Question Time

[Linden]

I think we should open an other thread for that. 'GMs for GMs' or something...

True enough, I'm getting a bit OT here.

In my opinion AV:8 is a bit tough, unless the creature is vehicle-sized.

It would be. My intention would be for it appear at the climax of a 2-3 scenario mini-campaign, after the PCs have dealt with its various minions, ie. Igors, zombies and other hangers on. Give the PCs a memorable final battle before they move on to other things, assuming they survive of course.

[Zvezda]

Just start an other thread somewehre and we can spam all night long...
I still think AV:8 is somewhat heavy. I mean according to the rules you don't need it. AV:2 is amost unbeatable with small arms, AV:8 ceartainly is. No gun would be able to punch through it. On the other hand if you use heavy weapons the AV for 'body armour' would be ingnored. Regardless of being 1, 2, 8 or 12. I'd rather give the thing AV:1 (or possibly two), a whole lot of hitpoints and maybe the ability to regenerate some points per turn.

[fenlason]

In my opinion AV:8 is a bit tough, unless the creature is vehicle-sized.

It would be. My intention would be for it appear at the climax of a 2-3 scenario mini-campaign, after the PCs have dealt with its various minions, ie. Igors, zombies and other hangers on. Give the PCs a memorable final battle before they move on to other things, assuming they survive of course.

The original game did not view large AVs as unbalancing. That is why there were so many armor piercing weapons in the lists.

If you put an AV-8 critter in the campaign, you better give the players some access to those heavy weapons!

[Linden]

Zvezda, Norm

Thanks for your comments on this. You've given me a fair bit to think about. I'll have to carefully consider what to do with my proposed "big beast". Fortunately he won't be turning up for a while yet so I've got a bit of time before I have to put the stats together.

[Zvezda]

@Ivan; Norm: Anti-armour weapons ignore body armour. A Kevlar helmet offers no protection against a hit from an RPG-7...neither does an exoskeleton. Great we could solve that. Your always welcome Ivan...by the way...I'd like to see the monster once it is done.

I came up with an other question: Will it be possible to play non-US citizens in DC3 without inventing some house rules first?
I mean it was possible to play an E.T. but you needed some improvisation to play someone from Israel. Things went even more complicated for characters from Mexico or Iran two nations with compulsory military service (or lottery in case of Mexico) for male characters, but a very different payment situation. If it came to Angolan or Eritrean characters…yeah well, you know what I mean…

And yet an other one: Can I have some more info on the 'mental damag'?

[Zvezda]

I might be asking too much lately but I am just that interested.

If we are going to have a new and better damage system, what will happen to the critters? There where plenty of creatures with sometimes absurdly low hit capacity (compared to an average human), how does the system change in regard to animals and monsters? Will the strange human NPC damage system change as well?

[fenlason]

If we are going to have a new and better damage system, what will happen to the critters? There where plenty of creatures with sometimes absurdly low hit capacity (compared to an average human), how does the system change in regard to animals and monsters? Will the strange human NPC damage system change as well?

First, the damage system for characters has changed a lot. The first editions had a dramatically large number of hit points for characters. That system is all changed.

BUT.

The damage caused by the weapons is linked to the hit points of the beasties. We do not want to apply the same damage mechanism to the run of the mill beasties (overkill). I believe that the hit points will not change much. The new damage mechanic will make characters less likely to stand toe-to-toe and slug it out. The original hit point values for monsters should be ok.

Having said that, which beasties do you all think have too many or too few hit points. Do not compare to characters, but to possible damage caused by weapons.


Norm

[Zvezda]

I think there are no creatures with to many hit points. I am not sure if they still don’t have enough hit points because the problem was not the number of rounds you needed to fire into an enemy but the relation to humans. A human (STR5 CON5) could take well over 700 hits while an Ogre (STR24 CON21) died after one seventh of that.
Overall the damage inflicted by the weapons was okay, it took 11 shots with a 5.56mm rifle to take out a grizzly (or five if you consider that PCs have a tendency for ‘outstanding’ hits in close range) which might not be too realistic but suited the game fine.
I don’t think that the PCs and NPCs (or monsters) hit points need the same elaborate system but I think the gap between those two should not be video game alike. It promotes the misuse of hand grenades.
The difference between heroes and their victims is also very obvious when it comes to the Skill/Damage field. I think for many minions the ability to hit the PCs is to low, if you regard their strength. If skill and aptitude/attribute are combined the often exceed 20.

