D&D blog: goblin care only about your axe

[Stalker0]

Here's how I could see it work.

We define an attribute called "close" for TOTM. The fighter is "close" to the goblin he is trying to kill. The vampire is "close" to sunlight.

So a Tide of Iron like ability could push an opponent into an area that is close to him.

In grid terms, we define close as an actual numbers of squares, 1,2, whatever.

So Tide of Iron in this context would still push an opponent into an area that is close to him.....except we know that close means 2 squares.


The key is that we can't rewrite every ability for GRID vs TOTM. However, we can use common language for both, we just allow TOTM to keep the definition vague and grid to be much more exacting.

Further, it also means that abilities need to have less granularity when it comes to movement effects. A push 1 vs push 2 can't really exist in this content, but a push 2 vs a push 10 would still have some meaning. This would be fine with me personally because I felt 4e was WAY too granular with its powers. This one is slide 1 + 1[W], this one is slide 2 + 2 damage only, this on etc etc.

 

[Stalker0]

If you want to run a gritty game where PC death is always a possibility, if not downright likely sooner or later, I think going with a grid makes that much easier. On the other hand, if you want to run a more heroic/storyline kind of game a grid is just going to slow you down and occasionally get in the way of PCs doing awesome stuff they'd be able to fudge their way through in a ToM system.

I agree with your assessment that TOTM is likely easier on players, I just don't think switching styles is a needed fix.

DMs can always make the game harder with a little CR tweaking.

 

[Hussar]

Stalker0 - 3:16 Carnage Beyond the Stars uses a very similar sort of range set up for its combat. Close, medium and long. You can move between one range increment and (IIRC, it's been a while) run between two. Different weapons dealt different damages at different ranges (it's an SF game, so you have machine guns and plasma rifles and the like).

I could see something like that working rather well for ToTM type combat. You simply abstract everthing to close, medium and long. If something wants to run away, it has to get long range from the opponent and then move further away. Gives you an easy way to incorporate forced movement into ToTM without require much more than pennies on a dart board.

 

[Hautamaki]

I agree with your assessment that TOTM is likely easier on players, I just don't think switching styles is a needed fix.

DMs can always make the game harder with a little CR tweaking.

Certainly DM's can, but ultimately what kept me from doing so was the increased likelihood of acrimony in the event of player death. On a grid, it's clear which monsters are attacking which players and why, but in ToM it seems much more arbitrary when you say to player X 'The goblin attacks you'. Particularly in the event that the goblin actually kills him, the player is going to be wondering to himself 'why did that stupid goblin have to attack ME?' Whereas on a grid, even though in actual fact it's probably just as arbitrary who a given goblin is going to attack (whoever happens to be closest when the DM puts the figures on the board) it just seems less arbitrary.

So what kept me from killing players more often in ToM was not just the fact that players could fudge things to their advantage more easily but also a desire to avoid even the appearance of arbitrarily killing off a PC.

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

[MENTION=22779]Hussar[/MENTION], add in a condition of 'engaged' that takes a move action to force or remove...with fighter marks applying this condition.

I use 5 squares as the width of a zone when I am mixing zone and grids.


I also use a 'take cover' rule in which a minor action lets a Pc move into cover or grant cover to another Pc. Some Terrain can grant cover as well. Then instead of a boring + to defended, the Pc gains a miss chance roll. The roll is one die per point of cover, and any die result of 1 means a miss. Short range attacks use a d10, medium uses a d8, long uses a d6, and extreme uses a d4.
This has worked very well for me and keeps some.level.of tactical movement in totm.

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