...

Good stuff, Daedalus. Very cool of you to post it.

In my game world elves are not tree-hugging flightly people with bows and magic. They are warriors of a great empire. Well, "great" = decadent and in it's declining years. But they have distinct properties when put into caste and class. Similarly, the humans of the empire are second-class citizens, though they can make a good living as merchants and soldiers. Lastly, dwarves just want to be left alone. I won't get into the other half-dozen or so races. Suffice to say they are conquered and beaten people with little of their own culture remaining.

How does all this balance out? I want my PCs more inclined to play humans than not because that's what my campaign is about. They know going in, however, that elves in general have it better than they do. One elf soldier is a match for one PC character. An officer might have trouble with 2 or 3 PCs, but that's about it. The point is, it isn't always about balance. It's about the needs of the campaign and the GMs ability to make that clear.

So first define your concept of "balance". What's on the other side of the scale? If you're talking about one race against another, what are they doing? My elves are in no way physically inferior to humans. They are as strong or stronger, just as fast or faster, just as smart or smarter, and probably have better weapons and magic at their disposal. They have the benefit of being the dominant race on the continent and they have a millenia of history and experience to draw on. Balanced against that is the fact that I intend humans to come out on top plain and simple. That's the goal, the point, the plot, the agenda, and whatever else you want to call it.

Balance is the ability to play one's weakness as a strength, and another's strength as a weakness. So far my PCs can do that, with only occassional (and subtle) guidance from me. Overall plot considerations, arms and magic and money are all balanced against the goals and the PCs willingness and ability to achieve them. I expect it'll work out in the end.

And yes, other racial packages cost, but usually only 1-5 pts, depending. I usually make sure that, at least, balances out