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Message no. 1
From: David Buehrer <dbuehrer@******.CARL.ORG>
Subject: Re: Chargen and High Stats
Date: Sat, 21 Feb 1998 11:56:09 -0700
Adam J wrote:
/
/ At 17:42 20/02/98 -0600, you wrote:
/ >As the rules stand, however, it's VERY difficult to learn those
spells! On / >average, a mage with Magic Theory 6 (The equivelent of a
college -degree!-) / >will need over a month just to learn a Force 6
spell (Target number 12 - 1/36 / >chance on any given die, 6 dice per
test, averages to 6 tests needed to learn / >the spell)! That doesn't
seem reasonable to me, considering that most PC's I / >see have quite a
few high level spells (force 5 and 6). How are you / supposed to / >get
these things in game?

/ Err..this isn't a spell learning rules problem, IMO. It's a chargen
/ problem, with people stacking the level 6 spells for just that reason --
/ they're hard to get after chargen.
/ Which may mean it is a spell learning problem. Anyways, do we have any
/ ideas to fix it? :)

If I ever have to restart my campaign I'm going to limit the number
of high rating spells/skills/abilities the characters start with.
Something along the lines of - Skills: no more than two at 6, three
at 5 and four at 4. Attributes: no more than one at 6, two at 5 and
three at 4. Spells: see Skills. Ditto for equipment.

-David
--
"The most wasted day of all is that in which we have not laughed."
- Sebastian-Roch Nicolas Chamfort
--
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/1068/homepage.htm
Message no. 2
From: Mon goose <landsquid@*******.COM>
Subject: Re: Chargen and High Stats
Date: Sat, 21 Feb 1998 23:25:44 PST
>If I ever have to restart my campaign I'm going to limit the number
>of high rating spells/skills/abilities the characters start with.
>Something along the lines of - Skills: no more than two at 6, three
>at 5 and four at 4. Attributes: no more than one at 6, two at 5 and
>three at 4. Spells: see Skills. Ditto for equipment.
>
>-David

What character creation system are you using? You can't put "A" on
attributes following the above rules, and putting it on cash would only
be good for a big vehicle or something. Deckers would be Hardpressed,
cause they'edneed a deck with good MPCP, masking, and sleaze, plus
opperational utitlities. Just an observation.

Obviously, you could adjust campaign power downwords for NPC's, to
balance the above situation. In my experience, if you do so, players
will be willing to reduce thier "power stat" tendancies, because they
feel they can survive with out them.
OTOH, it is VERY easy then for one powerful item / spell to run
roughshod. IMO, with slightly tougher characters, you can use a bit
broader spectrum of threats. Depends on the game play you like.

On a different note, I'm very suprised that FASA has never put a
increasing cost on higher stts, etc at character creation, IE a 6
costing more than twice what a 3 does. This was very well done in
"Earthdawns" character Gen system. Something like using the 100 point
build system (probably with more points), but with things like
attributes, skills, and spells costing thier SQUARE of thier rating, or
some other progressive amount.

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Message no. 3
From: David Buehrer <dbuehrer@******.CARL.ORG>
Subject: Re: Chargen and High Stats
Date: Sun, 22 Feb 1998 10:09:35 -0700
Mon goose wrote:
/
/ >If I ever have to restart my campaign I'm going to limit the number
/ >of high rating spells/skills/abilities the characters start with.
/ >Something along the lines of - Skills: no more than two at 6, three
/ >at 5 and four at 4. Attributes: no more than one at 6, two at 5 and
/ >three at 4. Spells: see Skills. Ditto for equipment.
/ >
/ >-David
/
/ What character creation system are you using? You can't put "A" on
/ attributes following the above rules, and putting it on cash would only
/ be good for a big vehicle or something. Deckers would be Hardpressed,
/ cause they'edneed a deck with good MPCP, masking, and sleaze, plus
/ opperational utitlities. Just an observation.

Okay, it needs some tweaking :) But the general idea is to keep PCs from
maxing out their "primary" stats.

/ On a different note, I'm very suprised that FASA has never put a
/ increasing cost on higher stts, etc at character creation, IE a 6
/ costing more than twice what a 3 does. This was very well done in
/ "Earthdawns" character Gen system. Something like using the 100 point
/ build system (probably with more points), but with things like
/ attributes, skills, and spells costing thier SQUARE of thier rating, or
/ some other progressive amount.

That would be most excellent. Any chance you've figured out how to
do it? :)

<grabs a notepad and starts playing with numbers>

-David

ShadowRN GridSec: Enforcer Division
--
"The most wasted day of all is that in which we have not laughed."
- Sebastian-Roch Nicolas Chamfort
--
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/1068/homepage.htm

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