update on projects
Jan. 23rd, 2004 12:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eyelessgameUpsilon: abstract Display class set up. Wrote the skeleton of a dos window implementation. Sometime later I can implement a different one for a standard linux window, after I pore over some nethack or angband code that uses ncurses. I'm not sure the object division is correct, but that's part of the learning process.
Gloranthan Fantasy Hero: this weekend I have to divide up the characters, and work out a numerical conversion for monsters -- compare critters that are in both games' bestiaries and figure out 'okay, a RQ Str of X equals a Hero STR of Y', so I can rough out a way to glance at, say, a walktapus and figure out what its RQ stats should be.
General mechanics.
As long as we're going to FH, we can make things a little more flexible. Some stuff needs to stay the same, for flavor (e.g. Disrupt) but other things can get a bit more fun.
Interestingly, 'plate armor' is 8 armor points in RQ and 8 PD in FH, so armor appears to just map 1:1. Stats can almost map 1:1 for humans, because they both inherit the 'humans have stats in the range 3-18' meme from That Original RPG.
Player spells need to be worked out. Most spells work really well -- the harder and fiddly part is balancing points... the END pool that spells are powered from (most spells have a 5 minute continuous effect that costs only 1 or 2 points of END), is a really sucky END pool -- EGOx2 pool, recovers EGO/2 pts every 6 hours (!), drains your EGO to use points from the pool. I am dubious about translating all that into FH. I suggest at first a simplified mechanic: every 5 full points spent from the end pool costs you 1 point of ECV.
Rather than have funky special/critical rules, embrace FHjitsu and permit the swap of 2 skill levels for 1 DC.
I am thinking that Balazar natives get to buy Martial Dodge (but get access to no other martial art unless they're specially trained).
We'll use hit locations and stun/body multipliers, of course, since we're coming from RQ which invented the concept. Limbs won't fall off as much in FH as they did in RQ. I know this disappoints everyone.
Skills.
I am guessing that the scale on skills is radically different. Roughly speaking it seems somewhere between 3 and 5 points of my-RQ skills (15 to 25% in RQ terms) equalling +1 to the skill in FH. Will think.
Magic.
Spells will likely use the '3 points of effect per die of active power' for many powers, to avoid having to roll six thousand different sorts of dice of effect. Most ranged spells are based on ECV and don't take a range penalty, but they have a maximum range, not LOS.
Most spells also are usable on others, but shouldn't have to buy the enormous advantage for use-on-others-at-range-based-on-ecv because they're not really attacks.
Protection N is a N PD/N ED force field. Shimmer is a bonus to DCV, probably +1 per point of shimmer. Bladesharp is +1 OCV and +1 DC, with appropriate limitations, as is Bludgeon and Ironhand. Spirit Screen is Ego Defense only vs spirits (spirit combat is direct ego-blasting combat, of course; everyone gets a 1d6 Ego Blast, No Range, Usable Only On Discorporate Spirits Attacking You).
Countermagic is a continuous Suppress, I think? Or a continuous zero-range Dispel? Trip's expertise is welcome here. 1 "unit" of it needs to stop befuddle and disruption. It dispels itself if it doesn't exceed the incoming spell by a certain number of active points.
Countermagic/Shimmer/Protection/Spirit SCreen also have a -1/2 lockout limitation; can't use any two of them at the same time.
Darkwall is something not really covered in the rules -- it's a Darkness that's shaped like a Force Wall. The point cost shouldn't be hard to figure out from that.
Most Detect spells translate easily -- Detect Enemies is pow-v-pow, in that it's a very limited mind scan/telepathy effect.
Dispel Magic is, of course, a Dispel against the magic special effect.
Befuddle is a mind control with telepathic single command. I think actually using the Hero mechanics here -- roll dice for effect, make EGO roll to get out -- works better than the RQ handwaving. (And it lets some befuddles be better than others!)
Disruption is a 2d6 EB based on ECV limited range does BODY.
Multimissile is a naked Autofire advantage on your missile weapon. Speedart is yer basic +3OCV/+3DC without the continuous charge.
Fireblade is um um um a 4d6? EB zero range. Firearrow is an EB on your arrow.
