Amstaad general discussion (almost there!)

[Bub Bidderskins]

Glad to see Amstaad wasn't affected to badly by the crash. I'm still eagerly awaiting its debut.

[Bub Bidderskins]

So, what's the updated release date?

[Bub Bidderskins]

I've got a question about the Fate rules, what exactly is the difference between an extra and an aspect?

[Bub Bidderskins]

Or you could just go the easy route and set the number of phases, and then start with a set amount of fate points that you can spend for extra gold. So say you set the number of phases at six with four fate points. If you spend all the fate points at the start then you have 100% gold, if you spend three 75%, and so on. It might save you some hassle.

The problem right now is that there really isn't a reason to start with fewer than 8 phases. You get a hell of a lot more skills, and more fate points at the price of some gold that you can easily get back by using your superior skills.

[Bub Bidderskins]

Regardless, FATE points should definitely be inversely related to your number of aspects. As it stands, you get

more

FATE points for more phases. Since skills are a major deal, you should be punished for getting a greater-than-average number of skills.

[Bub Bidderskins]

A few other things:

1) I don't like how you have to get two skills in order to be an archer. That penalizes archers.

2) If you want to be a mage, I don't think you should have to have a "Magicka" attribute. By requiring that, you are stifling some creativity. Instead having a mandatory attribute, how about saying that you have to have some sort of magick-related attribute like "Sorcerer" or "Wizard". That way we can be creative and play with the specific attribute for role-playing purposes.

3) You may already be planning to do this, but heavy armour should have a penalty on movement-related roles. Otherwise a knight wearing 60 pounds of armour could run as fast as an archer wearing light leather armour.

[Bub Bidderskins]

1) Good point. The actually being able to hit your target would be considered a part of the skill in whatever weapon you use for most of them I'd think. Why wouldn't mages require accuracy to hit long distance spells? Do you know how hard it is to make sure you swing your sword/axe/etc. at exactly the right place to hit your opponents.

2) So:
Aspect: Magick
skill: Aracene knowledge (Sorcery, Pyromancy/Areomancer)
skill: Spark (lvl 1 spell)

Becomes:
Aspect: Sorcerer (Pyromancer/Aeromancer)
skill: Spark (lvl 1 spell)

Correct?

3) What's preventing said archer from also wearing said 60 pound armour?

1) Exactly. Dividing up weapon attributes and skills into "accuracy" and "damage" would add a lot of complexity, and I what I really like about this system is its simplicity.

2) Okay, maybe I'm exactly sure how the mage attributes/skills work. Just for clarification, say I want to be a mage with pryomancer powers and a spell that using them. What would my character sheet look like under the current system?

3) Nothing, but if he decides to wear that heavy armour, it should have some sort of penalty to any movement rolls. For instance, if I decide to run a race without armour, I would probably run much faster than having to run that same race with armour on. Also, it gives a trade-off to wearing heavy armour. Do I get the strong armour that makes me slow or the light armour that doesn't protect as well? Otherwise I feel everybody will be wearing super heavy armour even if it doesn't make sense given their role (imagine a thief decked out like a knight trying to sneak around in the middle of the night).

[Bub Bidderskins]

@kcda, I believe you can use aspects to create a sidekick.

@Bub 3), I was agreeing with you, just pointing out that the problem was even slightly larger than you mentioned.

@mods: -1 to changing combat distance if you wear heavier armour than your opponent, another -1 if you are wearing something abnormally heavy (heavy vs. heavy both get -1) could work maybe?
Could you give an example of what a heavy mage character would look like in the characters thread.

Oh . I was thinking that certain armours would just give a flat -1 to any movement related tasks (like running, climbing, or changing distance in battle). Maybe some very heavy armours could give a -2.

[Bub Bidderskins]

I actually think that this game is very close to happening. There are only a very few things with the rules that could be tweaked a little, but overall they look very good. I think the main thing at this point is to get a detailed description of the setting of Amstaad.

[Bub Bidderskins]

If you need any help posting stuff up and maintaining the forum I can help. I don't really feel comfortable doing anything overly flavor/mechanic related since I'm not that experienced with RPG. Still, it might free you up to do the fun stuff.

[Bub Bidderskins]

Oh, if you only need one person, then I'll drop out. I'm probably the least qualified in anyway.

[Bub Bidderskins]

I think this deadline is a great idea. If we keep working this way, then we can get Amstaad running soon. After we get the gold/phase system done, we should try to finish the combat system by the next Saturday and magic the Saturday after that. In the meantime, DN can make up a list of items in the game. Don't worry about how they'll fit in with gold, combat, and magic. What we need is a comprehensive list of all the items that are in the game, and then we can work to implement them.

[Bub Bidderskins]

Oh, and the armour and combat threads need to be merged.