The Rancor Pit Forum Index
Welcome to The Rancor Pit forums!

The Rancor Pit Forum Index
FAQ   ::   Search   ::   Memberlist   ::   Usergroups   ::   Register   ::   Profile   ::   Log in to check your private messages   ::   Log in

Creatures and Scale
Post new topic   Reply to topic    The Rancor Pit Forum Index -> House Rules -> Creatures and Scale Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
garhkal
Sovereign Protector
Sovereign Protector


Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 14021
Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.

PostPosted: Thu Jun 17, 2021 1:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Now, let's get some hippo type critters in SW!
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Naaman
Vice Admiral
Vice Admiral


Joined: 29 Jul 2011
Posts: 3191

PostPosted: Thu Jun 17, 2021 1:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

In case anyone cares, it seems like a move of 12 (which is being derived from the max recorded straight line speed of elephants) should come with some limitations.

For example, if the aforementioned human were being chased by an elephant sized creature, the human could easily out maneuver the creature by making tight and rapid directional changes.

A human (or other similarly sized animal) can change direction with less speed reduction than a 15,000-pound animal with significantly less joint flexibility.

For this reason, I'd actually be inclined to do one of the following:

1) Set the bantha's move at less than 10, and allow all-out movement to receive a scaling bonus, or,

2) Set the bantha's movement above 10, and impose a scaling penalty on "maneuverability" checks when making running rolls, even in easy terrain.

Given that scale modifiers are supposed to represent the pros and cons of size differentials, it seems like they should apply to chasing/racing, as well.
_________________
.
SpecForce Combat Elements
All About Lightsabers: Designing, Building, and Fighting
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Director of Engineering


Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16163
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.

PostPosted: Thu Jun 17, 2021 1:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Naaman wrote:
Given that scale modifiers are supposed to represent the pros and cons of size differentials, it seems like they should apply to chasing/racing, as well.

Seeing as how the Scales apply generally, I'm disinclined to come up with a specific rule for Banthas when a more general rule for Larger chasing Smaller would be more useful overall in the long run.

Fortunately, I already have a House Rule for that.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Whill
Dark Lord of the Jedi (Owner/Admin)


Joined: 14 Apr 2008
Posts: 10286
Location: Columbus, Ohio, USA, Earth, The Solar System, The Milky Way Galaxy

PostPosted: Thu Jun 17, 2021 2:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

There doesn't necessarily need to be any special modifiers or rules to address this.

Naaman wrote:
In case anyone cares, it seems like a move of 12 (which is being derived from the max recorded straight line speed of elephants) should come with some limitations.

For example, if the aforementioned human were being chased by an elephant sized creature, the human could easily out maneuver the creature by making tight and rapid directional changes.

A human (or other similarly sized animal) can change direction with less speed reduction than a 15,000-pound animal with significantly less joint flexibility.

For this reason, I'd actually be inclined to do one of the following:

1) Set the bantha's move at less than 10, and allow all-out movement to receive a scaling bonus, or,

2) Set the bantha's movement above 10, and impose a scaling penalty on "maneuverability" checks when making running rolls, even in easy terrain.

Given that scale modifiers are supposed to represent the pros and cons of size differentials, it seems like they should apply to chasing/racing, as well.

Move score isn't the only factor in movement. Dexterity would need to be rolled, and if a creature shouldn't be able to maneuver quickly, then a low Dex will result in more movement failures when moving full speed.

Also, fictional banthas may be based on real elephants in some ways, but they can be better than elephants in some ways. I personally am ok with banthas maybe being more dextrous than elephants.
_________________
*
Site Map
Forum Guidelines
Registration/Log-In Help
The Rancor Pit Library
Star Wars D6 Damage
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
garhkal
Sovereign Protector
Sovereign Protector


Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 14021
Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.

PostPosted: Thu Jun 17, 2021 3:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Naaman wrote:
1) Set the bantha's move at less than 10, and allow all-out movement to receive a scaling bonus, or,

2) Set the bantha's movement above 10, and impose a scaling penalty on "maneuverability" checks when making running rolls, even in easy terrain.

Given that scale modifiers are supposed to represent the pros and cons of size differentials, it seems like they should apply to chasing/racing, as well.


I'd lean to #2..

Whill wrote:

Also, fictional banthas may be based on real elephants in some ways, but they can be better than elephants in some ways. I personally am ok with banthas maybe being more dextrous than elephants.


Since they have to navigate sand dunes, and such, i would lean to they ARE more dexterous than elephants.
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Director of Engineering


Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16163
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.

PostPosted: Tue Jun 22, 2021 3:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My thought there was, if the larger Scale pursuer wishes to make the same Maneuver as the smaller Scale target, they apply the Scale Difference as a penalty to their Skill Roll, but the penalty rolls off at a rate of 2D per round. So, if a Bantha were Speeder-Scale (where I plan to put it), it would suffer a -4D penalty to "chase" a Character-Scale target, but this would be reduced to -2D the following round, and 0D the round after that.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
garhkal
Sovereign Protector
Sovereign Protector


Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 14021
Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.

