Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/17/84; site mhuxt.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!houxm!mhuxt!js2j
From: js2j@mhuxt.UUCP (sonntag)
Newsgroups: net.games.frp
Subject: Re: Movement and Dying Nasties
Message-ID: <1177@mhuxt.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 3-Oct-85 13:41:14 EDT
Article-I.D.: mhuxt.1177
Posted: Thu Oct  3 13:41:14 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 4-Oct-85 05:20:26 EDT
References: <117@drutx.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill
Lines: 94

> It concerns movement.  The way we've been treating movement goes 
> like this:
> Before you are actually involved in combat (i.e. charging in
> to get your first blow), you can move your movement rate in
> feet per segment, taking initiative into account.  For instance,
> an unamored magic user charging into battle (assuming he really
> wants to do something stupid like that) rolls a 4 initiative.
> He can move 12' on 4, 3, 2, 1--for a total of 48'.  If he still
> hasn't reached his goal, he can continue moving from his initiative
> on the next round.  Once he is in battle, it is assumed that he
> can only move 12' per round, since he has to be doing other things
> at that point.

      Several comments:
1.)  It looks as though a player gets his entire movement only if he
     rolls a good initiative.  Initiative is supposed to govern who
     acts first, *not* whether or not you get your whole action or not.
2.)  Only 12'/rnd movement during melee!?  So if I decide to run past
     the enemy's front line and attack their spell casters who happen to
     be 60 feet behind the enemy fighters, the spell casters have five
     rounds (minutes) to throw spells at me while I charge (amble) towards
     them?  Under this system, you should have no problem with your
     spell casters dying if you just decentralize the melee.  Of course,
     a movement rate of 12'/minute translates to about 1/7 miles/hour.
     Even the traditional movement rate of 120'/minute seems amazingly
     slow, but to reduce it further by an entire order of magnitude!?
3.)  If you want to impose a movement penalty for doing other actions,
     it's not that hard to do reasonably.  Just impose standard penalties,
     like:  50% movement + attacking = 1 rnd
            25% movement + 2 arrows  = 1 rnd
            25% movement + 1 V,S,M spell = 1 rnd
     It sounds like you're using a much simpler rule:
            10% movement + any other action = 1 rnd
     Which is bound to upset the game balance.
> 
> I like this system because the distances seem to be within the
> realm of reason, and it takes initiative into account for movement
> as well as spell casting, blows, etc.  However, the problem I am
> having when I DM is that the fighters, unless they get really
> atrocious initiative rolls, manage to get up and impale my spell-
> casting NPCs before they can do much damage.  Once you have someone
> hitting you, and once the PCs are close in, you do a lot less damage.
> I have lost some nasty NPCs much too easily.

       Spell casting NPC's should be smart enough to have some fighting
type NPC's along.  How much trouble to you think the PC's would have if
the medium level MU's went out without fighters or clerics?  
       Also, some monsters have spell-like abilities, which a DM can easily
rule as *abilities* instead of *spells*, and allow them to do them even while
PC's beat on them.
       If you're running a monster or NPC with superior movement abilities
than the PC's, *use* them!  A party which can trash a dragon which decides
to fight them on the ground may easily be defeated by the same dragon which 
makes a few strafing runs first.  Similarly, fighters on heavy warhorses
can be attacked with long range spells by MUs on light warhorses with 
relative impunity (although some bows have quite a lot of range.  At the
very least, the MUs may decide when they've had enough and run away.)
      And as a last resort, if your party is still trashing your monsters and
NPCs, then you're not generating *enough* of them.  
> 
> It is true that the NPCs have the same movement possibilites, but
> you can't cast while running, either.
> 
> So I'm throwing it open for discussion, flames, etc.  How do you
> handle movement, especially before and in combat?  And even more 
> importantly, how do you handle spellcasting NPCs so as to inflict 
> appropriate pain and suffering? Is this just something I'll have to 
> learn by trial and error, or are there some good rules of thumb that 
> will help?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> 
>                                      Sue Brezden
>                                      
> Real World: Room 1B17                Net World: ihnp4!drutx!slb
>             AT&T Information Systems
>             11900 North Pecos
>             Westminster, Co. 80234
>             (303)538-3829 
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>         Your god may be dead, but mine aren't.
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE ***
-- 
Jeff Sonntag
ihnp4!mhuxt!js2j
    Silly quote: "There are a few off-the-wall extremists, who are shunned
                  by us moderates." - Don Black