Re: Character Generation

[Marullus]

Toshizo is using ni-to-kenjutsu defensively, so +1 to AC.

Okay, my reading of ni-to-kenjitsu looks like you get to make an attack with the primary weapon AND a parry with the second? I think that means you roll the parry (p.62). If you fail the roll, you still get a +1 AC. You only get no benefit on a critical failure. But on a success on the parry check you get effect/5 to armor class and then an extra +1 if its a critical success?

So you should roll the Parry?

Now, you only get a +2 if your effect number rounds up to 10, so 8 or higher. Your base BCS is 11. So, on a 1 it is critical and +3, on 2-3 it is +2 and on 4-19, it is +1 AC. I suppose that's slim.

Do normal attack modifiers apply to Parry BCS (which is kind of an attack)? If parrying someone who has the wrong facing, or has a height disadvantage, or whatever? That could really improve the effect number.

[jemmus]

I really should have re-read the ni-to-kenjutsu and parry rules again, now that I understand the game concepts better than when I read them almost a year ago. (Has it really been that long since we started learning how to play this crazy game?) Right, so we do need to roll for parries. For some reason it's a Raw BCS roll, with the PC's level not added to BCS.

I'm trying to think through how the combat modifiers would affect Parry. Treacherous Ground, Elevated Position would, I'd think. It's hard to see how it would apply to a Prone target. But I guess it would, if a prone target is trying to attack. I'll have to check to see if the rules even allow that. I kind of think they don't.

Naturally, I rolled a 20. No bonus to AC. I've posted the roll in the story thread.

[Marullus]

Proposed House Rule on Ki.

Code: Select all

Self Healing
Unfocused power. A character whose total damage should
render him unconscious may retain consciousness for 1 Detailed
Turn per point of current Ki. The current Ki score is reduced by 1 per
Detailed Turn, so the when he runs out of Ki, the character will
collapse. No concentration is necessary to start using this power.
If a character's damage is fatal, he may be able to resist death itself
by using Ki. If he wishes to' the character may expend sufficient Ki to
restore sufficient Hit Points to bring his damage total back below the
lethal point, at 1 to 1. This expenditure lowers the Permanent Ki
score. That is, the Ki is not recovered next day. It is gone. If the
character has Ki left after this reduction, he may use it to remain
conscious at described above.

So, I have two issues.
1) The game assumes pretty high levels of Ki (some things are "Ki/10" and in this case, you spend permanent Ki 1-to-1 for Hit Points) but you only get it from levels and by maxxing skills at 100, which I hope isn't that common an event.
2) The game is meant to be lethal, but balances that with Karma, allowing you to re-roll a new character of the same class and add bonuses to it.

I like the work you guys are doing to develop story in your character and the idea that you can just sub-in "Fighter #2" and continue on is antithetical to quality of roleplay. A dramatic death and a new character arc should be intentional.

Proposal: Rather than spending permanent Ki on a 1-to-1 for hit points to try to get back up to 0, I propose a house rule that a single permanent Ki point can be spent to bring a character from dead to unconscious with 0 hit points. This is still expensive, but potentially makes the game less-lethal, with a character surviving an otherwise-successfully-won encounter (the other PCs still need to win, and then intentionally heal you promptly, per normal rules).

Thoughts? Consensus?

[jemmus]

I've told this story before, but when I bought my Phoenix Games Bushido books back in 1981 I guess, the store owner had one word-- "Bloody." (As an aside, I like the way the fight with the bandits has played out. It seems that the game simulates bushi combat pretty well. Or at least, it simulates movie scenes of bushi combat pretty well).

I'd agree to the proposed Ki house rule. It would still be very expensive in terms of Ki to get back to unconscious, and Ki is hard to come by. And as you said, even then the PC has to hope that the rest of the party win the battle and come to his/her aid. And at 1st level PCs don't have any Ki at all, so they don't have this option. They have to survive to 2nd level to have the option of permanently spending Ki to go from dead to unconscious.

The other thing that the pace of play is so slow in PBP. It's not like we're guys playing live four-hour sessions every week. At PBP pace, it could take a long, long time for PCs to earn much Ki at all. It's hard to imagine how long it would take to use one of the option to get a benefit equal to 1/5th or 1/10th of Ki.

Anyway, one vote of yea. What we decide here will apply in the other game, of course.

[Marullus]

I'd agree to the proposed Ki house rule. It would still be very expensive in terms of Ki to get back to unconscious, and Ki is hard to come by. And at 1st level PCs don't have any at all. They have to survive to 2nd level to have the option of permanently spending Ki to get to unconscious.

Yeah, Permanent Ki is a hard price. (Also, it directly reduces future Karma to use it this way, because Ki translates.)

You have your level in Ki, so all first level characters have 1 Ki. (As a strange quirk, Shugenja have 3-4 Ki, because of their x2 modifier on languages potentially maxing out those skills. Squishy wizards surviving unconscious more often doesn't bother me, though. Their Ki abilities as-written are really more important.)

Now that I posted the update, I can also say this is immediately relevant. Both Toshizo and Kobi are currently dead (though Kobi doesn't know it yet) - if we implement this rule, they can both survive unconscious and we continue Toshizo's story. (Or you can decide to still let Toshizo die and roll a different Bushi with Karma if you're dissatisfied with Toshizo's story. For my vote, I want to see more Toshizo.)

Now... if we don't approve this rule, or if you choose to let Toshizo die, then I will let you spend your 1 Ki point for 1 detailed turn of action before you collapse. That lets you hit for 3hp (you already rolled) and write your own dramatic death scene (which I think is appropriate, anyway.)

[jmacatty]

I'm good with it.

[ffilz]

I’m good with it also.

[ffilz]

Toshizo doesn't have a second action, due to Partial Encumbrance reducing his Speed score and making his MNA 1.5. I assume Bushido's usual "ROUND DOWN" rule applies. The boy just isn't strong enough (Strength 15) to be quick in armor.

I thought the default was normal rounding (>= .5 rounds up, <.5 rounds down) unless explicitly mentioned as round down. That's what the spread sheets do/

[Marullus]

The "round down" rule applies to anything resulting in a BCS. Otherwise, it is normal rounding unless specified. That means the following are good minimum threshholds to consider:

Speed 15
Minimum level to a get a secondary action (as 15 rounds up to 2 actions for MNA)
Deftness 7
Minimum level to use your secondary action. Any less and your secondary action falls on turn 1 and is moot.
Strength 8
Minimum level that avoids a damage penalty to all rolls. Any lower and you take -1 to everything.

What Toshizo is struggling with is being Partially Encumbered, which applies a 25% penalty to both speed and deftness. If you're going to be Partially Encumbered, you need those numbers to be Speed 19 and Deftness 9 to both get and use a secondary action.

[jemmus]

Partially encumbered meets those, and since we round up for non-BCS thing, he does have a secondary action. He'll use it going forward. (If we revised and he had a second action last turn, he'd Sheathe Weapon (the dai-kyu). Then this turn Draw Weapon (katana), which would have to be his primary action. Same results, so no use revising.