Grim Tales + Black Company = Big Fun!

[Riggs]

I knew nichts of BCCS or Grim Tales before signing up to play Vercinius. I relied on past d20 play to fake that part and read the BCCS I bought to fathom the magic phase...

I quickly realized that while I had less limits on my casting in some regards (like the spell definition, the augmentations and the blending of spells if I chose), I had new limits that I wasn't as used to worrying about, such as casting time/prep, drain, and storing spells and minding props.

I noticed that at level 9, which I consider a relatively high level, I was looking at Magic Use skill of 17 and DC's of 45+ (Verc wasn't the primary wizard since he was part healer), and was making these largely due to prop use. In a one-off game like this, I wasn't shy about using up the props, especially the XP ones, but take away even a third of those props I used and save them and my casting for the day is curtailed significantly. Oh, and with Drain hitting you fail or succeed on the cast, it really sucks to blow the MU roll. I was tailoring my casting math to use props to all but guarantee success, but in a campaign I might need to save resources and miss more casting rolls.

Also, using the BCCS healing rules, healing is really limited since it's true to the books. One thing I noticed playing the Physician is that when Henry was drained enough to nearly match his lethal with non-lethal damage and go under; I couldn't help him at all, since healing simply turns L into N-L damage, which was worth nothing until rest time. Just a note.

One other thing I did that I found essential for a newbie was to go through and make example spells with the math behind them so I could easily ramp up or down to fit the need. For instance, I listed on a page the math for healing one person 10' away converting touch to ray for 3d6 points. I did another for a ranged burst. I frequently turned to those examples and worked out how to do less but at longer range (could I heal Myrwyn from downtown? no! ) but I worked out the math for healing all of us and soldiers a bit if we huddled close... The Enchant spell to cloud the minds of the Scythians I had worked out already and just changed variables. Two examples for each Spell Talent worked for me, and by looking at the casting time and DC for them I could guess at how bad I would be pushing things.

I still really like how wizards 'feel' in the BCCS magic system. Much like I thought of Gandalf--even though I rarely saw him "cast" anything, I knew he could dish up something frightening if he wanted to, and that aura was fun. In BCCS, any wizard can dish up one good blast of magic given time and material aid.

Aside from magic, I like the MDT and the various house meshes I have read here on that, and the battlefield events for Initiative 1's, etc. Also the degrees of equipment is cool and essential if playing only BCCS since money and magic items are lessened.

So a word about Grim Tales...let's say that I had a great time playing and didn't notice snags, hiccups, oddities or rule weirdness....so it works great I guess! Or OO just kept it really smooth for us, and he did.

I plan to run a BCCS game in the future, and will likely use mostly BCCS rules but bend ones I like less rather than combining systems...but then I might do all the 'bending' to match what I am comfortable with in d20 or D&D rulesets, so same difference as blending.

Cheers to Old One and all my fellow players for a great game and time. Would I recommend a GT/BCCS hybrid setting or play in one? Absolutely.

 

[Old One]

Riggs,

Thanks for your additional thoughts. One of the biggest boosts to casting come from the "Taking Extra Time" component (assuming, of course, you have time to cast ). One thing I noticed both of you doing to a certain extent was "resetting" your prepared spells when you had a bit of down time. I was wondering if you guys would pick up on that...which you did!

I agree that the component/XP props are much more valuable in a 1-shot...since all of those would have been extremely valuable/expensive in an on-going campaign, making burning them a much more difficult decision. The prop system sets up all kinds of cool RPing/adventuring opportunities for collecting and/or crafting power props.

Thanks for the kind words on running the hybrid...GT just "feels" right to me...so it is pretty easy to run (Bravo, Wulf ). I know I have some more work before the systems are meshed to my satisfaction...and I am sure Wulf will be out with his magic supplement by then...upsetting my apple cart !

~ OO

 

[Henry]

One thing I noticed both of you doing to a certain extent was "resetting" your prepared spells when you had a bit of down time. I was wondering if you guys would pick up on that...which you did!

That is one thing I like over traditional D&D wizards - they have a LOT more long-term longevity than a D&D wizard at low levels, even if they don't have staying power in a single combat. Whereas a wizard or sorcerer could "blow his wad of ammo" over a day or in one shot, a Black Company wizard can cast a while here, rest a few hours, cast a while there, rest a few hours, cast a while over there, rest.... throughout the day.

