| |
Gah.
Slings.
You'll note, if you read BW2000 carefully, that slings with stones are
hands-down the best weapon in the game. Well, that is, if you're more
concerned about point expenditure vs. effectiveness than you are about style,
anyway... and of course, being a gamer, I am that occasionally.
More to the point, my good friend Neil (you know, the guy who isn't *really* a
LEGO guy who has been at the two previous BrikWars events) is a gamer, and he
noticed this.
Why, do you ask, are slings so good?
Well, they do as much damage as a sword, at range. Not *just* at range,
either- at throwing range. But not just throwing range! Oh, no! Slings
effectively DOUBLE the 'fig's power for purposes of throwing... and there's a
certain incident with a certain Ninja on top of a certain roof with a grenade
that might give a decent example of throwing range... and that was without a
sling.
So. Neil sent some mail back and forth with the Great Sage, the Divine One,
Mike Rayhawk, and suggested a fix- instead of *doubling* the 'fig's power,
Slings add +1 to the 'fig's power for throwing. Mike gave it a nod (although
apparently eventually hes looking to change around the Throwing rules) and Neil
asked me to post here on Lugnet to ask that we all use this rule for the
upcoming game, out of a sense of sanity.
Does that sound good to everyone? Bad? Indifferent?
eric
|
|
| |
In lugnet.org.us.nelug, Eric Joslin writes:
>
> Gah.
>
> Slings.
>
> You'll note, if you read BW2000 carefully, that slings with stones are
> hands-down the best weapon in the game.
I don't know if anyone is actually following my babbling about slings, but I
have to correct the above. This is from email that went back and forth between
Neil and Mike Rayhawk, and is the Final Word on what is going to happen with
Throwing rules and Slings. If you're using either one, or think you might be
facing them (and you are, believe me) then you might want to read this text:
+++
Here's the final results of stuff that Mike Rayhawk
and I discussed:
So to review:
The distance a minifig can throw things is (Power x Skill) / Mass.
A sling costs 1 CP. With it, you can hurl stones for 1d6
Stun damage. The max range is calculated by using your normal
throwing range as if you had +1 Power, or 10", whichever is less.
In addition, when using a sling, you must be in a space with
no head level obstructions within 1" of the minifig. Also, on a
critical failure, the minifig has suffered the Ewok Effect, hitting
himself in the head for 1d6 stun damage.
+++
You'll note that this bring Slings more in line with their CP cost.
Full disclosure time: I'm posting this without specific permission from Mike
or Neil. I have implied permission from Neil because he and I discussed making
sure everyone knows the rules we're using going into this, and I feel that Mike
Rayhawk probably doesn't care, since you'll all find out about it on the 18th
anyway.
Once again, if anyone has any questions, lemme know.
eric
|
|
| |
In lugnet.org.us.nelug, Eric Joslin writes:
>
> Gah.
>
> Slings.
>
> You'll note, if you read BW2000 carefully, that slings with stones are
> hands-down the best weapon in the game. Well, that is, if you're more
> concerned about point expenditure vs. effectiveness than you are about style,
> anyway... and of course, being a gamer, I am that occasionally.
>
> More to the point, my good friend Neil (you know, the guy who isn't *really* a
> LEGO guy who has been at the two previous BrikWars events) is a gamer, and he
> noticed this.
Gah, slings!
Neil is absolutely right of course, the slings (and the Throwing Things
rules) are way unbalanced. Over e-mail he and I argued the matter back and
forth and came up with the following revisions:
Throwing Things:
----------------
The old formula for throwing range, ((5xPower)/Mass)+Skill" is both too
complicated and generates ranges that are much too long. Instead, the new
formula will be updated to (Skill x Power / Mass)". Most minifigs have 1
Power, and most thrown objects weigh 1 Blok or less, so in most cases the
range of a thrown object will simply be (Skill").
Slings:
-------
The power of slings has been dramatically reduced. Slings will have a range
of (2xSkill"), not to exceed 10", regardless of the unit's Power. Slings
now do 1d6 Stun damage instead of normal damage.
Sling TL1 (2H to load) 1CP Range(2xSkill", max 10") UR3 1d6 Stun Damage
A minifig needs space to swing a sling around, so he may not use a sling if
there is a head-high obstacle within 1". Any time a unit makes an attack
roll with a sling and rolls a critical failure, he suffers the Ewok Effect
and hits himself in the head with the sling for 1d6 Stun damage.
Other Ranged Weapons:
---------------------
Thrown Rox now do Stun damage instead of normal damage.
If you want an archery-equivalent to the sling, between the ShortBow and the
LongBow is the new MediumBow, with the following stats:
MediumBow TL1 (2H) 2CP Range 8" UR4 1d6 Damage, requires Quiver to load.