Healing is bought as Simplified Healing. Successive healing attempts on the same wound lose um I think 2 DCs of effect.
Rune magic is in many cases buffer versions of battlemagic.
Gloranthan Fantasy Hero: this weekend I have to divide up the characters, and work out a numerical conversion for monsters -- compare critters that are in both games' bestiaries and figure out 'okay, a RQ Str of X equals a Hero STR of Y', so I can rough out a way to glance at, say, a walktapus and figure out what its RQ stats should be.
General mechanics.
As long as we're going to FH, we can make things a little more flexible. Some stuff needs to stay the same, for flavor (e.g. Disrupt) but other things can get a bit more fun.
Interestingly, 'plate armor' is 8 armor points in RQ and 8 PD in FH, so armor appears to just map 1:1. Stats can almost map 1:1 for humans, because they both inherit the 'humans have stats in the range 3-18' meme from That Original RPG.
Player spells need to be worked out. Most spells work really well -- the harder and fiddly part is balancing points... the END pool that spells are powered from (most spells have a 5 minute continuous effect that costs only 1 or 2 points of END), is a really sucky END pool -- EGOx2 pool, recovers EGO/2 pts every 6 hours (!), drains your EGO to use points from the pool. I am dubious about translating all that into FH. I suggest at first a simplified mechanic: every 5 full points spent from the end pool costs you 1 point of ECV.
Rather than have funky special/critical rules, embrace FHjitsu and permit the swap of 2 skill levels for 1 DC.
I am thinking that Balazar natives get to buy Martial Dodge (but get access to no other martial art unless they're specially trained).
We'll use hit locations and stun/body multipliers, of course, since we're coming from RQ which invented the concept. Limbs won't fall off as much in FH as they did in RQ. I know this disappoints everyone.
Skills.
I am guessing that the scale on skills is radically different. Roughly speaking it seems somewhere between 3 and 5 points of my-RQ skills (15 to 25% in RQ terms) equalling +1 to the skill in FH. Will think.
Magic.
Spells will likely use the '3 points of effect per die of active power' for many powers, to avoid having to roll six thousand different sorts of dice of effect. Most ranged spells are based on ECV and don't take a range penalty, but they have a maximum range, not LOS.
Most spells also are usable on others, but shouldn't have to buy the enormous advantage for use-on-others-at-range-based-on-ecv because they're not really attacks.
Protection N is a N PD/N ED force field. Shimmer is a bonus to DCV, probably +1 per point of shimmer. Bladesharp is +1 OCV and +1 DC, with appropriate limitations, as is Bludgeon and Ironhand. Spirit Screen is Ego Defense only vs spirits (spirit combat is direct ego-blasting combat, of course; everyone gets a 1d6 Ego Blast, No Range, Usable Only On Discorporate Spirits Attacking You).
Countermagic is a continuous Suppress, I think? Or a continuous zero-range Dispel? Trip's expertise is welcome here. 1 "unit" of it needs to stop befuddle and disruption. It dispels itself if it doesn't exceed the incoming spell by a certain number of active points.
Countermagic/Shimmer/Protection/Spirit SCreen also have a -1/2 lockout limitation; can't use any two of them at the same time.
Darkwall is something not really covered in the rules -- it's a Darkness that's shaped like a Force Wall. The point cost shouldn't be hard to figure out from that.
Most Detect spells translate easily -- Detect Enemies is pow-v-pow, in that it's a very limited mind scan/telepathy effect.
Dispel Magic is, of course, a Dispel against the magic special effect.
Befuddle is a mind control with telepathic single command. I think actually using the Hero mechanics here -- roll dice for effect, make EGO roll to get out -- works better than the RQ handwaving. (And it lets some befuddles be better than others!)
Disruption is a 2d6 EB based on ECV limited range does BODY.
Multimissile is a naked Autofire advantage on your missile weapon. Speedart is yer basic +3OCV/+3DC without the continuous charge.
Fireblade is um um um a 4d6? EB zero range. Firearrow is an EB on your arrow.
Healing is bought as Simplified Healing. Successive healing attempts on the same wound lose um I think 2 DCs of effect.
Rune magic is in many cases buffer versions of battlemagic.
