Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Streamlining Fuzion. Wandering Monsters and Monster Stats
Implementing the Fuzion rules is going well. I’ve already dropped MOVE, and will make it a derived number. Its been very interesting to read Fuzion, Action!Systems and Open Core and to see the evolution or lack there of. Increase page count, tweak a rule, add new name to system and publish it…
Open Core is the largest of the three rulesets, and interesting in that they went with the bell-curve riddled 3D6 implementation rather than the linear 1D20. anyway.. quibbles…
Right, so, wandering monsters.
I want some free form exploration in the wilderness but also some monsters encounters.
I don’t want the party to get totally wiped out at the start of the game, but don’t want the later game to be easy. One solution is to scale the enemies, but, everyone knows the brouhaha from Oblivion and its scaling encounters.
Fuzion has a ‘PRE’ stat, presence, or reputation. The initial thought for wilderness encounters will be that monster groups can roll vs your presence. A couple of kobolds may think they have a chance against a single member party.. But might think that they don’t stand a chance against 6 players all tooled up.
This should effectively stop low level encounters after a certain point, but that wont mean a low level encounter will be switched with a higher level encounter. I don’t think turning goblins into displacer beasts is a good thing, and I don’t think exploring the wilderness should have you constantly under threat.
In order to build my bestiary, I need to create fuzion stats for my monsters. Most of the time its a fairly easy thing to do, and to get some other side of the coin knowledge, I’ve dug around. Looking at how SSI statted the monsters in Azure Bonds was very interesting.
Here in its glory is the data dumped by Andrew Schultz;
|CHA|CON|DEX|WIS|INT|STR(100)|HP |
--------------------+---+---+---+---+---+--------+---|
AKABAR BEL AKAS | 14| 13| 12| 13| 15| 11 | 15|
ALIAS | 17| 17| 17| 17| 17| 17 | 48|
ANHKHEG | 10| 10| 10| 10| 3| 10 | 40|
BAR PATRON | 10| 10| 14| 10| 10| 12 | 16|
BEHOLDER | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 75|
BINKY | 13| 19| 13| 10| 7| 18( 97)| 50|
BLACK DRAGON | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 48|
BUGBEAR | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 24|
CENTAUR | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 28|
CROCODILE | 10| 10| 10| 10| 3| 10 | 16|
CULTIST | 10| 10| 10| 16| 10| 10 | 24|
DARK ELF CLERIC | 10| 15| 15| 17| 10| 17 | 42|
DARK ELF LORD | 10| 18| 19| 10| 10| 16 |108|
DARK ELF LORD | 10| 18| 19| 10| 10| 20 |108|
DARK ELF MAGE | 10| 15| 15| 10| 10| 16 | 20|
DISPLACER BEAST | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 35|
DK ELF FIGHTER | 10| 10| 15| 10| 10| 16 | 38|
DRACANDROS | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 32|
DRACOLICH | 10| 10| 18| 10| 10| 25 | 66|
DRAGONBAIT | 4| 17| 13| 16| 14| 15 | 50|
EFREETI | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 55|
ETTIN | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 70|
FIGHTER | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 16 | 35|
FIGHTING DOG | 10| 10| 10| 10| 3| 10 | 12|
FIRE KNIFE | 10| 10| 18| 10| 10| 10 | 26|
GADRIEL | 17| 18| 14| 18| 17| 14 | 32|
GIANT SLUG | 10| 10| 10| 10| 3| 10 | 60|
GIANT SPIDER | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 24|
GRIFFON | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 42|
HELL HOUND | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 35|
HELMUD | 13| 16| 14| 18| 16| 15 | 50|
HIGH PRIEST | 10| 10| 10| 18| 10| 10 | 60|
HIPPOGRIFF | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 25|
HOODED MEDUSA | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 42|
KNIGHT | 18| 18| 15| 10| 14| 18 | 54|
LEONARDO | 15| 16| 17| 14| 13| 18( 65)| 60|
LG VEGEPYGMY | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 30|
LIZARD MAN | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 15|
LOOTER | 10| 10| 17| 10| 10| 10 | 20|
MAGE | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 12|
MANTICORE | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 33|
MARGOYLE | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 30|
MIDNIGHT | 16| 16| 14| 14| 18| 17 | 30|
