Talk:The Jin Dynasty
--BenofZongo 13:15, 19 October 2006 (MDT)BTW, Ed, this looks really nice. Good background, sounds like it could be a fun little series of games. As for character creation, when you say combat levels can only be taken for martial arts, do you mean just for specific maneuvers? So you can't take the +5 or above levels?
--Edmiao 14:38, 19 October 2006 (MDT)Thanks! The goal is to create a world where martial arts are the most effective form of combat. Exactly how I do that remains to be finalized, and I'd love suggestions as well, as I'm still forming the ideas. I don't understand your question about "+5 or above levels", what are those? You mean the CSL with + to all DCV type? I'll have to think about it. The idea was to limit +1 CSL with bows, slings and darts or +1 CSL with swords, knives and spears. You can of course use weapons without martial arts, but if you want CSL to apply to your swordplay, you need to have weapon tuned martial arts. I would say you could take the CSL for all DCV type if there were some martial arts also present. One danger that I want to stay away from is making ALL the characters into uber-Ninjas, but a few nasty ones should be useful.
--BenofZongo 17:35, 19 October 2006 (MDT)Well, it's not just DCV, it can be OCV, or +1 to Hand to Hand, or to Ranged. At +8, it's +1 to all combat. You can't use the +10 in a heroic game. As for wanting a few badasses but not everybody: if you give people a very strong incentive to take martial arts, everybody will take martial arts, and everybody will be an uber ninja, unless you limit the number of uber ninjas in the group. Another note: Combining martial arts with weapons is incredibly lethal. take Shennong, who does two and a half dice of killing damage with his sword. But this is in a world with abundant armor. In the world you propose, players are discouraged to wear armor, and what armor is available is very minor in the face of a significant hit. basically, if a character gets hit in the vitals or the head, they are almost guaranteed to die; in other locations, the likelihood is fairly high as well. That's fine by me, we've all been looking for increased lethality in game play, but it's just something you should be aware of.
--Jason 18:11, 19 October 2006 (MDT)Martial arts are already the most effective form of combat. I normally try and find ways to limit them rather than encourage them. You should remind me on Friday to give you my Ninja Hero books, I have both 4th and 5th ed, plus both versions of Ultimate Martial Artist. I think for me I am probably never going to allow martial arts with weapons elements again, like Ben said they make other forms of combat nearly obsolete.
--Edmiao 18:22, 19 October 2006 (MDT) Hmmm. Yeah, shennong is pretty lethal and I didn't appreciate that weaponed martial arts are so unbalancing. The more I think about it, the more afraid of encouraging the entire group to be uber ninjas I am. Picture the following match up: Master swordsman in armor vs Master ninja with minimal armor. I am thinking that the speed and DCV of the ninja will make it very hard for said swordsmaster to hit. If he does hit...ouch. Ninja on the other hand hits like a mad dog, but has some trouble with the armor. Maybe the game is already well balanced in this capacity? are there currently any penalties for a martial artist in armor? I should reat the Ninja Hero / Ultimate martial artist books more thoroughly. I do want the game to have increased lethality; and to compensate for bad rolling I am enforcing Luck on characters. I figure bad planning will use up your luck and you'll die regardless
