This is the kind of cool idea that makes me feel bad about removing non-human races from my game. Then I remember that all dwarves made by my players will be carbon copies of Gimli and I don't feel bad about it anymore.
1 2012-08-20 20:10:45
Re: Dwarves are Beavers! Beavers, I tell you! (1 replies, posted in LotFP Gaming Forum)
2 2012-08-20 19:57:42
Re: Specialists abilities for everyone (10 replies, posted in LotFP Gaming Forum)
I see it like this: "Fighters fight, Clerics and Magic-Users use magic, and Specialists are people who spent a lot of time developing skills people don't normally have - not everyone is supposed to be able to pick locks, fiddle with mechanisms and pick pockets." Keeping this in mind, I'd say that the classes are quite balanced in the amount of things they will get to do during an adventure.
However, if your players are complaining that the Fighter, Cleric and Magic-User 'don't have skills', ask yourself this: have you been making them roll dice to accomplish things they probably shouldn't have to roll for?
Examples:
Your players want to setup an ambush for a caravan and they have plenty of time to find a good spot. They also describe a specific plan - finding a spot with dense vegetation and hills on both sides, and jumping from the bushes / attacking with bows. In this situation, don't make them roll stealth! Instead, roll for the caravan guard's surprise with a 4 in 6 chance. And if the ambushed party is outnumbered 2 to 1 and consists of normal 0-rank humans, you could even rule that the party manages to kill a few caravan guards before even rolling the dice, as they jump out from the bushes with their weapons ready.
A Fighter wants to sneak up to a guard who is sleeping on duty. Don't make him roll the stealth skill for this unless you think there is a very good reason why he could fail (such as small, unseen objects he could trip over in the way, gravel on the ground that would make a lot of noise, etc.) and there is a also good reason why, in this situation, someone who is a specialist could pull it off instead ("being a master of stealth, you manage to avoid tripping over some cooking pots at the last second" / "being a master of stealth, you manage to move over the gravel without making a sound"). However, even if the Fighter fails the stealth skill roll, don't penalize him overmuch! He doesn't need to have failed completely. After all, he still got the drop on someone who was sleeping, and that should count for something.
A Specialist wants to approach a castle in full daylight without being seen, and there are guards on the walls who are on full alert for some reason. This is the kind of outrageous feat that only a Specialist should be able to consistently pull off, as he runs from tree to tree in the exact split seconds in which the guards get distracted. And even then, he could still fail. In this case, roll stealth.
My opinion is that removing the Specialist class is a 'bad idea' unless you're ok with changing the look & feel of the game - in which case, by all means, it's your game. 
I think that the important thing to remember is that you should give everyone a fair chance to be on the spotlight. Try to think of 'scenes' that make each of them the 'main character'. If your players aren't getting any spotlight time (*and* if it is not their own fault, that is, they are not consistently avoiding every chance you give them to act like proper adventurers), ask yourself if there is anything you could add to the game that would make them feel useful to the group.
3 2012-08-20 17:18:50
Re: Reskinning halflings (2 replies, posted in LotFP Gaming Forum)
I was looking for the same thing but, in the end, decided to keep the races in. At least for now...
Let me point you to a few interesting ideas I liked:
timmyd suggested turning Dwarves into "Barbarians" and Halflings into "Rangers". He also gave them an Attack Bonus progression at 1/2 Fighter rate. In the same thread David suggested giving Barbarians only mêleé AB and Rangers only ranged AB. Link
I liked Andrew S's idea better: (about halflings) "They're called Vagabonds in my game and, being human, can use full sized weapons. Works pretty well." ... "I also made Dwarves human and called them Highlanders - replacing Architecture with Climb was enough, mechanics-wise." Link
This idea by BrendanP is also interesting:
"Elves - > Decedents ( Think Moorcock's Melnibonians ) Swap Search with Languages
Halflings - > Savages ( Think Howard's Picts ) Swap weapon size limit with technology limit."
There is more around the forum, I'm sure...
4 2012-08-20 16:52:41
Re: Lots of questions from a newbie LotFP referee (4 replies, posted in LotFP Gaming Forum)
Hi again. Thank you both very much for your answers, you've given me quite a few things to think about. We've played "A Stranger Storm" with the system 'as is' and it went smoothly. I think everyone had a good time (even though only one character survived ::evil laugh::).
5 2012-08-16 19:13:29
Topic: Lots of questions from a newbie LotFP referee (4 replies, posted in LotFP Gaming Forum)
Hello, everyone.
This saturday I'm going to try GMing the sample adventure from the Grindhouse edition. I'm new to LotFP and my background in Ye Olde D&D is close to nil, so I could use a few tips. I have a few questions:
1) About the "Paralyse" saving throw. The Rules & Magic book mentions (pg. 21) that it is used to save against "any effect in which the victim is unable to move (petrification, hold person, etc.)". Later on (same book, pg. 42) it is said that "a save against paralysis is often used to avoid falling into a covered pit". While I can picture a Magic-User being better than a Fighter at resisting petrification, I'm having trouble picturing how he can be better at avoiding falling into pits. The same applies to other cases, with other saving throws. I'm guessing that I simply don't understand the rationale behind the classes' saving throws, and I confess I'm tempted to replace them altogether... I'd be interested to learn of others' views on this.
2) A person with Constitution 10 travels 24 miles a day, and a person with Constitution 18 travels 27 miles a day. Is this correct?
3) The movement table (Rules & Magic, pg. 38) lists exploration, combat and running distances per round. What is the normal, "strolling down the street" distance per round in feet? I'm thinking of using (25'; 20'; 15'; 10'; 0'). I can picture a few situations in which knowing this would be useful (taking the long route and trying to reach some place before someone walking down the short route, for instance).
4) About the skills. I've been thinking about using difficulty modifiers, such as "+1 for an easy climb". Is this something that other referees do? My motivation is to prevent silly situations like a Fighter repeatedly failing to climb a 9 feet tall wall in a situation in which I cannot rule that no dice roll is required (for instance, running from the city guard and attempting to climb over a wall in an alley). However, I'm worried that this might make the specialist class' skill focus seem less important overall.
5) Concerning XP rewards for the sample adventure [SPOILER alert!]. I very much expect my players to never even find out about the jewels unless I'm very heavy handed - "hey, there is TREASURE inside some of these people! Hack away!". Is it "ok" if my players end their first adventure with 0xp? Do you think it will be too frustrating?
7) Concerning some developments in the sample adventure [SPOILER alert!]:
i) What is your take on the "Voight and Hermann Kampff" technique for discerning changelings? I'm thinking my players might remember Father Naylor once they reach the orphanage...
ii) I'm having trouble picturing what happens in the tavern between the time the characters leave to fetch Father Naylor and the time they come back (Referee book, pg 87). The merchants leave, taking with them the horses and half the changelings. But what happens to everyone else? It is implied that the changelings come rushing in and attack and kill everyone. Shouldn't the PCs find a gruesome scene in the tavern then, rather than "no one is there"?
Also, why do the changelings do this? Do they panic when they find out that the player characters are bringing Father Naylor? Or do they simply want to feed off the shock they will cause on the player characters when they come back to the tavern? What is your take?
8) Holy Water (Rules & Magic, pg. 60) seems like a lot of effort for almost no gain (10 bless spells, plus a silver vial, for a 1d8 damage missile). Am I looking at it the wrong way?
9) Critical hits. Does anyone use them?
Thanks in advance!