PostPosted: Tue Jun 22, 2021 3:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That sounds good.. So what would you rate say a banta at? Speeder? What of a T-rex? Should it be walker?
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Director of Engineering


Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16163
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.

PostPosted: Tue Jun 22, 2021 3:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

garhkal wrote:
That sounds good.. So what would you rate say a banta at? Speeder? What of a T-rex? Should it be walker?

Under my scale system, Walker is actually 2D above Starfighter, at +8D. Things like a T-Rex or Rancor would be comparable to an AT-ST, at the higher end of Speeder-Scale (+4D).
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
garhkal
Sovereign Protector
Sovereign Protector


Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 14021
Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.

PostPosted: Wed Jun 23, 2021 2:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

so if a banta, and 't-rex' are the same size, then there wouldn't be any movement issues with one keeping up/changing direction with the other, as they'd be the same scale.
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Director of Engineering


Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16163
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.

PostPosted: Wed Jun 23, 2021 1:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

garhkal wrote:
so if a banta, and 't-rex' are the same size, then there wouldn't be any movement issues with one keeping up/changing direction with the other, as they'd be the same scale.

Yes. The Scale System is supposed to divide things into overlapping classes; inside those classes, any relative differences in size, speed, strength, dexterity, etc, can be represented in-aggregate by differences in Attributes and Skills.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Director of Engineering


Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16163
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.

PostPosted: Thu Dec 16, 2021 7:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

So, I'm reconsidering the list I came up with. The issue I'm having is, despite the fact that the various creatures seen on Dagobah or Yavin or Bespin are relatively well known to fans of the films, they will not be all that known or widespread (if at all) to actual inhabitants of the SWU. The whole reason in-setting for planets like Yavin or Dagobah is that they are out-of-the-way backwaters that nobody has any reason to go to, so why would their wildlife be something PCs are in any way likely to encounter. The counterargument is that the GM could use them as representative of the life forms one is likely to encounter in a swamp or the atmosphere of a gas giant.

So should I pare down the list to just cover animals known for being relatively commonplace in the galaxy, or do stats for the whole list, even the ones that will be effectively unknown in-universe?
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Dr. Bidlo
Commander
Commander


Joined: 24 Nov 2021
Posts: 438
Location: Arizona, USA

PostPosted: Thu Dec 16, 2021 7:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think you should provide the updates stats for all the creatures on your list. Even if characters are unlikely to know what they are, if the do encounter them, the GM needs the stats. If it is a creature known from the films but is otherwise unknown to the characters, the GM should try to describe it in a way that makes it sound unknown, mysterious, and possibly terrifying. I had a GM use ghouls in a fantasy RPG once and I had no idea what I was facing but wow were they terrifying. As soon as a knew they were ghouls, the mystery was gone as I recalled my encyclopedic knowledge of their stats and special rules... so, all the better to have mysterious creatures at Speeder or Walker scale. It may very well keep them guessing what the heck it could be.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Whill
Dark Lord of the Jedi (Owner/Admin)


Joined: 14 Apr 2008
Posts: 10286
Location: Columbus, Ohio, USA, Earth, The Solar System, The Milky Way Galaxy

PostPosted: Thu Dec 16, 2021 11:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

CRMcNeill wrote:
So, I'm reconsidering the list I came up with. The issue I'm having is, despite the fact that the various creatures seen on Dagobah or Yavin or Bespin are relatively well known to fans of the films, they will not be all that known or widespread (if at all) to actual inhabitants of the SWU. The whole reason in-setting for planets like Yavin or Dagobah is that they are out-of-the-way backwaters that nobody has any reason to go to, so why would their wildlife be something PCs are in any way likely to encounter. The counterargument is that the GM could use them as representative of the life forms one is likely to encounter in a swamp or the atmosphere of a gas giant.

So should I pare down the list to just cover animals known for being relatively commonplace in the galaxy, or do stats for the whole list, even the ones that will be effectively unknown in-universe?

Scale is game mechanics not an in-universe category system. So there shouldn't be any issue with creatures that wouldn't be known to PCs being on the list because the audience of the list is GMs and players, not characters. The examples being there tells people what scale they would have in the game. It is not just for encountering those exact creatures, but it is also a reference for the sake of similar creatures.

On the other hand, galactic civilization is thousands of years old, so some creatures have migrated throughout the galaxy. Maybe a zoo ship crashed on Dagobah millennia ago, and creatures from elsewhere adapted and survived. Remember those flying creatures on Kamino? Those were going to appear on Naboo in TPM and got cut from the film, but fluff put them there before they appeared in AotC on Kamino. So in the EU, they somehow exist on both worlds. And the Naboo version was actually based on concept art for Bespin, which fluff put there, so very similar creatures exist there too. Also, I think WEG established that no one even knows the origin planet for bantha; they are ubiquitous in the galaxy.

So I would leave them on the list.
_________________
*
Site Map
Forum Guidelines
Registration/Log-In Help
The Rancor Pit Library
Star Wars D6 Damage
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    The Rancor Pit Forum Index -> House Rules All times are GMT - 4 Hours
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Page 6 of 6

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group


v2.0