[Marcus Bone]

And yet an other one: Can I have some more info on the 'mental damag'?

Hey, I can't give away all the secrets. I will say that both physical and mental damage use a similar mechanic, i.e. the damage done by a attack is relative to the strength (as in 'power' or 'ability' not the attribute of the same name) of the Minion Hunter.

Also, as the physical body of a Minion Hunter has locations, so does their mental capacity. These embody the three main portions of the human psyche -

• Resolve - our ability to accept the mundane (blood, violence, etc.)

• Reasoning - ability to deal with the supernatural

• Humanity - soul, good, hope, call it what you will, it is the Minion Hunters strength to fight the Darkness

Marcus

[Zvezda]

I must say, it sounds better that I feard. What about intentionall (or unintentional) wrongdoings of the the PCs, like torturing a Troll or killing innocents? Will they have an effect?

[eyalfein]

Do you have any way to define the level of awareness of an organization of the dark conspiracy?

I suggest a scale of sorts, explanation trough example:

* Regular police
...Involved in standard, human created crime.
* Corporation security
...Might be dealing with the supernatural without being aware of it.
...As far as the security men and the press are concerned,
...they are dealing with psychopaths, cyborgs and mutants.
...They are aware of the supernatural but only in that limited scope of view.
...(Pretty much how most of the public sees the world, in my opinion)
* Special Corporation security
...Takes over cases of the corporation security,
...which cannot be excused as human related.
...They are aware of different aspects of the invasion,
...but the operatives might not be familiar with the 'big picture'.
...This 'scale' could include more levels:
...* The organization sees the invasion as a simple monster attack,
......that can be dealt with guns.
...* The organization is aware of the infiltration of minions into society,
......including powerful human igors.
* empathic underground
...Fully involved, aware of the dark ones.

[fenlason]

Do you have any way to define the level of awareness of an organization of the dark conspiracy?

I am sorry, but that takes Ultraviolet Security clearance. Attempting to seek information above your clearance level is treason. The punishment for treason is death. Zzzzzzt!

-- The Computer


But seriously, have not looked at categorizing such things. But let me kind of paraphrase:


Red: Enforcement -> street cops
Orange: Investigation -> Vice, homicide, etc.
Yellow: Special Investigation -> CID, SVU, DEA
Green: Emergency Action Reponse Teams -> FEMA, MIBs
Blue: Intelligence -> foreign, domestic & corporate, CIA, DHS, FBI, etc.
Purple: Special Operations -> SEALs, Delta, "Executive Outcomes", etc.
Ultraviolet: Empathic underground -> Minion Hunters

Red sees weird things on the street. Deals with weird things immediately.
Orange sees at the crime scene. Processes all that goop.
Yellow sees patterns of weird things. Files full of weird stuff.
Green deals with weird things locally. Knows where and when things happen, not why.
Blue sees weird things internationally. Knows events and links, not motives.
Purple deals with weird things anywhere. Knows some of the motives.
Ultraviolet knows why things are weird. Kills weird things. Seeks motives.

As you can see, it requires an Ultraviolet clearance!


Norm

[eyalfein]

When someone designs a group or organization for the DC world, the aspect of how much it is aware and involved is very important.
Using such a scale will make it easy to design and share these groups.

[Mister E]

Maybe it was just me, but I always found that combat really broke down if vehicles were involved. I never did get a good idea of how to deal with firing a a car. Have these rules been streamlined at all?

[Marcus Bone]

Maybe it was just me, but I always found that combat really broke down if vehicles were involved. I never did get a good idea of how to deal with firing a a car. Have these rules been streamlined at all?

Yes indeed...

The new STEP system and Damage system work very well together and are easily scaled to vehicle combat.

I will say that I haven't tested the rules using armoured units going 'hammer and tongs', and I get a feeling it might slow down a bit if I did. Of course DC is an RPG not a wargame

Marcus