• Registered: 2013-08-08
  • Posts: 285

Topic: Specialist - climb encumbered or not?

I've gotten a group together and will be running my first game of LOTP in the next week or two.

(Starting with A Stranger Storm, then Tower of the Stargazer and onto Better Than Any Man...)

I've read through the online Rules & Magic, then all the Grindhouse stuff and am now reading that version of the Rules & Magic.  I'm hoping someone could clear up something that's confusing me:

p. 10
"The Specialist must be unencumbered to use any of the class abilities that involve movement..."

p. 30, under "Climbing"
"Characters (except Specialists) must be unencumbered to make this attempt."

I would assume that climbing implies movement, and that the Specialist would need to be unencumbered, but then under the climbing heading, it seems to imply the Specialist can be encumbered while climbing.  Is this true?

My call would be all characters, including Specialists, would need to be unencumbered, but I want to make sure I'm not taking away one of their abilities.

Thanks!

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  • JimLotFP
  • Lord of All Fevers and Plagues
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  • From: Helsinki, Finland
  • Registered: 2009-10-07
  • Posts: 613

Re: Specialist - climb encumbered or not?

ah, um... I'd say the level of encumbrance subtracts from the effective Climb skill (so Lightly Encumbered would be -1 to the skill, Heavily -2, Severely -3).

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  • Registered: 2012-06-04
  • Posts: 54

Re: Specialist - climb encumbered or not?

I play it exactly like Jim's call, and I apply this rule to Stealth as well. It works neatly, since everyone except specialists have a "1" in each skill; thus, only specialists can attempt these things while encumbered (but benefit greatly from not being so).

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  • Registered: 2013-08-08
  • Posts: 285

Re: Specialist - climb encumbered or not?

That sounds, perfect, thank you!  I just finished reading through Rules & Magic this morning (including all first level spells) and have a few more questions:

p 39
"Characters apply their Constitution modifier to their per-day travel distance on foot."

This means someone with a +2 modifier can move two extra miles per day, right?  (Can someone who's overencumbered but has a +2 modifier move 2 miles per day instead of 0?)

p156 "Turn Undead"
It's possible for a Cleric to succeed with their initial 2d6 roll (ie, a level 1 Cleric rolls an 11, and is therefore able to turn a 3 HD or less undead creature...) but then fail to roll high enough on their second roll to actually turn anything, right?  (So they roll a 1, add their level, which equals 2, but if the undead creature has 3 HD, they can't affect it...)

Finally, I just want to clarify how "reverse spells" work for initial selection.  Do Clerics have access to all reverse spells at their level?  I'm assuming Magic-Users roll randomly to see if they get the regular or the reverse when determining initial spells (ie, they don't get both...)

Thanks for your help - and I welcome any other advice you might have for my first game!  (I do have experience running other systems - so mainly anything related specifically to LotFP that a newbie might mess up...)

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