MINOTAUR | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 18( 91)| 33|
MOGION | 10| 10| 10| 18| 10| 10 | 60|
MONKEY | 10| 10| 10| 10| 3| 10 | 6|
OGRE | 10| 10| 10| 10| 6| 18 | 21|
OTYUGH | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 40|
OWL BEAR | 10| 10| 10| 10| 3| 10 | 27|
PHASE SPIDER | 10| 10| 10| 10| 3| 10 | 35|
PRIEST OF BANE | 10| 10| 10| 18| 10| 10 | 48|
RAKSHASA | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 35|
RED PLUME | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 17 | 40|
ROYAL GUARD | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 21|
SALAMANDER | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 42|
SHAMBLING MOUND | 10| 10| 10| 10| 3| 10 | 65|
SM VEGEPYGMY | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 15|
THIEF | 10| 10| 17| 10| 10| 10 | 24|
TROLL | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 36|
TYRANTHRAXUS | 10| 10| 21| 10| 10| 10 |100|
WORG | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 44|
WYVERN | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 42|
ZHENTIL CLERIC | 10| 10| 10| 17| 10| 10 | 40|
ZHENTIL FIGHTER | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 18( 1)| 40|
ZHENTIL MAGE | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 19|
ZHENTRIM CLERIC | 10| 10| 10| 17| 10| 10 | 48|
ZHENTRIM FGHTR | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 18( 76)| 58|
ZHENTRIM MAGE | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 25|
The first thing I noticed was an error, this data is spread across several disks, and some things are repeated, all the duplicates but one entry were identical in stats. The discrepancy was the Dark Elf Lord, on disk 4 has a STR of 16, but on disk 5 has a STR of 20!
The second observation is everyone pretty much has a stat of 10. Oddly, Tyranthraxus itself has a DEX of 21 and everything else is 10.
Only characters the player can add to their party were actually statted out, everyone else had defaults except for some oddities. Most reptiles/insects have INT of 3 but things like worgs do not.. Not sure what makes a Worg capable of more decision making than a crocodile.
Mostly it leads me to believe that the stats dont play much affect in combat, but if that were the case, there would be no reason to oddball up stats for enemies like Tyranthraxus or Zhentrim Cleric. Since there are odd INT/DEX/STR assignments, I’d wager they are required for item usage or spell usage checks.
Again the only really odd ones out are the dark elf lord/cleric/mages who get high stats in all requirements (INT/DEX/STR)..
The only conclusion I could draw is that some stats are not really required (for combat at least) like CHA/WIS. and others, only the extreme matters (INT of 3 or STR of 20 etc), and that a minotaur and an ogre have less strength than a tiny dark elf lord… yeah…
Looking a the list, I paired out anything that was baseline
This is higher stats, without the distinct NPC’s (Alias, Akabar, etc)
|CHA|CON|DEX|WIS|INT|STR(100)|HP |
--------------------+---+---+---+---+---+--------+---|
BAR PATRON | 10| 10| 14| 10| 10| 12 | 16|
CULTIST | 10| 10| 10| 16| 10| 10 | 24|
DARK ELF CLERIC | 10| 15| 15| 17| 10| 17 | 42|
DARK ELF LORD | 10| 18| 19| 10| 10| 16 |108|
DARK ELF LORD | 10| 18| 19| 10| 10| 20 |108|
DARK ELF MAGE | 10| 15| 15| 10| 10| 16 | 20|
DK ELF FIGHTER | 10| 10| 15| 10| 10| 16 | 38|
DRACOLICH | 10| 10| 18| 10| 10| 25 | 66|
FIGHTER | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 16 | 35|
FIRE KNIFE | 10| 10| 18| 10| 10| 10 | 26|
HIGH PRIEST | 10| 10| 10| 18| 10| 10 | 60|
LOOTER | 10| 10| 17| 10| 10| 10 | 20|
MINOTAUR | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 18( 91)| 33|
MOGION | 10| 10| 10| 18| 10| 10 | 60|
PRIEST OF BANE | 10| 10| 10| 18| 10| 10 | 48|
RED PLUME | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 17 | 40|
THIEF | 10| 10| 17| 10| 10| 10 | 24|
TYRANTHRAXUS | 10| 10| 21| 10| 10| 10 |100|
ZHENTIL CLERIC | 10| 10| 10| 17| 10| 10 | 40|
ZHENTIL FIGHTER | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 18( 1)| 40|
ZHENTRIM CLERIC | 10| 10| 10| 17| 10| 10 | 48|
ZHENTRIM FGHTR | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 18( 76)| 58|
Hmm why does the Bar Patron have a higher DEX than the Red Plume (one would have thought the bar patron would have been drinking and thus have a lower DEX!)