I agree that the component/XP props are much more valuable in a 1-shot...since all of those would have been extremely valuable/expensive in an on-going campaign, making burning them a much more difficult decision. The prop system sets up all kinds of cool RPing/adventuring opportunities for collecting and/or crafting power props.

Strangely, I only used two of my materials, probably because I wasn't completely prepared for the main fight when it happened; had I realized what was behind that last door, I would have re-prepped some of my spells, but simply did not think about it until Brandis was doing his thing. And your materials added great flavor - it screams "use me!" for an ongoing game...

 

[Old One]

That is one thing I like over traditional D&D wizards - they have a LOT more long-term longevity than a D&D wizard at low levels, even if they don't have staying power in a single combat. Whereas a wizard or sorcerer could "blow his wad of ammo" over a day or in one shot, a Black Company wizard can cast a while here, rest a few hours, cast a while there, rest a few hours, cast a while over there, rest.... throughout the day.

Yep. I am looking forward to running a campaign with wizards from the start...if properly paced, a BCCS wizard offers much more utility at lower levels than a typical D20 caster. Just don't ask him to do too much at one time!

Strangely, I only used two of my materials, probably because I wasn't completely prepared for the main fight when it happened; had I realized what was behind that last door, I would have re-prepped some of my spells, but simply did not think about it until Brandis was doing his thing. And your materials added great flavor - it screams "use me!" for an ongoing game...

I was wondering if you were using them...

In an on-going campaign, I would customize the whole "prop" thing...with benefits ranging from +2 to +20 (or so). I think I would still use the five props...verbal, somatic, consumable component, crafted component (wand, stave, rings, bag o' bones, etc) and XP...to make for a varied game.

~ OO

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

Here's a question:

Did you feel like there was enough variety to your wizard's spells and abilities?

This is something that has come up with our game. There's one or two spells that get used all of the time (Force, mostly) while the others are too far outside of utility range to be more than a one-off. Our wizard uses Wind Talent to whip up breezes from time to time, but using it against human targets to great effect it's usually cheaper and easier to use Force. Same with pretty much anything else. The DCs scale up so quickly that doing much of anything seems to be a waste of time when 1 or 2 spells will do the trick ... Force and Create Fire, especially. But Create Fire only after 5th level. While Force only does Nonlethal damage ... it gets the job done. Out is Out in the realm of most combats.

--fje

 

[Old One]

Here's a question:

Did you feel like there was enough variety to your wizard's spells and abilities?

This is something that has come up with our game. There's one or two spells that get used all of the time (Force, mostly) while the others are too far outside of utility range to be more than a one-off. Our wizard uses Wind Talent to whip up breezes from time to time, but using it against human targets to great effect it's usually cheaper and easier to use Force. Same with pretty much anything else. The DCs scale up so quickly that doing much of anything seems to be a waste of time when 1 or 2 spells will do the trick ... Force and Create Fire, especially. But Create Fire only after 5th level. While Force only does Nonlethal damage ... it gets the job done. Out is Out in the realm of most combats.

--fje

Heap,

Good question...

I don't know if I feel qualified to answer after only a 1-shot play test...I think I would need to see it in action more (and from the ground up). I do see the ability to "game" the system a bit (or a lot, depending on how you approach it). I guess it really depends on the challenges you are throwing at the party and what utility they find in various items.

For instance, Wind Talent could very useful against a company of archers...basically putting a wind wall between you and them and throwing their shots awry. Create Energy (Cold) could be used to bridge a stream or small body of water with a temp ice bridge. I might allow Force to do the same thing over a chasm with proper manipulation and extension costs.

The spells presented are done so to model the BCCS world...but I think there is enough variety to cover lots of things. Part of it would be presenting situations where direct attack spells - such as Force and Create Energy spells are either unusable or even illegal (due to local laws). For instance, direct displays of damaging magical power inside city walls might be punishable by stiff fines or imprisonment...meaning PCs have to use more subtle means of affecting the action.

One of the most effective spells cast in our 1-shot was when Vercinius used Enchant to cloud the minds of a relatively large group of Sythians...taking them out of the action at a critical juncture. I guess if I noticed a PC caster falling back on just one or two spells, I would start mixing up the challenges to require broader application of magic talent.

Of course, you might have a PC that decides to just focus on one or two spells...to the exclusion of all others...and take feats to support more powerful casting of said spells. He/she would give up utility for specialization.

~ OO

 

[Henry]

The first part of the story hour is up:

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?p=2224328#post2224328

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

The first part of the story hour is up:

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?p=2224328#post2224328

And I am cowed by the first installment.