First off
No system is perfect, The players make the game.
That being said, here is my impression after about six months of playing.
The good.
1. Easy to play. We played GURPs for a many years and spent too much time trying to figure out the rules and in truth, I still dont understand them.
2. I like how the different trees in each class give some uniqueness to them. We have two warriros. One is a two handed damage warrior who goes down fast. The other is more a true tank who just takes a beating.
3. The monsters have some unique powers and I like the battle plan they give for the creatures so you can have an idea how to play them.
House rules we are trying.
1. I tried this weeked the half your level to damage to try to speed up combat. Overall It didn't make a huge difference in the battle but saved a round or two most likely which is good. Some of the fights are really long. Partially due to players not being ready and partially due to the way combat works.
Things I dont like and would like to find adjustments for.
1. How you go to zero and then heal from there with a healing surge and the price of being unconsious.
example. Last session our fighter went down and was at -10 hps. The cleric gave hima healing word which put him at like 19 (so the spell healed for 29 in reality). The warrior was going to second wind but decided not to because it was better just to wait to drop again and get healed since he was taking a lot of big shots. I just find it kind of cheesy to say the least. Also the fact you wake up and act normally.
adjustments:
a. When your knocked unconcious and are healed enough to be awoke you are dazed. Save ends. So for the first turn atleast your at best going to get to your feet.
b. When below zero, healing doesnt bring you to zero and then heal. It heals from where you are at. Somebody at -2 and at -26 should not take the same ammount of healing to be functional. I think knowing they are healed at zero really takes some of the anxiety of a down party member away.
2. Death checks dont have an ongoing effect.
A party member has 2 death checks and is seconds away from meeting his maker, Gets a heal and is good as gold when he is up. Uses some healing surges after the fight and is like a new person. Our group tends to run a fairly gruesome campaign so we like to see the players suffer some which means victory for the players is all the sweeter.
Idea for change:
a. For each death check you get you lose 25% of your healing surges. Showing the life being knocked out of you. So if you had two checks you would have 50% of your healing surges gone and would need an extended rest to regain them.
b. My more brutal option is the same as above, but you need to make a dc 20 endurance roll each extended rest to regain a lost healing surge.
For example. Bob has 16 surges and in combat has two death checks before beign saved. He would be down to 8 healing surges max (temporarly.) On each extended rest he would need to make a dc 20 endurance roll to try to get one back. So 9, then 10 etc etc. A slightly nice option would be 1+ con modifer back.
I used the above for a party member who was rezzed. He has a dc 25 endurance check to get back a healing surge.
3. Lastly range firing through allies.
you have a wall of troops on each side engaged and the ranged can fire through their allies into the other wall with no penalty. I just think it is a little too cheesy for me.
adjustment:
Allies count for cover for range attacks IF and only IF they are in melee range of the target.
if the target is a few squares back I can go with the archer shoots over his party members head. I like the tactics involved in melee fighting but it seems like the casters just sit back and do their thing and dont have to do as much tactially. This will also allow party members to defend each other from range attacks.
No system is perfect, The players make the game.
That being said, here is my impression after about six months of playing.
The good.
1. Easy to play. We played GURPs for a many years and spent too much time trying to figure out the rules and in truth, I still dont understand them.
2. I like how the different trees in each class give some uniqueness to them. We have two warriros. One is a two handed damage warrior who goes down fast. The other is more a true tank who just takes a beating.
3. The monsters have some unique powers and I like the battle plan they give for the creatures so you can have an idea how to play them.
House rules we are trying.
1. I tried this weeked the half your level to damage to try to speed up combat. Overall It didn't make a huge difference in the battle but saved a round or two most likely which is good. Some of the fights are really long. Partially due to players not being ready and partially due to the way combat works.
Things I dont like and would like to find adjustments for.
1. How you go to zero and then heal from there with a healing surge and the price of being unconsious.
example. Last session our fighter went down and was at -10 hps. The cleric gave hima healing word which put him at like 19 (so the spell healed for 29 in reality). The warrior was going to second wind but decided not to because it was better just to wait to drop again and get healed since he was taking a lot of big shots. I just find it kind of cheesy to say the least. Also the fact you wake up and act normally.
adjustments:
a. When your knocked unconcious and are healed enough to be awoke you are dazed. Save ends. So for the first turn atleast your at best going to get to your feet.
b. When below zero, healing doesnt bring you to zero and then heal. It heals from where you are at. Somebody at -2 and at -26 should not take the same ammount of healing to be functional. I think knowing they are healed at zero really takes some of the anxiety of a down party member away.
2. Death checks dont have an ongoing effect.
A party member has 2 death checks and is seconds away from meeting his maker, Gets a heal and is good as gold when he is up. Uses some healing surges after the fight and is like a new person. Our group tends to run a fairly gruesome campaign so we like to see the players suffer some which means victory for the players is all the sweeter.
Idea for change:
a. For each death check you get you lose 25% of your healing surges. Showing the life being knocked out of you. So if you had two checks you would have 50% of your healing surges gone and would need an extended rest to regain them.
b. My more brutal option is the same as above, but you need to make a dc 20 endurance roll each extended rest to regain a lost healing surge.
For example. Bob has 16 surges and in combat has two death checks before beign saved. He would be down to 8 healing surges max (temporarly.) On each extended rest he would need to make a dc 20 endurance roll to try to get one back. So 9, then 10 etc etc. A slightly nice option would be 1+ con modifer back.
I used the above for a party member who was rezzed. He has a dc 25 endurance check to get back a healing surge.
3. Lastly range firing through allies.
you have a wall of troops on each side engaged and the ranged can fire through their allies into the other wall with no penalty. I just think it is a little too cheesy for me.
adjustment:
Allies count for cover for range attacks IF and only IF they are in melee range of the target.
if the target is a few squares back I can go with the archer shoots over his party members head. I like the tactics involved in melee fighting but it seems like the casters just sit back and do their thing and dont have to do as much tactially. This will also allow party members to defend each other from range attacks.
