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Semper Mortalitas
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Joined: 16 Apr 2008
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 Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 2:23 pm Post subject: More attacks vs. More accuracy |
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Greetings Savages,
I am working on a few NPC's and have hit this question. I want both of them to be equally challenging in a combat situation. Since these are NPC's I can do some things that seem odd, so bear with me and here is the question for you all to mull over.
Which of the two builds would be "better"?
NPC #1 (Speed)
Fighting d8
Ambidextrous, Imp Frenzy
NPC#2 (Accuracy)
Fighting d8
Wild Die d8 or d10
Well accuracy vs. speed. There is the topic let the "debate" begin. |
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irishvince
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Joined: 11 Nov 2008
Posts: 60
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| Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 2:44 pm Post subject: |
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more attack= more chances of Acing your roll... My vote goes to speed...
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DaRealJudas
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Location: Officially Bremen, Germany but mostly my own little world inside my head (soo peaceful & pretty)
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| Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 2:56 pm Post subject: |
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Without any Edges "Accuracy" has no chance. Edges win combat not the Wild Die... mostly. 
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BluSponge
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Joined: 13 May 2003
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Location: Lewisville, TX
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| Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 3:42 pm Post subject: |
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What kind of accuracy are we talking about here? Missile weapons? Give them marksman. Melee weapons? Give them trademark weapon. Hell, give your archer marksman AND trademark weapon. Take advantage of tricks to put the opponents off their guard, or gang ups for more bonuses. If you can stack the bonuses high enough, throw in a wild attack for extra punishment.
Like DRJ says, bumping up the wild die does not equal increasing a character's "accuracy." That's about edges and tactics.
Tom
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Judge Holden
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| Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 3:43 pm Post subject: |
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My vote is for NPC #1.
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Clint
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| Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 5:05 pm Post subject: |
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Point of clarification please. Is the first NPC a Wild Card with a Wild Die too or an Extra (which leads to a different kettle of balance)?
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Semper Mortalitas
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Joined: 16 Apr 2008
Posts: 134
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| Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 7:52 am Post subject: |
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Thanks to you all, for your quick replies. I guess I do need to clarify some of the information. My only fear is of my players stumbling on this by accident and giving away any surprises
Yes all the NPC's are Wild Cards in my POTSM game. The "d8" was for example purposes only.
The reason I was looking to increase one characters Wild Die and give more Edges to another was diversity. I have a team of Wild Card opponents for my PC's (one per PC) and the NPC's are major characters both in ability and scope. As I crafted them I started to end up with the same Edges on multiple NPC's. I didn't want to have 2 or 3 NPC's with the same abilities.
I was trying for a bit of distinction in the way they were designed/trained. One has Imp Frenzy with a Fencing school so he has 3 attacks a round. I didn't want to over do the multiple attacks.
One is a stealthy individual who was trained to kill with a single strike, hence the higher Wild Die.
Let me say this, the NPC's are supposed to be a challenge for the PC's for many advances to come. They are Insanely skilled at what they do. If they were PC's they would be Legendary ++ based on Edges alone. Yes they are powerful but I still see them being felled by a lucky pistol shot that Aces 3+ times on damage.
Well hopefully that provided enough information without giving too much away. Thanks again. |
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Clint
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| Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 9:08 am Post subject: |
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| Semper Mortalitas wrote: | | Yes all the NPC's are Wild Cards in my POTSM game. |
The first one is better, hand down, every time (even without Ambidexterity and a third attack).
Consider the basic roll.
#2 rolls Fighting (a d plus a d8 (or d10). If either succeeds, he hits once.
#1 rolls two Fighting dice (d8s) plus a d6. Barring the d10 above, he is rolling the same dice as the second guy plus an additional d6. If any of the three dice succeeds, he hits, so he actually has a better chance for "accuracy" (even a boost to a d10 Wild Die doesn't offset that much). On top of that, if any two of the dice succeed, he has the potential to hit twice, which the other fighter has no chance of at all.
The two main points to remember are that Skills are the foundation of characters while Edges (or Academies) make them shine. They are innately different, and Skills can't do the job of Edges (nor the other way around really). On top of that increasing the Wild Die is only affect half or less of a Skill. Consider that if the same "accuracy" style opponent had instead of increasing his Wild Die by two die types, had increase his actual Fighting skill by two Die types, he would not only be more accurate, but have +2 to Parry as well (an "accurate" defense so to speak).
If designing a Pirates foe who depended on accuracy, I would probably recommend...
Improved Trademark Weapon (minimum d10 Fighting) for +2 to Fighting (which affects both the Fighting or Wild Die result).
And since based on the one NPC this may be more sensitive info in the game, I'll spoiler this <highlight to read>...
| Quote: | Give him De Richelieu’s Academy from the free Pirate's supplement and the Florentine Edge. The Academy allows him to use Florentine with a single weapon, which reduces Gang Up by one (nice if the PCs decide to all jump him) and provides an additional +1 to Fighting (for +3 total) if the opponent does not have two weapons or a sword and shield. On top of that, once per combat, the character can get The Drop on a foe for +4 to hit and damage. That's a total of +6 to +7 to attack for one shot, a highly accurate and very dangerous attack.
Even without it, he can make Called Shots for +4 damage at -2 or -1 instead of -4.
Heck, another option for a highly "accurate" opponent that would be easy to run for the GM would be to give him a d12 Fighting and Improved Block for +2 to Parry. How is the character "accurate?" Improved Block allows him to Wild Attack for +2 to attack and damage every round and still have his base Parry of 8. And if he uses Defend, he goes to a Parry of 12. |
Anyway, comments, ideas, suggestions for what it's worth. Hope it helps.
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Clint Black
Savage Worlds Core Rules Brand Manager
www.peginc.com |
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