Melee/Wizard rules?

[hawkeye]

Hey guy. I'm new to the boards and was just wondering. I know you have your version of the old TFT rules but is it possible to play the books using the original Melee and Wizard rules with out any major tweaking?

[mister frau blucher]

Hello, Hawkeye, and welcome to the boards!

It will certainly play differently. LAW weapon skills allow a beginning character to wear heavier armor and still have a decent chance to hit in combat, unlike Melee. And wizards in LAW use IQ to cast spells, rather than DX as in Wizard. LAW wizards have fewer spells, and the mechanics of Fatigue are a little different, given the availability of Staves in LAW and their FT battery property.

I have not used the pure Melee/Wizard?TFT rules in a few years, so I cannot confirm this with authority. I think you can use the old rules, as the core mechanics are very similar (LAW is closer ot TFT than GURPS is), but the balance will be a bit off and you will also not have the skills referenced in the adventures - though you could use approximate ITL skills.

Hope this helps!

Bret

[nukesnipe]

Hawkeye,

I've been noodling around with using the TFT combat rules with the LAW character progression rules. I miss the double/triple damage and auto misses, the double damage from charges, etc, from TFT/ITL, but I really dislike tallying up the DX of every foe I defeat and then tracking them.

As Bret pointed out, the weapons skills and rolling against IQ are the biggest differences with TFT/ITL. Weapons skills confer either a to-hit bonus (+DX) or a damage bonus. The easiest way to resolve that is to increase the LAW foe's DX by its weapons bonus. For instance, a DX 11 foe with a Sword+2 would become a DX 13 foe.

I'd recommend the same thing for LAW wizards: make their DX equal to their IQ and roll against DX as in Wizard.

What you are wanting to do is a lot easier than trying to use the LAW modules with ITL. Frankly, with the exception of the combat mechanics, I prefer the LAW rules over ITL.

[redblacks]

I have Dark Vale, I was thinking of playing it using the Melee combat system, but the weapons+armour tables, skills+experience and spells from LAW.

I've been playing Melee since around 1980, so its hard to move away from
"swinging away" in adjustedDex order. :-)

[mister frau blucher]

Hello, redblacks,

Welcome to the boards!

Honestly, i don't think you will have any problem with that plan. We all tweak the LAW rules to our tatstes, incorporating elements from here and there and our own house rules.

I cretainly understand the AdjDX order of attacks, and I don't think it breaks the LAW game to play it that way. I did for a while initially when I came on board, but eventually switched to the "official" version because I like seeing momentum and momentum shifts in games, and using the LAW rules (and stuff like Tactician) seems to do this a little better for me.

But ultimately, we are trying to simulate how we perceive reality with rules - and that just is not going to be perfectly accomplished.

The bottom line is to have a good time!

Welcome again, redblacks!

Bret

[redblacks]

Thanks Bret.

I was thinking about getting one of the shorter adventures (Wolves of the Rhine or Oracle's Breath), play it with the Melee rules (as per above). Then wait a year (so you forget some of the details) and play it straight-up LAW rules.

Then you would know if its more deadly but slower to play with the Melee combat rules.
(And whether you actually miss, double/triple damage, dropped/broken weapons, extra pole weapon damage, range penalties for thrown/missile weapons, and reactions to injury.)

I will say this, I prefer the LAW magic rules -- as far as I can tell -- you don't have maintenance costs like you do with spells in Wizard. They are much more streamlined.
The skills and experience system is streamlined as well. (I don't have In the Labyrinth for comparison though.)

Regards,
Scott

P.S. Is there only NFL fans on this board?  :-)
(Any CFL fans?)

[ednote]

I agree that I like the removal of maintenance costs for spells.

I don't do double and triple damage, I do add +1, +1d6, and +1d6+1 for rolling 5, 4, and 3 respectively. I'll probably change that soon.

I do dropped weapons and range penalties for thrown weapons. Most of the fights in my campaign are at too close a range to worry much about range mods for bows.


Regards,
Ed

[darkpumpkin]

May 5, 2015 8:43:58 GMT -5 mister frau blucher said:

The bottom line is to have a good time!

A dangerously laissez-faire attitude. Taken too far, it could lead to purchase of a proliferation of role-playing systems, many late night gaming sessions, and the consumption of carbohydrate-laden snacks with both friends and family.

Beware!