Success Levels and Additional Threads [Nerd Alert]

Discussion on the Earthdawn game line, errata, and feedback not related to playing or GMing.
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable
User avatar
etherial
Posts: 601
Joined: Sat Aug 25, 2012 11:29 am
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable

Success Levels and Additional Threads [Nerd Alert]

Postby etherial » Mon May 11, 2015 1:48 pm

One of the challenges of the new (and awesome) Additional Threads and Success Level systems is that it can be tricksy to keep track of all the bonuses on your grimoire sheet. Some are easy, most damaging powers do +2 Steps of Damage from extra Successes, except for Earth Darts, which doesn't. On first blush, it looked like there were lots of different kinds of Increase Effect bonuses: -2 Armor, -2 Damage Penalty, +2 Movement Rate, but really the only thing that matters is if the increase is in the primary effect (usually the one you roll for the Effect test), a secondary effect, or some other part of the power. Through a little creativity, I've narrowed it down to this list (numbers in parentheses are typical, not exhaustive):

Success Levels on Talents and Skills:
+(1) Duration
+(1/2) Effect
Esoteric Effect (Banish, Winning Smile, etc.)
Secondary Effect (Bank Shot, Cobra Strike, etc.)

Spells:
Success Levels:
+(2) Duration
+(1/2) Effect
Esoteric Effect (Ride the Lightning)
+(2 yard radius) Area

Additional Threads:
+(2/increment) Duration
+(1/2) Effect
Secondary Effect (Earth Darts, True Ephemeral Bolt, etc.)
+(10 yards) Range
+(1/Rank) Targets
-(Rank) Targets
+(2 yard radius) Area

If we move the Increase Area to its correct place in alphabetical order (because REASONS) and introduce a couple of conventions, we can create a short code block for each power:

1. Since Additional Threads are for spells and Success Levels are for every power, let's use CAPITAL LETTERS for Success Levels and lowercase for additional threads.

2. Any effect that has an Effect Test will have bonus type E. Barring that, effects that are increased by Additional Successes will have bonus type E. All other effects will have bonus type S. Area, Duration, Range, and Target will all just use their first letter.

3. Each bonus shall be listed as <bonus value><bonus type>, i.e. "2E" would increase the Effect by 2 for each Addtional Success (This means that most bonuses will be exactly 2 characters). We'll use commas to separate different values from each other since some, like Anticipate Blow, give multiple bonuses for a single Success.

4. Talents and Spells use slightly different terminology for bonsues based on Success Levels. Distract grants -1 Physical Defense per Success. Earth Darts effectively grants -2 Physical Armor for Success x 2 Rounds, but is worded as -2 Physical Armor for 2 Rounds with an additional 2 Rounds for each Additional Success. We can unify these by using a set of parentheses to describe any effect that is X times Successes, so Distract would contain "(1E)" and Earth Darts would contain "(2D)". Magic Carpet's stat block would contain "(200s),2s" since its base Carrying Capacity is 200 lbs but its base movement is 16 Yards.

5. Some Additional Threads allow you to increase Duration from Rounds to Minutes. These will be listed as "md".

6. I generally avoid overloading terms, but R is invaluable as both Rank and Range, so we may have to rely on the formatting to disambiguate. Waterproof's Stat Block would read "2d,1e,10r,rt,2D".

7. Some bonuses are just too esoteric, complicated, or weird to fit into a simple stat block, so we'll mark them with an x. Banish needs Additional Successes to Banish types of spirits the Adept is not familiar with, so it gets "XE". Air Mattress' stat block would be "2e,xs,rt,1T".

8. Some Powers like Fire Heal are pass/fail. Others like Wood Skin have no Difficulty number at all. These will just get marked "(---)".

OK, if you're still reading this, here are some samples:

Anticipate Blow
"(2S2S)"

Earth Darts
"2d,2e,-2s,10r,1t,(2D)"

Fireball
"2a,2e,10r,-rt,2E"

Ride the Lightning
"2r,XS"

Mantle of the Blood Elf
"2e,10r,2D"

True Ephemeral Bolt
"2e,-2s,xs,1t,2E"

User avatar
Kasbak
Posts: 414
Joined: Tue Jan 15, 2013 8:22 pm
Location: Illinois
Contact:

Re: Success Levels and Additional Threads [Nerd Alert]

Postby Kasbak » Mon May 11, 2015 2:45 pm

Interesting short hand. Looks like it would take some getting used to, but could be useful for quick descriptions.

I'm actually thinking about resurrecting an idea I used in my old D&D games (I've had the thought for a while, but it's come up more with 4th edition imminent). To help with keeping track of what spells were memorized in what spots and what each one did, I made cards for each spell, similar in format to Magic the Gathering cards, that had a basic description of what each spell did. When players rested, I gave them copies of the cards for what spells they wanted, up to their number of available slots, and they kept the cards in some of the clear three ring binder card sheets. As they used spells in play, they handed me back the card for that particular spell.

I'm thinking this might be useful for both Talents and spells (though of course the players would keep their cards rather than handing them back). Just set up a card for each Talent or spell with the description and necessary info, then give them to players as they learn the ability to keep in their gaming binder. If they need to look up what a Talent or spell does, they just reference the card. You could even set up a special sheet of slots for your In Matrix spells, give them a color coded border for which type of Matrix they're in for example, and then as you change out spells just swap the cards from your grimoire pages to your Matrix page.

More to the point here, the cards could be set up with this shorthand notation before the description, allowing even quicker rule look ups. I'll have to give some thought on the set up, but once I can get my 4th edition campaign going I might give it a try.

User avatar
etherial
Posts: 601
Joined: Sat Aug 25, 2012 11:29 am
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable

Re: Success Levels and Additional Threads [Nerd Alert]

Postby etherial » Mon May 11, 2015 3:01 pm


User avatar
MaxLiao
Posts: 13
Joined: Tue May 05, 2015 6:26 pm
Location: All over the world.
Contact:

Re: Success Levels and Additional Threads [Nerd Alert]

Postby MaxLiao » Mon May 11, 2015 6:54 pm

• •
Just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand.

Griznah
Posts: 21
Joined: Tue Apr 22, 2014 2:23 am
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable

Re: Success Levels and Additional Threads [Nerd Alert]

Postby Griznah » Wed May 13, 2015 8:32 am

Etherial: I did read your full intro, but I didn't fully comprehend it when put into use. Could you in the samples also explain it to spoonfeed us(me)?

User avatar
etherial
Posts: 601
Joined: Sat Aug 25, 2012 11:29 am
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable

Re: Success Levels and Additional Threads [Nerd Alert]

Postby etherial » Wed May 13, 2015 9:49 am


Telarus_KSC
Posts: 744
Joined: Wed Nov 23, 2011 3:26 am
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable

Re: Success Levels and Additional Threads [Nerd Alert]

Postby Telarus_KSC » Wed May 13, 2015 12:09 pm


User avatar
etherial
Posts: 601
Joined: Sat Aug 25, 2012 11:29 am
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable

Re: Success Levels and Additional Threads [Nerd Alert]

Postby etherial » Wed May 13, 2015 2:23 pm


Griznah
Posts: 21
Joined: Tue Apr 22, 2014 2:23 am
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable

Re: Success Levels and Additional Threads [Nerd Alert]

Postby Griznah » Mon May 18, 2015 8:23 am



[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable
[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/vendor/twig/twig/lib/Twig/Extension/Core.php on line 1266: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable

Return to “Product Discussion”



Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 5 guests