Testing out the Rules

[Vardaen]

I don't think its a big surprise when I say that combat is soon to come. Take a look through the combat rules. We don't need super tactical maps but we will want something for the various stances you are on, forward, open, etc...

[Muskrat]

So Tet is suggesting that we just retreat from the spiders. What are our options rules-wise here? Can we fight and retreat at the same time? I think that would be the best course of action. I'm pretty sure the spiders control the terrain here and we'll need to fight our way out.

[Vardaen]

I think this will certain be a running engagement.

[Muskrat]

So are you waiting for Tet to post some sort of attack, instead of simply retreating?

[Vardaen]

I just was working on it. Posted.

[Vardaen]

Check this PDF out. Its a fan made piece, that breaks down the story into the crunch. Its pretty cool and while 9 pages, it might help us all understand the system a bit better.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/39184129/TOR/TOR%20Review.pdf

If that doesn't work you can find it linked here "The One Ring Review"
http://advancementpoints.blogspot.com/p ... -ring.html

[Vardaen]

So I made plenty of mistakes during these fights, but I've managed, I think to work them out.

I found an interesting house rule on another site.
http://jedimorningfire.blogspot.com/201 ... tions.html


House Rule #7: Increased Injury TN from a great or extraordinary success

Rationale: Rather than simply going with "more successes equals more Endurance loss," C7 forum member cheeplives offered the idea of rather than adding your Body score to the damage dealt when you get a great or extraordinary success, you could instead increase the Injury TN of your attack by +2 (great success) or +4 (extraordinary success). Granted, you first have to roll well enough on your Feat die to possibly wound your target, but it would provide a better chance to injure a well-armored foe.

In Play: This actually showed up in our previous session against the swamp troll, with the GM allowing me to put the extraordinary success I rolled to better use, as the troll still had plenty of Endurance and the fight was starting to drag on, giving Brander better odds of ending the fight right then and there.

Outcome: This one is also a keeper. So thanks to cheeplives for this one.


House Rule #2: Endurance = Base value + Heart score + Body score

Rationale: The GM felt that character "hit points" were a tad on the low side, and that the Body score was something of a dump stat. Personally, I've seen over on Cubicle 7's One Ring board the house rule of reducing a hero's starting Fatigue score (pretty much the weight of all carried gear) by their Body score as a means of giving Body more value, but our group felt that would step too much on the toes of any Dwarf PCs, as they already get a break on their starting fatigue as their racial perk, to say nothing of most Dwarf backgrounds already providing a pretty healthy Body score.

In Play: Since the fighter-types (Brander and Bruni) had decent Body scores, a few extra points of Endurance helped, particularly for Bruni who took a few more hits than anyone else due to a slightly lower Parry value compared to Brander or Rory, who get by with a stout shield and a high Wits score respectively. And given the prior fight with the swamp troll, we all agreed that having a slight buffer was a good thing.

Outcome: We're keeping this one.

Thoughts on these house rules?

[Trogdor]

I'm still shaky enough on the base rules that it's hard for me to gauge the worth of house rules. But if someone who understands things better thinks they're good changes, then I'm all for them.

[Muskrat]

I don't understand the rules well enough to comment on #7, but #2 seems like it makes sense. We can always try it and if makes us overpowered, we can stop using it.

[Vardaen]

I noticed that in the spider fights, the few times you did roll Piercing Strikes, the TN to overcome the wound was pretty easy for the most part. They did fail several times, so it might not be needed but it a well armored foe will rarely fail that check I think at a TN14 most of the time.

As far as Endurance goes, looking at the current situation with the PC.

Endurance/Fatigue

Wren 25/12
Var 24/8
Pip 23/14
Borir 32/23
Aerth 21/15

So assuming a normal bow shot or longsword swing 'hits' you for 5 Damage. You are Weary at

Wren 3 Hits
Var 4 Hits
Pip 2 Hits
Borir 2 Hits
Aerth 2 Hits


ENDURANCE
Endurance represents a hero's resistance to injury, physical or psychological stress, even torture. Whenever a character is subjected to some form of harm or toil, his Endurance score is reduced accordingly. Endurance loss should not be confused with being Wounded: while every successful attack in combat provokes a loss of Endurance, a player-hero is only at risk of a wound when hit by a piercing blow, a precise attack that threatens to bypass the target's armour and defences completely and cause them serious injury.

Losing Endurance
During play, player-heroes lose Endurance points to blows suffered in combat, as the consequence of strenuous efforts, and to other sources of physical harm. When, for any reason, the Endurance score of a character drops to a level equal to or lower than his Fatigue score, the hero is considered to be Weary. Check the Weary box on the character sheet, and apply the effects to the character (see page 142).

If a character's Weary box was already checked, then losing Endurance doesn't provoke any additional effect. When a character's Endurance score is reduced to zero points, he is physically exhausted and falls unconscious.

Lost Endurance points are recovered swiftly if a hero is allowed to rest and feed, unless a hero is wounded or sick (see the Life and Death chapter, page 142).

With the house rule we'd be looking at adding the body to the total rating
Wren +4
Var +6
Pip +3
Borir +6
Aerth +4

Wren 29/12 (4 hits)
Var 30/8 (5 hits)
Pip 26/14 (3 Hits)
Borir 38/23 (3 hits)
Aerth 25/15 (3 hits)

I'm interested in seeing out this might play out, but perhaps we should just stick wit the rules as it first? Borir becomes weary at the same rate as teh others but has the best armor, its interesting