nsruf said:
Agreed 3E has ist own brand of convoluted complexity with the stacking of classes, templates, and magical effects. But I consider all of these things optional and separate from the rules core - which in itself works splendidly for me.
If they can be min/maxed or argued incessantly, they're rules.
If anythings's in the BIG THREE rulebooks, they're core rules....
I'm nearing the 3rd anniversary for the HM campaign I'm running. The group just finished session 2 (of hopefully 3) of the Hill Giant Villa in Annihilate the Giants. Late in the session, a sprung trap alerted a sizable group of bugbears to the group's whereabouts.
31 participants in the combat
, 19 rounds of combat
.... and a birthday cake and a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday"
less than 90 minutes
...and that doesn't include the occasional asides from the 2 party members running through the complex subject to a doozy of a fear spell.
Mind you, I have removed two things from the system: Combat Fatigue, Threshold of Pain (these two tend to go together), and revised the levelling system to conform with my low-gold economy.
A couple of points from this thread and the two previous:
Skills: Skill modifiers allow a PC with just basic knowledge to do easy tasks with a very small chance of failure (Just like the master carpenter who whacks his thumb with a hammer... time to upgrade to a Nailgun +3)
Alignment: If the chart is front and center every second of the session, you're much too concerned with morality than playing the actual game! If a character's actions warrant it, it comes out from its hiding place. At the end of the session, after I dole out EP, honor, and fame, I'll review the graph. (Sometimes I even forget). After 3 years, I've only had one alignment audit...
Honor: After three years, the group is finally figuring out what actions net what honor loss/gain for what alignment. Basically, a lawful good character walking escorting a little old lady across the street to safety = minor honor gain. Neutral character? = none. Chaotic Evil character = honor loss. Same CE character escorting the little old lady across the street so he can mug her in the dark alley? Mucho honor gain.... And most people forget that the GM can dispense/take away 10 points of additional temporal honor beyond the guidelines per session (Temporal honor is accumulated during a session. 1/4 of the total is awarded at the end of the session.) Why is honor so important? Having high honor grants a +1 bonus to all die rolls and a free mulligan. Becoming dishonorable gives a -1 penalty to all die rolls.
When I was game store manager in the early months of 3e, I painfully watched the players absorb the new system. Hackmaster was the same for our group. 3-4 sessions of fooling around with quirks/flaws, and combat led directly into the campaign. Can't say that I've made every rules decision correctly, or even remembered to apply the rules in the right situation, but they work when I do use them and the players enjoy it.
Interesting aside, after my 2nd Ed campaign ended in 2000, I waited for 3E to come out before I started my next one. 3E didn't suit my preferences, so I started plotting out a more cinematic campaign using Masterbook (aka Generic Torg). When info on Hackmaster's release came out, I immediately switched. Why?
(1) I was a big KODT fan (go Shadis #11!)
(2) I preferred something more 1e/2e-ish.
(3) When I got the books, I loved the fact that min-maxers and munchkins are painfully punished for their transgressions using the rules.... something that's invisible or very faint in 1e-3e. I hand-picked the best players I knew for the campaign, and the need to play 'balanced'
characters who exploit their own quirks and flaws before the GM can, has made my life a whole lot easier.
