Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Unopposed Skill Checks
I did some work on adding unopposed skill checks yesterday. This properly works the stat+skill+roll vs difficulty value into play. Now you can pick the lock on a door without having the required quest key if your stat + skill level is high enough (in this case your DEX and your LOCK PICKING are good enough.
To pick a lock you need to hit a difficulty value (DV) of Competent which is 18. A good dice roll wil hit you this even if you have a zero DEX and zero LOCK PICKING skill… This is where I debate using a flat d20 roll or using a bell curve 3d6 roll… A flat d20 roll increases the odds of hitting that 18 with no skill in Lock Picking, but a bell curve 3d6 greatly lessens those odds but… I just don’t like the bell curve statistics making everything average.
In the midst of this I saw one stat error that needs to be fixed, I’m internally debating of merging reflexes/dexterity… its an age old fuzion wart…
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Tags: Fuzion
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…
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Tags: Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, CRPG, Curse of the Azure Bonds, Fuzion, Gold Box, SSI
Monday, November 10, 2008
With Combat, Comes Rules
So, I have my enemies tooled up and ready to go (but not my players! lol). In order to make sense of things I need one rule to govern them all.
Here, I am falling back on what I mostly know, and that’s a time honored rule system of DICE + Attribute + Skill VS Target Number, This rule has many names, I first me it as Interlock, which in turn became Fuzion. Its also the core mechanic behind the Open Core and more famously known as D20 (even tho Interlock predated it by what, 15 years?). It is a good and simple mechanic that has stood the test of time. Its kinda like GURPS but less well known.
Having played Cyber Punk 2020, Cyber Generation 2 and some Bubblegum Crisis I’m more familiar with the Interlock and Fuzion side of the coin, even better, the Fuzion rules are readily available online, as well as some cutdown versions of Fuzion.
Non player enties (aka monsters) will have only enough stats and skills to make them useable (ie: an attack / defense / mana rating).
Stats in Fuzion fall along the lines of
Mental Combat Physical Move ============ ========= ============= ==== Intelligence Reflexes Strength Move Willpower Dexterity Body Presence Technique Constitution
With values in the line of;
0 - Challenged, Every day tasks are difficult. 1 - 2 Everyday 3 - 4 Competent 5 - 6 Heroic 7 - 8 Incredible 9 - 10 Legendary 10 - up Superheroic
For new characters, no stat should be over 7.
Basic Fuzion cuts the master stats down to just Mental, Combat, Physical and Move.
Fuzion also has the concept of Stun and Hits. These two stats are BODY * 5 in points (and you can elect to move up to have from one stat to the other). Stun is how many points you can take from blunt objects before unconsciousness and Hits is what most people would be familiar with as Hit Points.. duh! Think of it as the difference between fists, hammers and swords, or falling from a great height etc.
Since this is a multi genre ruleset you can swap in and our anything, so I’d add a mana somewhere or use Willpower in its place.
I dont intend on using the Complications for option points, same goes for Talents. I’m debating the use of Perks…
I just need to create the ‘Plugin’ as they are called to turn it from generic Fuzion into ‘Fishguts Fuzion’.
Using an already established ruleset simplifies a huge portion of my game,it one that is know and well balanced.
Take for example, the point of this post originally 
Melee Combat is resolved as an opposed task, so I take my opponents [ ( (Dexterity + Evasion) or (Weapon Skill) ) (which ever is higher) + 10], ranged combat is taken as an unopposed task, so I just apply a difficulty value. Mmm Difficulty Values… these are usually applied ‘per campaign’, but I think I intend to have a sliding difficulty level scale, say, challenged for the start game, Everyday for Midgame and Competent for End game which would give a DV of 10, 14, 18.
Anyway, I think the Fuzion rules work pretty well, (OK I like Interlock a bit better but you cant get a nice full ruleset online like for Fuzion).
I’m starting to ramble again… singing out!
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Tags: Fuzion, Interlock