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Paul.Meerscheidt
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Joined: 22 Dec 2009
Posts: 3
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 Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 2:48 am Post subject: |
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| Clint wrote: | | Lord Lance wrote: | | Come on, if you have even just a wizard in the party, with good spellcasting skill and the classic bolt, he can punch easily a 4d6 magic damage from the distance, that usually becomes 4d6+6 damage 'cause there is an high chance of 1 ace, at least. (with 1 dice comes "6", and the others in the middle ground, he does about 21 damage...) |
Sorry, but I'd have to say that's a bit of a misnomer there. First off, the wizard has to get a raise on his attack roll to hit the target to get to roll 4d6 damage. Even with a d12 skill and no other penalties for range, cover, or anything else, there is at best a 50% chance.
And then, if it's presumed one of the dice aces to roll a 6, it must also be presumed that one of the other dice rolls a 1 and maintains the average. The fact is, the average damage for 4d6 is 16 points of damage, and the odds drop off fairly quickly such that the odds of rolling 21+ points of damage are less than half that.
So that's a wizard with the best spellcasting skill (not just a good one) who is in the absolute best position (no penalties), and he has something like a 1 in 8 chance of rolling 4d6 damage and getting a 21+ result. I don't really see qualifying that as something done "easily." |
And sometimes the Wild Card enemy I throw at the characters hits with a raise using a pistol and rolls 3d6....for a total of 23-27 damage. Three shots, three hits w/raise = TPK
SAVAGE!
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shadd4d
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Joined: 24 Sep 2003
Posts: 3931
Location: Charlottesville, VA...I miss Deutschland and Chicago.
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| Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 2:56 pm Post subject: |
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| Jeff Carlsen wrote: | I've noticed a bit of a trend. GM's that are stingy with bennies seem to cause players to hoard them, while those who are more loose seem to get more benny action.
In my experience, even before I start giving our bennies, I see groups burn through them rather quickly... |
After reading this thread, I'm wondering how what sort of tips and tricks does one as GM utilize in order to discourage bennie hoarding. Is simply being generous with bennies lead to them being spent more often or does it encourage players to adopt a "Saturday Night on the Town" in which actually venturing to an encounter is put off until sufficient bennies are awarded, leading the group to dither a bit until setting off toward the challenge?
Don
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Don
"But there is a difference between fear and horror. An important difference.
Fear is when you worry about what might be.
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daran
Seasoned
Joined: 12 Jan 2009
Posts: 111
Location: Shetland, UK
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| Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 3:03 pm Post subject: |
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| shadd4d wrote: | | Jeff Carlsen wrote: | I've noticed a bit of a trend. GM's that are stingy with bennies seem to cause players to hoard them, while those who are more loose seem to get more benny action.
In my experience, even before I start giving our bennies, I see groups burn through them rather quickly... |
After reading this thread, I'm wondering how what sort of tips and tricks does one as GM utilize in order to discourage bennie hoarding. Is simply being generous with bennies lead to them being spent more often or does it encourage players to adopt a "Saturday Night on the Town" in which actually venturing to an encounter is put off until sufficient bennies are awarded, leading the group to dither a bit until setting off toward the challenge?
Don |
I'm all for frugality with Bennies but as I and the other local GMs don't allow the trading of Bennies for XPs the best way to finish a session is to expend your last benny on the last action of the day. Rewarding strong role playing and innovative play with Bennies is always fun and encourages taking chances, agility tricks and some thinking on the fly. Also, shooting the PCs is always a good way to get them to use their hoarded bennies 
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Chezzo
Seasoned
Joined: 02 Feb 2009
Posts: 269
Location: Philly, PA
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| Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 11:12 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | ...as I and the other local GMs don't allow the trading of Bennies for XPs... |
The local GMs and I don't allow trading Bennies for XP either! I find that it allows for a more even leveling up, as you can just say, "Okay, you gain a level," after an appropriate amount of time. Also, there really is no Benny hoarding.
It was a house rule before I started playing, and while it makes sense, I'd kind of like to see how it works with the Bennies for XP system...
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Crimson Devil
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Joined: 13 Apr 2004
Posts: 92
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| Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 4:08 am Post subject: |
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I'm free with the bennies. I give them for role-playing, being funny, being creative, or GM fiat. We also have a house rule, since we have 8 total players (3 of which GM), so it is easy to miss things. The other two can reward a benny and the players are allowed to advocate for each other. Begging is not allowed and will be scorned.
