SDLeary

Hmm... perhaps in house play. I don't see them in my manuscript (the well laid out version; copyright 93 OJ) I can see a run skill... I'm not so sure marching should be based on a skill though. Perhaps if you have no fatigue mechanic. If you do have a march skill, perhaps it should have a high base. Strength and Constitution (Average x3?). SDLeary

Re Pendragon Traits... I haven't yet found a way to totally divorce the Pendragon magic system from them. But, I kindof like the idea of cultural and religious values playing a role. Makes things interesting if they stray too far from their homeland, or if they want to join cult Y because it has cool magic, but the cultural values make them totally unsuited to admission. I am thinking of having the values (and passions too) add to rolls ala Hero Quest rather than the Inspiration rolls in PD. Happy New Year everyone! SDLeary

Sounds a bit like what I've been contemplating. Along with a bit of Pendragon opposed traits rolled in. The traits would be used because I'm also looking to import the Pendragon magic system as either a Celtic specific system, or as a universal alternate for spirit/divine magic. SDLeary

Hence the suggestion of a resistance roll vs the location points, failure resulting not in "damage", but a reduction of fatigue to minimum (taking into account point or level systems) and a KO. I'll modify this, because I didn't specify earlier. The KO would of course be for trunk hits. This does put the shooter at somewhat a disadvantage though as they haven't really damaged their target. SDLeary

A KO might not be likely with a .32 against a Level III vest, but certainly is with a Level IIIA. And lower Level II and IIA vests, which law enforcement use, its certainly possible. Police have often been taken, unconscious, to the emergency room after being shot; ER doctors only finding a large bruise and internal trauma. The same has happened on the battlefield with Soldiers, and higher Level vests. The KO might not last for long, perhaps only qualify as Stun in game terms, but it does happen. The goal of discussions like this should not be to model real world conditions in detail. To do so increases bookkeeping and/or number of rules which will cause most to simply ignore them. The real world must be abstracted into something that is simple to use for the average joe without bogging down combats that some already consider take too long. SDLeary

OK then... how about the damage value that penetrates soft armour be used vs the location hit points in a resistance roll... failure equals a knockout and/or reduction of fatigue to 0. Or, perhaps, some sort of degrees suggested above, but rather than something with so many options, we allow specials and crits. Special 1/4 damage, crit, none. I suggest this because, as I understand it, and have seen photos demonstrating, soft armours do NOT prevent damage, they prevent penetration and tearing damage. Trauma still occurs (being spread out over a much larger area), possibly including internal bleeding and broken ribs. Even plates in semi rigid armours do this, but to a far lesser degree. Another option would be to introduce Stun damage in a game with firearms and treat the damage not "stopped" by the value of the vest as Stun. SDLeary

I would like to suggest that for ballistic armour, rather than adding a penetration value, a method that is based on the RQ3 spell Damage Resistance be used. For flexible armour (no inserts), rather than no damage though, if the roll IS made, the shot does half damage, and causes no bleeding. If a single shot is twice the value, or higher, then the shot does full damage. For Rigid armour, as per damage resistance. Somewhat easier than developing a whole slew of penetration values and AP values for objects, unless of course thats your thing! ;-) Thoughts? SDLeary

IIRC its more about him getting SOME royalties. Apparently, originally he wrote the contract in such a way that Chaosium was not required to pay royalties at all. And once games got larger, he was miffed because he couldn't convince Chaosium to renegotiate. SDLeary

Well... to be fair, the .45 is MORE of a man stopper than the 9mmP. Energy is generally higher across the field, and the bullet tends to be of larger diameter, and more mass. This tends to relate to the amount of energy actually transfered to the target. This is ONE of the reasons that special forces the world over use it on operation; the other being its subsonic nature. The shape of the .45 ACP though is something of a slightly elongated ball (american football or rugby ball, with a flat end) and thus should not have the overall penetration (target depth) of the sleeker and narrower 9mmP. SDLeary

In a SciFi, I would think that Edu would be almost required. Despite being a military campaign, isn't there the chance they would have a techie or science type anywhere in the campaign? If so, how do you arrive at their techie points? Not something the listed MOS seem to handle. SDLeary

Hmmm... found the passage. Reads the same. This had never registered when I first read it. I wonder though if this was the case during the initial engagement, or after the charge and wall has broken apart. Here is the link ( I couldn't find my own copy ): Ancient History Sourcebook: Polybius: The Roman Maniple vs. The Macedonian Phalanx SDLeary

Dayum... Thanks! Now I'm going to have to go dig out my copy of Polybius to see if thats the way it reads in an English translation! ;-) SDLeary

