So, it's already 2011. Alas, I have missed my own deadline of trying to get the revision of Tellings done before the end of the year 2010. Life, work, and the universe made it hard to find any time for the game. Plus, I did not want to do a hasty and sloppy job. So, the "20th Year Anniversary" edition will be a little late (hopefully sometime this year). In the meantime, I continue to play with my current Seattle table and I continue to make note of things I want to update:
--extend and develop those things that make Tellings--well--Tellings, softening the imprint of other games upon Tellings
--streamlining the skills and abilities list a little
--streamlining the Strengths and Weaknesses list a little
--reorient the magic system to improve flexibility and speed (thought keeping the difficulty about the same)
--streamline the spells list and prayers list
--continue to develop the game master's section
Showing posts with label tellings revision. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tellings revision. Show all posts
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Tellings Revision Update
Apologies for being away from the revision for some time. It seems that other duties and matters are determined to get in the way. However, the hope is that with the summer months approaching there will be some time to dedicate to the new edition.
My current gaming group continues to point up how much the game has matured, how much it works well as it stands, but also how much little things could be honed, polished, and perfected. Just a little bit. There is a delicate balance -- much like a game of pick-up-sticks -- everything touches, leans against, and affects another and I don't think of the revision as a major overhaul. The core is solid. It's now all about refinement.
More soon.
My current gaming group continues to point up how much the game has matured, how much it works well as it stands, but also how much little things could be honed, polished, and perfected. Just a little bit. There is a delicate balance -- much like a game of pick-up-sticks -- everything touches, leans against, and affects another and I don't think of the revision as a major overhaul. The core is solid. It's now all about refinement.
More soon.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Tellings Revision: Critical Damage/Increased Damage Skill
Here's a game philosophy question: What does an extra damage, critical damage, increased damage skill mean?
More accurately, what are the game mechanics justifications for such skills? One fo the central issues that the Tellings revision faces is to push what seems to be proprietary to Tellings and to soften, retool, or remove mechanics reminiscent of other game systems. The whole mechanic of doing extra damage or critical damage is common to many games, of course. It is a perk, a special effect, a game changer. For example, backstab in most games is about striking an opponent from behind, from surprise, ignoring most defenses, and inflicting double or more damage. This makes sense for games like D&D when a character's wound level is measured (generally) by how many hit points they have. Therefore, an attack that does a lot of HP damage is a "big deal" and can be overlaid with additional rules about incapacitation.
However, for Tellings, this kind of thing is covered by hit location, Trauma Point, and Trauma% rolls. In other words, the measure of whether a strike is a "big deal" or not is different than a big hit to a HP pool. In fact, most Tellings characters never really gain additional BODYpts. Wounds and critical wounds work differently.
Therefore, does it make sense to have skills like Killing Strike, Charge, or Crushing Blow (which can do up to 4 x damage)? Wouldn't buying Weapon Skill Levels: Damage and increasing Attack Score to make called shots more effective fit the game philosophy more? Or is there a place for some critical damage skills modified and tailored for the Tellings system of damage?
Would something like changing Find Weakness to allow the character to change their weapon/attack damage to PEN damage make more sense?
More accurately, what are the game mechanics justifications for such skills? One fo the central issues that the Tellings revision faces is to push what seems to be proprietary to Tellings and to soften, retool, or remove mechanics reminiscent of other game systems. The whole mechanic of doing extra damage or critical damage is common to many games, of course. It is a perk, a special effect, a game changer. For example, backstab in most games is about striking an opponent from behind, from surprise, ignoring most defenses, and inflicting double or more damage. This makes sense for games like D&D when a character's wound level is measured (generally) by how many hit points they have. Therefore, an attack that does a lot of HP damage is a "big deal" and can be overlaid with additional rules about incapacitation.
However, for Tellings, this kind of thing is covered by hit location, Trauma Point, and Trauma% rolls. In other words, the measure of whether a strike is a "big deal" or not is different than a big hit to a HP pool. In fact, most Tellings characters never really gain additional BODYpts. Wounds and critical wounds work differently.
Therefore, does it make sense to have skills like Killing Strike, Charge, or Crushing Blow (which can do up to 4 x damage)? Wouldn't buying Weapon Skill Levels: Damage and increasing Attack Score to make called shots more effective fit the game philosophy more? Or is there a place for some critical damage skills modified and tailored for the Tellings system of damage?
Would something like changing Find Weakness to allow the character to change their weapon/attack damage to PEN damage make more sense?
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