> Does that sound good to everyone? Bad? Indifferent?
Of course, as with all BrikWars rules, feel free to ignore or modify these
according to personal taste; and feel free to email me any comments or
suggestions at rayhawk@artcenter.edu.
- Mike.
|
|
| |
In lugnet.org.us.nelug, Mike Rayhawk writes:
> Neil is absolutely right of course,
Well, there's something you don't hear often.
> The old formula for throwing range, ((5xPower)/Mass)+Skill" is both too
> complicated and generates ranges that are much too long. Instead, the new
> formula will be updated to (Skill x Power / Mass)".
Ok, already I have a fairly universal question about this formula.
The standard trooper has 1d6 skill, and 1 power. We'll assume he's trying to
throw something with a mass of 1, as well.
So, we look at the formula, and we get 1d6 x 1 / 1 = 1d6". I assume this means
that the trooper decides to throw a grenade, and you roll to see how far he can
throw it. You roll a 4, he can throw it up to 4". You roll a 1, and he
fumbles and drops it at his feet, and has a few seconds to regret not having
married Betty when he had a chance.
But, now let's assume the crazy bastard is trying to throw something with a
mass of 2! You look at the formula, and you get: 1d6 x 1 / 2 = 1d6 / 2. What
does this mean in BrikWars terms?
Does it mean that you roll the D6 and divide by two? That seems reasonable.
So, you roll a 3, divide by two and get 1.5, and he throws it 1.5 inches.
What if he has a skill of, say, 1d10+4, and is throwing a mass of 2? Do you
roll a d10, divide that by 2, and add 2?
What if you have a skill of 1d6, and a power of 3, and you're throwing
something with a mass of 2? Do you roll 3d6, add up the total, and divide it?
I know these questions seem anal, I just like to know these kinds of things.
thanks,
eric
|
|
| |
In lugnet.org.us.nelug, Eric Joslin writes:
> > The old formula for throwing range, ((5xPower)/Mass)+Skill" is both too
> > complicated and generates ranges that are much too long. Instead, the new
> > formula will be updated to (Skill x Power / Mass)".
>
> Ok, already I have a fairly universal question about this formula.
>
> The standard trooper has 1d6 skill, and 1 power. We'll assume he's trying to
> throw something with a mass of 1, as well.
>
> So, we look at the formula, and we get 1d6 x 1 / 1 = 1d6". I assume this
> means that the trooper decides to throw a grenade, and you roll to see how
> far he can throw it. You roll a 4, he can throw it up to 4". You roll a 1,
> and he fumbles and drops it at his feet, and has a few seconds to regret not
> having married Betty when he had a chance.
That's why in real life you try to throw grenades through, around, or over
obstacles that you can then hide behind. And also I think that bad things
should happen to any unit who rolls ones.
> But, now let's assume the crazy bastard is trying to throw something with a
> mass of 2! You look at the formula, and you get: 1d6 x 1 / 2 = 1d6 / 2.
> What does this mean in BrikWars terms?
>
> Does it mean that you roll the D6 and divide by two? That seems reasonable.
> So, you roll a 3, divide by two and get 1.5, and he throws it 1.5 inches.
That's about the size of it. You could also try taking a jigsaw to your die
and cutting it in half so that you could roll any .5d6's that crop up.
However your no-jigsaw solution is probably the more elegant one.
> What if he has a skill of, say, 1d10+4, and is throwing a mass of 2? Do you
> roll a d10, divide that by 2, and add 2?
Sounds good so far.
> What if you have a skill of 1d6, and a power of 3, and you're throwing
> something with a mass of 2? Do you roll 3d6, add up the total, and divide it?
You could divide 3d6 by two ((SkillxPower)/Mass), or you could multiply 1d6
by 1.5 (Skillx(Power/Mass)), whichever you prefer. The second method is
more likely to hit the maximum or minimum numbers than the first method, but
the two methods are otherwise equivalent.
> I know these questions seem anal, I just like to know these kinds of things.
Regardless of what order in which you do the adding and multiplying and so
forth, any method you might choose will be algebraically identical. The
shapes of the probability curves vary slightly, but not enough so that I'd
want to force players to conform to one method as opposed to another. So,
just do whatever seems natural and everything should go smoothly.
- Mike Rayhawk.
|
|
| |
In lugnet.org.us.nelug, Mike Rayhawk writes:
> Regardless of what order in which you do the adding and multiplying and so
> forth, any method you might choose will be algebraically identical.
I wasn't as interested in what order the things occur in mathematically as I
was in making sure I understood how the dice made the transition from Skill
dice to Range. For example, you don't convert 1d6 to 3.5 and use the formula,
or roll the die and then apply the formula (although I guess that would
actually work just as well, now that I think about it) or some other bizarre
option I hadn't thought of.
eric
|
|
|
