Author: Bear (Page 130 of 212)

The World Beside

January 7, 2012 / Bear

The teacher placed a pyramid before her student and asked, "What do you see?"

The student replied that he saw a pyramid. All the triangles of the pyramid were the same size and each face had a different color.

"Very good," she said. Walking around the student to stand behind him, she leaned in close and asked again, "What do you see?"

Puzzled, the student repeated his earlier description placing emphasis on the individual colors of the pyramid faces.

After a brief pause, she asked, "Can you see the green side as it sits before you?"

"No," the student replied, "I cannot see it because the pyarmid is resting on its green side. I can see the yellow and blue faces," he added, "with the red face on the back."

"Can you see those three faces at the same time?"

"No, teacher, I cannot."

"You will."

Time passed. The student felt a bead of sweat crawl its way down the outer edge of his face. It lingered on his chin for an eternity of silence before dropping to the floor.

"Look again," the teacher intoned, "you can see the yellow and blue and red pyramid faces because you know that they are there."

For a long time, the student stared at the pyramid. The sweat that first began to appear as random dots began to form a small stream. Tears began to well in the students' eyes. They also joined the river hurtling toward the floor. At his chin, the drops fell faster and faster.

"I see them!" the student shouted. "I see all four faces of the pyramid!"

The sweat streaming from his chin disappeared into nothingness before hitting the floor. A dot of blood appeared just above his hairline and stretched into a ribbon of red as it moved toward the river of sweat and tears.

The teacher was pleased that the student had progressed much farther than her expectations. She asked herself if he had really said that he saw four faces instead of three. She dared herself to push his talents and submitted another challenge.

"What is inside the pyramid?"

Three more dots of blood appeared on the students' head. The red ribbon was more distinct now. His face betrayed no sense of strain, only a look of contemplation and a half-smile on his lips.

"I see a box," said the student.

The teacher's smile grew broader. She was quite impressed with her apprentice. He has progressed farther that she had at this point in her training. She began to entertain ridiculous thoughts about the power her student possessed. She wondered if she was the teacher prophesied to give birth to the Master of the World Beside.

Dispelling her foolish notions, she refocused on the purpose of her training. She had brought him here to teach about their common heritage. This temple was the place where the ancients meditated. In this place, the ancients pulled knowledge from the Word Beside. This knowledge brought enlightenment to the world and saved their kind from destruction and ruin for hundreds of generations.

"You have the Prapatra and Chayda," she told her son. "You can see things as they really are."

The boy betrayed a bit of excitement at his mother's words. Pursing his lips, he reached toward the pyramid.

"Let me take the box," he said.

The mother had turned her back on him while she was lost in thought. Turning back at his words, she cried out to stop him from making a grim mistake. He had not learned enough to find his way back.

"NO!"

His hand disappeared into the blue face of the pyramid and grabbed the box that sat inside. Finding it too heavy for one hand, he reached the other toward the box. His other arm sunk up to the elbow into the yellow face of the pyramid. With a great pull, the edge of the box emerged from the red face of the pyramid.

His mother was not using the Prapatra and Chayda, so she did not see the box emerge on the opposite side of the pyramid. She stood helpless, hoping that her son would find his way back. She knew that breaking his concentration now would kill him for certain.

"One more pull," he said and the entire box emerged on the opposite side of the pyramid. His arms and hands reappeared out of the left and right faces of the pyramid. His entire body appeared whole again.

Closing his eyes, he broke his concentration. Before he could open them, his mother's hands covered them.

"Do not open your eyes until all the colors pass." she said, "Your life depends on it!"

As the rich colors of the rainbow cascaded in his perceived sight, he felt a slight pressure on his entire body, inside and outside. There were voices in his mind. Some were whispering, others were talking in a language he did not understand. What began as a great noise soon faded into a single whisper.

"Beware," said the voice before it disappeared.

As the colors faded into the dull light of his eyelids, the pressure disappeared. When his mother removed her hands from his eyes, he opened them to see her sweat-rimmed face.

Forgetting his place, he asked, "How did you get in front of me when you were covering my eyes from behind?"

Relieved, she only said, "You will learn this and many more things in your future training."

She handed him a cloth to clean his face and chin. The ribbon of blood on the cloth reminded her of the dangerous journey her son had just taken.

"Now, my son, let's go see what's in the box." Ω

Math Post – Odd Bell Curves

January 6, 2012 / Bear

I posted the other day about a mechanic inspired by Target20, a system developed by Daniel Collins:

(d20 + d10) + level + modifiers ? 26

This system assumes the use of descending armor class per older editions of D&D when it comes to combat. So, let's take the case of a 6th level fighter attempting to hit a creature with an Armor Class 5. With this system it would be

(d20 + d10) + 6 + 5 ? 26

Or, you have to roll a 15 or better to hit. The chances of that are 57.5 percent.

