Geez. I don't know if I want to get in the middle of this one.
I would cut all skill points earned in half for the conversion to the revision (rounding up!). So, that would give good old Gaius 101 pts.
The crux of the reasoning goes to the fact that in the revised system, it is assumed that the GM will award about 1/2 as many skill points for the same accomplishment (pg 181).
It is a bitter pill to swallow for Giaus, I am sure. 200 is a nice number. You might suggest to Rex that Giaus at least be allowed to keep just a few more skill points (105), -just so that he isn't mistakenly associated with the other converted pleebs. :p I'll back you up on that.
Yes, we definitely don't want Gaius grouped up with the rest of the pleebs...He is a special kind of pleeb. Anyone else rolls ones on a twenty sided once in a while on one dice, but not Gaius! He rolls double ones multiple times in an evening. Now that takes talent and shows us Gaius's overwhelming skills!
I have a couple of quick questions.
One, any changes to armor and shields?
Two, any changes to spell acquisition and cost?
On that second question, how would you suggest making Hermetic magic easier to acquire and use without breaking the game? Also, I am thinking of introducing a rule to let Hermetic mages use upper level spells before they reach the required circle, perhaps with sacrifice, health damage or something. I'd appreciate the thoughts of folks who know the system about this.
Also, what do you mean by saying the Fourth Age of Twylos has been flushed out? How much of that is in the setting book? Expanded? And, is viral magic and other related rules in the new rulebook?
Sorry about all the questions, got it on my mind.
Yes. Instead of a standard impedance modifier, impedance from armor is now based on strength. Also, shields absorb differently: buckler: 1d6-4, shield: 1d6-3, kite shield: 1d6-2.
Weapon damage has been increased, typically by one die (i.e. dagger now does 1d6 rather than 1d4).
Yes, all skill costs have been adjusted. On average the skill points gained and skill costs have been halved. The math is much easier. Some of the magic costs were affected slightly differently.
There is a new optional Lesser Faith magic discipline. A similar discipline could be created for Hermetic. As Hermetic is pretty powerful, making it easier to get the full discipline will shift the balance of things. But that's fine if that's what you want. There's endless ways to create trade-offs. I haven't tried any, but those you suggest might work. There is also a magic specialization discipline in the revised version that enables casting of spells 1 Circle higher than normal within a specific school.
That's a terrible habit of mine. It's been 'fleshed' out. Greg added to the Fourth Era stuff in the WGJs, and he has viral spells 1-5th in there. It's a very silly book.
Thanks for the info. I'm in.
I am scratching my head about the shield absorption, though. I think I would have gone with more certain protection, maybe 1d2, 1d3, and 1d4. Or even making shield use a proficiency, make the roll and parry the blow.
How much art is re-used versus new?
Yeah, that's one place where I'm pretty sure I bucked popular opinion. Feel free to over-rule me, but give it a shot first.
I think the Rulebook has 6 or 7 new pieces. We pulled some of the weaker pieces, and Matteo Bocci, Peter Mullen and Nuno gave us new art. Oh, and one Jeff Dee illustration too! I would have liked to get more from Jeff, but it wasn't in the cards (or the budget). We also swapped some WGJ pieces in for weaker pieces. I believe that all the stock art is gone.
The book looks cleaner, and the average quality of the art is higher. It all has that old school feel, however. Oh, and the new cover by Leo Lingas.
Nope, don't think I'll over rule the games designers. That's almost always a slippery slope. I would be interested in your rationale if you have the time and patience.
This gamebook looks very good. I hope it gets out by Christmas.
Any more news? Mongoose doesn't have very much, I was hoping for a preview to see how different it looks.
I especially want to see the modified weapons tables.
Matt Sprange just told me that it goes to print next week. I think it will be available in one month.
I'm working on getting the PDF version done, and getting a preview PDF out in about 2 weeks.
Thanks. That is exactly what I wanted. The illustration on page 7 conjures up the very essence of the early days, by the way. The armor combines with shields into one roll? Nicely done, and I suppose a chain+shield combo could also be rolled as 1d6, as it results in the same average, if not minimum (you could look at it as being a bit more effective together, anyway how kind does the GM want to be?). Clever, I like it.
I hope the game is available on time, as it's on my Christmas list, and I am going to try to run it at local game stores next year.
Anyway, the chain/shield in 1d6 would be a neat trick, but it would be just a tad better. 1d6 - 3 has an expectation value of 1, whereas 1d3 has a value of 2. So chain + shield is an average of 3, but 1d6 is 3.5.
Now, I've got to get this fix in!