Lowered Stats
|CHA|CON|DEX|WIS|INT|STR(100)|HP |
--------------------+---+---+---+---+---+--------+---|
ANHKHEG | 10| 10| 10| 10| 3| 10 | 40|
CROCODILE | 10| 10| 10| 10| 3| 10 | 16|
FIGHTING DOG | 10| 10| 10| 10| 3| 10 | 12|
GIANT SLUG | 10| 10| 10| 10| 3| 10 | 60|
MONKEY | 10| 10| 10| 10| 3| 10 | 6|
OGRE | 10| 10| 10| 10| 6| 18 | 21|
OWL BEAR | 10| 10| 10| 10| 3| 10 | 27|
PHASE SPIDER | 10| 10| 10| 10| 3| 10 | 35|
SHAMBLING MOUND | 10| 10| 10| 10| 3| 10 | 65|
The only oddball is the Ogre has lower INT, why 6 and not 3 why not 10? What about the ogre is it that the game requires it to be less than 10…
In the end, its only the hit points that matter.
For no other reason than to complete the table, here is all the baseline monsters
|CHA|CON|DEX|WIS|INT|STR(100)|HP |
--------------------+---+---+---+---+---+--------+---|
BEHOLDER | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 75|
BLACK DRAGON | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 48|
BUGBEAR | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 24|
CENTAUR | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 28|
DISPLACER BEAST | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 35|
DRACANDROS | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 32|
EFREETI | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 55|
ETTIN | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 70|
GIANT SPIDER | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 24|
GRIFFON | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 42|
HELL HOUND | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 35|
HIPPOGRIFF | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 25|
HOODED MEDUSA | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 42|
LG VEGEPYGMY | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 30|
LIZARD MAN | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 15|
MAGE | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 12|
MANTICORE | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 33|
MARGOYLE | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 30|
OTYUGH | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 40|
RAKSHASA | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 35|
ROYAL GUARD | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 21|
SALAMANDER | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 42|
SM VEGEPYGMY | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 15|
TROLL | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 36|
WORG | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 44|
WYVERN | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 42|
ZHENTIL MAGE | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 19|
ZHENTRIM MAGE | 10| 10| 10| 10| 10| 10 | 25|
The only oddballs here to me would be the Black Dragon, Beholder, Royal Guards and the Zhentish Mages. Dracandros being a unique should probably not be ‘average’ either. Royal Guards, only because they are a very early start game opponent, but still.. They are Royal Guards, and I’d expect them to be tougher or stat’ed just like Fighters. It’s bad that they are ‘dumbed’ down just for the early start game. I’d rather see the game force the party to flee or be held captive than dumb them down just for the first encounter of the game.
Anyway, food for thought…
Filed Under : Computers • Development • Fishguts •
Tags: Advanced Dungeons and Dragons • CRPG • Curse of the Azure Bonds • Fuzion • Gold Box • SSI
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