Robin Hood

[Morien]

30 minutes ago, Atgxtg said:

How would crticals work? -10 or a hit?

I'd let it be a normal hit if the opponent succeeds partially (i.e. both results get downgraded a level), and a critical hit if they fail.

32 minutes ago, Atgxtg said:

Just about everybody hits harder now. 

I see a 5d6 dmg, mail-clad knight as someone the PCs in Robin Hood game should run away from and shoot from a distance, or at the very least, double-team. Or attack him when he is not wearing his armor nor carrying his shield. A generic footman with Skill 10-12 with 4 point padded jack and a spear... sure, that one you might try to take out on your own.

Robin Hood should be all about catching the enemy when they don't expect to fight. If you are going against soldiers in a regular melee match-up, you are playing to their strengths, not yours.

[Atgxtg]

22 hours ago, Morien said:

I'd let it be a normal hit if the opponent succeeds partially (i.e. both results get downgraded a level), and a critical hit if they fail.

OKay.

22 hours ago, Morien said:

I see a 5d6 dmg, mail-clad knight as someone the PCs in Robin Hood game should run away from and shoot from a distance, or at the very least, double-team. Or attack him when he is not wearing his armor nor carrying his shield. A generic footman with Skill 10-12 with 4 point padded jack and a spear... sure, that one you might try to take out on your own.

That doesn't fit well with the cinematic Robin Hood, nor with many of the legends, which tend to have Robin facing off with Sir Guy or the Sheriff of Nottingham in a sword duel. If you look at the legends Robin and his Merry Men don't shoot that many people.

 

22 hours ago, Morien said:

Robin Hood should be all about catching the enemy when they don't expect to fight. If you are going against soldiers in a regular melee match-up, you are playing to their strengths, not yours.

There is a lot of truth to that. Unfortunately the Pendragon game mechanics sort of work against that in favor of the soldiers, especially if they are knights. In the legends and ballads Robin and his men usually catch lone travelers or small groups by surprise and rob them with little resistance, if any. Robin's men rarely confront anybody in an actual fight, and run away from, and later harass and harry soldiers sent into the forest after them. What fights that do occur tend to be with small groups and with melee weapons, not longbows. 

I think that for it to work as a game though, some melee fighting for the PC must be allowed for. Also, all those skills covered under DEX should probably be turned back into skills so that the PCs can improve them. I don't think it would be all that great if, in order to improve stealth, all PCs needed to raise their DEX. I think we'd wind up with every outlaw having a 20 DEX.

 

TO sum up, I really think that while Pendragon can be adapted for a Robin Hood setting, the game would need to be customized to work in that setting, much like how Chaosium has always done to adapt their game systems to a particular setting. I think any GM who wants to do this should take a long look at the RAW and the reasons why the various rules work the way the do and then replace the bias towards knights with one towards outlaws. I think there probably should be some sort of "Righteousness Bonus" for outlaws that are breaking the law but still do good things. And Glory should factor into the peasantry's Love(Outlaws) score, and rules will be needed to improve it (much like how a Knight can do so by building stuff or taking less income). One of the main reasons why Robin and his men aren't caught is because the peasants know he is a good guy and appreciate all the help he has given them.