It is very easy to get caught in the fairness trap. Not all players will earn bennies, and some will constancally have a huge stack. It is about merit, if you don't try, I'm not going to reward you or penalize someone else to try and be fair to you.
I'm also free with my GM bennies. I don't save them all for the big bad or even use them all. If a player kills a WC in a cool manner, I won't alter it. I find that it a common mistake of GMs to forget that the Players are the stars of the story. Don't get in their way when they do something awesome.
I don't use a GM screen. I role my dice in the open and let what happens, happen. This leads to a higher mortality rate, but my players are used to it. I kill one PC at least every campaign. My players understand I'm not out to screw them or on a GM power trip. This atmosphere allows more drama, creativity, & better role-playing. All I want is a cool story and so do they. This style may not work for other groups, but for us it rocks!
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Merlin_Sylver
Seasoned
Joined: 02 Oct 2009
Posts: 112
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| Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 8:18 am Post subject: |
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| shadd4d wrote: | I'm wondering how what sort of tips and tricks does one as GM utilize in order to discourage bennie hoarding. Is simply being generous with bennies lead to them being spent more often or does it encourage players to adopt a "Saturday Night on the Town" in which actually venturing to an encounter is put off until sufficient bennies are awarded, leading the group to dither a bit until setting off toward the challenge?
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That's why I only award bennies for actions that actually push the game forward. If the group is in town, and scores some mighty nice rolls doing whatever they wanted, then the impression they make on the town folk is their just reward. If I thought the players were actually dithering for the sole purpose of being awarded bennies, I'd call them on it, and maybe even penalize everyone involved an XP point for bad roleplaying.
It's strange with my table... I have three regular groups, two of which are playing the exact same setting, whilst a third is playing something more White Wolfish. WoD game I am running sees the bennies being hoarded, nor do I award very many... There's not much in the way of wounds soaking, as most sessions go by with perhaps only a pittance of combat, and most of the players have disciplines or gifts that make other important rolls a cinch.
On the other hand, the two Deadlands game I am playing sees LOTS of bennie usage. At least one of my players will be out of bennies by the end of the first hour, provided they did nothing special to gain more.
Stranger still is that in my two DL games, players are as different as their characters are; some hoard, some spend freely...
Anyway... I suppose I'm done rambling about this now.  |
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Jeff Carlsen
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Joined: 05 Nov 2009
Posts: 35
Location: Burien, WA
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| Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 6:43 pm Post subject: |
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I'm just letting everybody know that your advice has been wonderful, and the article is now written and posted.
Thank you all again, and I hope you enjoy the results. Of course, if I missed anything, or if you have problems with the advice, feel free to let us know, either here or in the comments.
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Tavis
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Joined: 27 Aug 2007
Posts: 652
Location: Macclesfield UK
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| Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 7:24 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | Re-roll any test. If you roll a test and don’t like the result, you can roll again, but you have to keep it. |
I was under the impression you re-roll the test, and then keep the result that you like ... so if you fail on the first roll, spending a benny and then 'going bust' on the re-roll doesn't make things worse ...
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shadd4d
Legendary
Joined: 24 Sep 2003
Posts: 3931
Location: Charlottesville, VA...I miss Deutschland and Chicago.
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| Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 7:46 pm Post subject: |
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| Tavis wrote: | | Quote: | | Re-roll any test. If you roll a test and don’t like the result, you can roll again, but you have to keep it. |
I was under the impression you re-roll the test, and then keep the result that you like ... so if you fail on the first roll, spending a benny and then 'going bust' on the re-roll doesn't make things worse ... |
You are correct; on pg 58 SW:EX, it says you take the best.
Don
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"But there is a difference between fear and horror. An important difference.
Fear is when you worry about what might be.
Horror is when you are certain." Dannyboy01 |
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Jeff Carlsen
Novice
Joined: 05 Nov 2009
Posts: 35
Location: Burien, WA
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| Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 7:23 pm Post subject: |
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Just letting everyone know that the articles have been edited to fix the errors. If you have any other thoughts or advice, I'd love to hear it so I can add it to the articles.
Also, Part 2 has been posted.
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