tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1801483473113363785.post6085872570981780317..comments2023-05-12T05:10:20.941-04:00Comments on Raven Crowking's Nest: Hooks and Win Conditionsravencrowkinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09315630554847698555noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1801483473113363785.post-17424054358273619212014-05-28T09:59:02.561-04:002014-05-28T09:59:02.561-04:00I am assuming that when you say they, "will a...I am assuming that when you say they, "will almost assuredly fail their saving rolls to fight it?" you are basing that off the fact that they are low level and their saves are harder to hit. And that may be true but it is also possible the dice are kind that night and they make their saves and survive the encounter. If not then they die. It's not really your job as a GM to let them survive.<br /><br />What you can do, as a GM, is to place rumors out there about the place that they are going so that they know the risks. Some of those rumors might even have a bit of info about the ghoul paralytic touch. And some of those may even go further and give them an opportunity to quest for a salve, item, magical do-dad, that can partially or completely negate the paralyzation. <br /><br />You could also change the way the touch works. Maybe it is a selective paralyzation, in that it only paralyzes the body part touched. So a left arm becomes useless but the right can still swing. You could give it a random roll to take effect, say 1d6 rounds. And each round before it takes effect describe the paralyzation taking hold, perhaps from the feet up. I do something similar with some forms of petrification. But not all. Or you can go with numbers and trying to outlast them. <br /><br />I prefer the areas that reward player initiative to take steps to overcome the obstacles in their path. Which is why the partial paralyzation (or petrification) I reserve for encounters in which I really want to ramp up the tension in a fight. Plus it keeps the players guessing as to which creatures are powerful enough to pull off a one-shot turn to stone and which ones take time to unleash their full effects.<br /><br />As long as they know that death is possible and that I am not unwillingly to levy that toll then it all works. And it also leaves for the questing to restore their 'stoned' friend. Elias Stretchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06460812850940496168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1801483473113363785.post-3332805170792410062014-03-25T20:03:55.588-04:002014-03-25T20:03:55.588-04:00‘The “reality” of the game milieu trumps the “real...‘The “reality” of the game milieu trumps the “reality” of the ruleset.’ <br /><br />That’s a beautifully succinct and definitive justification for the realism of the game world being a strong arbiter of how rules should be interpreted.<br /><br />So, if I’m understanding the gist of your argument, the Referee supplies a situation of context and lets the players supply their own winning conditions, rather than concretely stating them in a way that prejudices player actions and flexibility for changing circumstances that may arise during later play? <br /><br />Something only tangengentially related to undead causing plagues that I wondered if you had any experience making work as a ref. I don’t know how it’s done in DCC, but in A/D&D you had the situation of undead like Ghouls with a paralytic touch, or Wights, etc that drained levels. These creatures could be encountered even by low level characters, in confined crypt like places, where they might have no exits to evade them. A ghoul had a speed of 9” and characters loaded down plate armor, let alone equipment and loot would be limited to a speed of 6”, as the speed of the slower members. How can a party survive something that paralyzes its lead members just by a touch, which they will almost assuredly fail their saving rolls to fight it? Only a tiny number of these ghouls would overwhelm a low level party, almost assuredly, every time they were encountered.<br /><br />I know that back in the day, parties had larger numbers of players and possibly lots of hirelings and henchmen, is that the way to manage it, or is there some way to make a 6-man special forces style team of adventurers competent to handle paralytic touch undead (let alone level draining undead). <br /><br />Thanks for any insights on this one, its a puzzle for me.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15495872211886916367noreply@blogger.com