Deeds Not Words Balance Questions

[Moe Ronalds]

Alright, I want my players to be balanced in a DNW campaign, but some may choose different numbers of powers. What my question is, in the back of the book it has rules for an experience tithe for extra feats. Would characters with the same experience tithes be equal? In other words, would a character with 6 feats be equal in power to a character with 4 super-powers (both XP tithe 3000)?

 

[John Lorenzsonn]

That'd depend on what your players picked, much of which is dependent upon what they have access to. If everyone's first level, no, it's probably not going to be anywhere near even. Superpowers don't have anything along the lines of BAB requirements. Provided your PCs have a few levels on 'em, 6 extra feats = HUGE, especially if you've got things like 10,000 Cuts or the two-weapon Kali feats from LTSD available. Not all powers and feats are created equal. I'm currently in a low-powered(5 powers max) game in which the humans just hit 2nd level - the superpowered guys have a slight edge, but the human characters manage to compensate pretty well with their greater Hero Point levels and speedier advancement. At the early levels, the lack of a tithe seems to be more helpful than 6 extra feats.

 

[Corinth]

I've got to echo the idea of the origins being balanced. The feats that humans get allow them to rocket up the feat trees to the big badass feats right quick, and it's up near the ends of the trees that the feats become as awesome as superpowers. I'm playing with an NPC who's inspired by the John Woo films that I love so much, and I dare say that a tricked-out human gunman is quite a fair match for the superpowered folks out there. I'm seeing the same thing with the martial arts/melee combat feats.

 

[Scott Lynch]

I wish that I could credit the balance of DNW to my wit and perspicacity... but in this case I shamefacedly must admit that the human/nonhuman balance described here (which my own playtesting experience bears out) works *even better* than I ever planned it to.

And yes, DNW humans are feat monsters. For example, a human vigilante gets a bare-bones minimum of 8 feats by 5th level, and 14 by 10th level. In exchange for a few complications, he can have 1-5 more. 13 feats at 5th level can definitely hold its own against super-powers, and if XP tithe averaging is used, a DNW human could be 5th level pretty damn quick if he's in a group of super-beings.

There's a character in *Laying the Smack Down* called Mako Takakura, an 18th level human martial artist with a very broad and un-twinked feat selection. However, he has one particular combo that can sweep the universe if he gets it going... Improved Trip (as an initial attack at +23), followed by a free attack against prone, followed by a Stunning Blow, followed by a Furious Blow, followed by two regular melee attacks. If it all goes well, at the end of one round, the opponent will be prone, stunned, and down (10d6+25) hit points. Repeat the next turn, leaving opponent prone, stunned, and equally battered. Repeat as necessary until foe is paste. An 18th level human vigilante would have a bare minimum of 22 feats, and quite possibly 23-27, and would probably have several equally nasty tricks up his sleeve.

Many super-powers render super-beings immune to the special effects of some feats (tripping, stunning, etc.) but no viable selection of super-powers can protect a character from every trick up a human's sleeve. DNW has something like 250 original feats presented in the core book and LTSD... there is a combo out there to answer virtually any super-power.

DNW was specifically designed to allow humans to emulate Chow Yun-Fat's two-gun heroes, Batman, James Bond, Shaft, Schwarzenegger's human combat machines (ala *Predator,* *Commando,* and *True Lies*), and similarly balls-out bad-asses. Restraint was not in my design precepts.

Cheers!

SL

 

[Corinth]

Scott, you've confirmed what I suspected: DNW is the first viable substitute for Feng Shui.

 

[Scott Lynch]

Scott, you've confirmed what I suspected: DNW is the first viable substitute for Feng Shui.

The funny thing is,

A) You're not the first to say that,

B) I've never played or even read *Feng Shui,*

C) While designing DNW, I tried to remember all the things I'd *heard people saying* about *Feng Shui* in forums and reviews.

How's that for goofy?

Cheers,

SL

 

[Corinth]

That's plenty goofy.