eruditus
06-29-2004, 03:34 PM
As some have mentioned we have been playtesting the new armor rules and I think they work very well.
We played this all weekend and it worked great. It had a very satisfying feel. Larger weapons were challenging and exciting and no one felt robbed.
My opinions on how these should work:
1) I do think you can spend Artha but I do not think that it should be open ended.
2) Officially I think all hits should be to center mass (torso). Called shots (arms, legs, head) are +1 ob while called shots to vital areas (neck, groin, eyes, etc) are +2 ob. Vital shots should do one wound level higher.
3) For a little complexity you can have hit locations. My own unofficial hit location rules are random and take into account three things: target location (+2 ob vs vitals), direction of strike, and the player rolls a DOF with each blow. The direction determines the hit spread and what numbers are assign to what hit location (target equals 6). Additional successes on the hit roll may be allocated toward pushing the hit number up. Vitals work as above.
4) Variations on armor are made through two means: Armorer skill manuevers and allocating crafting successes. The first is to develop aspects of armor (or any craft for that matter) and assign Manuever obstacles to be rolled. Once you accomplish the manuever then the manuever allows you to allocate dice toward special abilities of the armor. For instance:
Crenalations, Armorer Ob 5
You have the ability to add planes and spikes to an armors surface, thus making the path of a weapon across its surface less predictable. An armor with the Crenalation trait allows the wearer to open-end armor rolls to the appropriate hit location.
5) Lastly, shields. Personally I would have shields add armor dice to particular hit locations based on size. I would make shield a numbered skill, not just a training skill. If you have opened the skill I would allow you to add one more hit location to the shield's list (usually head location). Finally I would allow you to parry with the shield as you would a weapon but if you do you do not get the shield's armor bonus dice.
We played this all weekend and it worked great. It had a very satisfying feel. Larger weapons were challenging and exciting and no one felt robbed.
My opinions on how these should work:
1) I do think you can spend Artha but I do not think that it should be open ended.
2) Officially I think all hits should be to center mass (torso). Called shots (arms, legs, head) are +1 ob while called shots to vital areas (neck, groin, eyes, etc) are +2 ob. Vital shots should do one wound level higher.
3) For a little complexity you can have hit locations. My own unofficial hit location rules are random and take into account three things: target location (+2 ob vs vitals), direction of strike, and the player rolls a DOF with each blow. The direction determines the hit spread and what numbers are assign to what hit location (target equals 6). Additional successes on the hit roll may be allocated toward pushing the hit number up. Vitals work as above.
4) Variations on armor are made through two means: Armorer skill manuevers and allocating crafting successes. The first is to develop aspects of armor (or any craft for that matter) and assign Manuever obstacles to be rolled. Once you accomplish the manuever then the manuever allows you to allocate dice toward special abilities of the armor. For instance:
Crenalations, Armorer Ob 5
You have the ability to add planes and spikes to an armors surface, thus making the path of a weapon across its surface less predictable. An armor with the Crenalation trait allows the wearer to open-end armor rolls to the appropriate hit location.
5) Lastly, shields. Personally I would have shields add armor dice to particular hit locations based on size. I would make shield a numbered skill, not just a training skill. If you have opened the skill I would allow you to add one more hit location to the shield's list (usually head location). Finally I would allow you to parry with the shield as you would a weapon but if you do you do not get the shield's armor bonus dice.