In 2e, a similar scenario 6th level Fighter has a THAC0 of 15 requiring an 11 or better with a d20 to hit AC 4. The chance of success is 50 percent.

Not too bad really - I don't mind being a little more generous with combat. But how about lower levels? Let's see:

This scenario is a 2nd level fighter attempting to hit AC2, a tough challenge.

(d20 + d10) + 2 + 2 ? 26

In other words, roll a 22 or better, a 22.5 percent chance of success.

The same scenario in 2e means that the 2nd level fighter has a THAC0 of 19 meaning that he needs a 17 or better to hit. Chance of success is 20 percent.

Saving Throws

When doing saving throws, the basic formula is still the same:

(d20 + d10) + level + modifiers ? 26

This time, though, the modifiers are standard based on the type of Saving Throw: +0 for Spells, +1 for Breath Weapon, +2 for Petrification, +3 for Paralysis and +4 for Death. (At least, this works for Fighters and Clerics)

So, a 6th level Fighter needs to make a Saving Throw against a young dragon's Breath Weapon:

(d20 + d10) + 6 + 1 ? 26

In other words, he has to roll a 19 or better. This provides a 37.5 percent chance of success.

A 6th Level fighter making the same save in 2e has to roll a 13 or greater, a 40 percent chance of success.

Saves in my system are more lethal for higher level characters, but only by a slight margin.

Now because the modifiers are different by class, I would simply put the saves on the character sheet so that a player only needs that reference to roll anything.

Rogue Skills

Doing this take a change in how Rogue skills are handled. Instead of using percentages, skills would have a number that looks an awful lot like a skill rank used in 3e. In other words, Climb Walls wouldn't be listed as 80%, but as +15. Since 2e allows you to start with a base and add points where the player wishes, I'd have to recalculate all new starting points. Climb Walls would start at +11, others would start somewhere between 1 and 5. I haven't worked that out yet.

Anyway, if you have a first level thief with an 80% chance of climbing walls vs a 1st level Thief in Andras with a +15 Climb Walls score...

(d20 + d10) + 1 + 15 ? 26

In other words, he/she would have to roll a 10 or better, an 82 percent chance of success.

More Work to be Done

Still more to be done, obviously. Just a weird idea. Yes, it would be easier to stick to Dan's original idea. His is more tidy in some ways and the formulas don't have this weird 26 all over the place.

Yet, the flat curve works for me. It does some funky things at higher levels that I like. Combat is still not automatic at higher levels, neither are Saving Throws. Maybe it will turn out to be a silly idea after all. As always, we'll see.

Looking Ahead to 2012

January 5, 2012 / Bear

When I look back at the ambitious goals I had for 2011, I feel a sense of loss. I feel badly that I hurt Nevermet Press and that I promised way more stuff than I could deliver. I'd like to think that I've learned that lesson, but we'll see.

I wrote a short story called Two Friends in an attempt to kickstart my brain into writing more for the Shayakand setting. At the time, my goal was to generate generic PDFs for Southeastern Asian flavor that a Savage World GM could drop into their game. The idea was that after writing six of these smaller PDFs, the entirety of them could come together for a Shayakand Sourcebook.

The races were created with no big issue, but I was unable to finish the others. So, in March I started writing back here. Work began again on a 2e clone.

Most of this year has been the evolution of this game, now called Andras. Along the way, it has evolved from a clone to a 2e inspired game. Since my early groups all played an amalgam of B/X,BECMI,AD&D and 2E, that only makes sense. I never played D&D with just one player's handbook. Heck, I didn't play Marvel with just one, either.

Outside of that, I have discovered a lot of fans of the football game called Statis-Pro Football. This Avalon Hill game was one of my favorites back in the 80s. I loved playing it and I still do. I have all the cards I can find that were created by Lee Harris. I also have the formulas used in the 6th edition of the game.

This year I have two writing goals:

Finish Andras.
Make Statis-Pro Football Cards

When it comes to Andras, the finished project will be like the Introductory Box post. In other words, it will have a separate guides to help people to just sit down and play. Considering that another goal is a multitude of options for the player, that could be a very tall order.

When it comes to Statis-Pro Football, I plan on making 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 cards. I also plan on making a separate set of cards that are modified in a way to eliminate the dreaded rest rules. If I get a chance, I'll try to make some historic teams, UFL teams and others.

I only have one gaming goal this year. I want to have a regular Google+ game.

I wish everyone a happy 2012. I hope you have a great time gaming!

Author: Bear (Page 130 of 212)

The World Beside

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