"The Great Argrath Campaign"?? SDLeary

Up here in the SF area, most stuff isn't shrunk. IN fact, my current fav FLGS HATES books shrunk. Makes it hard for them to learn about the product too. SDLeary

Woo! Now this sounds interesting. Perhaps with an additional pairing... Hardened/Sympathetic, and some way to note particular situations that might reoccur. Time to go back to the Classics books to find the full list of pairings. SDLeary

Woot! SDLeary

Yes! I see that now! Sorry Nightshade! Dayum coffee should have kicked in sooner SDLeary

Until they started facing Cavalry SDLeary

BUZZ! Thank you for playing! Before the adoption of the pilum (Marian reforms IIRC), Legionaries were spearmen, called Hastati, and used the Hasta (spear). Marius introduced reforms which made the army a more mobile force on the battlefield, and a javelin replacing the spear fit the bill nicely. Enter the Pilum. Once the army began to encounter massed cavalry (Parthians and later Goths, not to mention their own), the Pilum became a lot less effective, and they moved back to being spearmen. Ideally they would still carry 2 javelins, now called a Spiculum, or darts called plumbata. Throughout their entire history, as far as can be told, legionaries carried swords also. Exceptions exist. Early on a legionary had to provide his own equipment... skirmishers could have axes or maces in addition to their missiles. Romans were never primarily swordsmen as we understand it; the gladius being used as a thrusting weapon from within the shield wall. Traditional swordsmen tend to do poorly in a shield wall. Even when they adopted the spatha, it tended to be a thrusting weapon. SDLeary

Not quite so. Once a bullet enters, a crap load internal damage can be done. Take a block of ballistic gel. Shoot it with an arrow, stab it with an epee, and shoot it with both a pistol and rilfe. The patterns for the firearms will probably be much much more violent. Thats what happens inside a body. Now if you wiggle the epee or spear around while inside the wound... :eek: SDLeary

As far as the Falcatta/Kopis is concerned, there are many who think that it is a refinement of what looks to be a sword/axe. The Khopesh (sickle sword) of the New Kingdom in Egypt. Ironically, it appears to have been edged on the outer sweep, not in the concave like a sickle. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khopesh Just for reference, I do NOT like Wikipedia as an authority, but it makes for a quick and dirty reference, and it had a pic! SDLeary

The other thread about Cthulhu Rising got me to thinking about CDA. Could it take a similar treatment and survive? Could the mythos creatures become demons? The Mythos and Non-Mythos Grimoires get the WoW/BRP magic treatment? This would give us a gritty low fantasy setting, and would bring this excellent work back from limbo. Call it something along the lines of Torchlight SDLeary

Cthulhu Rising would probably be the best route. Scrubbing the mythos references and calling the beasties aliens would not only be expedient, but would provide the game with a well made setting. Is it Aliens/2300 like? YES! Which means you can run Traveller like games, though a bit low tech for that genre; Aliens/2300 middle tech reach-for-the-stars type games; and if you play on the core world/worlds, you might also be able to due Cyberpunk. Firefly like stuff comes to mind too. How about "Torchlight" as a fantasy setting? A re-edit would have to be done, of course. Cthulhu monsters fit right-in in a fantasy setting as demon types. Fantasy Europe would be gritty enough for BRP. Also, using the powers and magic options, some could do something ala ArsMagica if thats your type of thing. Yes, I'm talking about CDA (it is currently OOP after all), perhaps with the fully revised/completed Pagan Call scenario. SDLeary

Some of the weapon damage has changed for some reason. .375 Magnum: 1d8+1d4 in the current Cthulhu, and 1d8+1d6 in Cthulhu Now. The .38 Automatic is currently 1d10, was 1d8 in CN. Looks like a few others too, but pistols have been mentioned, so there ya go.

Yes and no. At least in Cthulhu. There is a spot rule on p.63, current edition. It is written thus: Unaimed Shots The shots-per-round entries for firearms assume that a shooter has an ernest desire to hit the target, and thus aims with care. As a general guide, unaimed fire allows twice the number of attacks per round listed for the weapon on the Weapons Table. Reduce the shooter's chance to hit to one fifth of normal. ... This is slightly different from the way it appeared in its first iteration in Chtulhu Now: ... some desire to hit the target and takes time to aim. If the character simply wants to blaze away, he can get off 4 shots per round from any pistol or semi-automatic rifle, 3 shots per round from any pump-action or lever-action gun or 1 shot per round from any bolt-action weapon. The chance there is also one fifth. Also in Chtulhu Now, if you used the optional Hit Locations rule, you had another option, Aimed Shots, which applied called location shots from RQ to firearms. SDLeary