Coming Apart

Post date: Feb 09, 2016 11:40:31 PM

So the first session back into Fallout got off to a great start and then imploded at the end.  Subsequently a hard look at what I had done wrong was necessary and created a rather lengthy email as both an apology as well as a chance to try to rectify the errors of my way.

Greetings all UCOM Patrol Members,

So, after the last couple of days digesting the results of last session,  I realized many mistakes made by yours truly, both at the table and in how the rules in the player's guide work.  

These f*ck ups created some issues that, quite frankly, left a bitter taste in my mouth and probably in others as well.

So please accept my apologies for a sub-standard session, I shall strive to make the next session on 2/20 better.

In the spirit of full disclosure, below are my take away's that will be observed going forward.  I hope you read this all (I know there is a lot), but I would rather do this now, rather than at the table, consuming our limited time together on rules banter.

Sincerely,

Nathan Reed

Mistakes I made:

1.  Shooting into Melee - there is no cover for allies, instead it invokes the Innocent Bystander Rules.  This will help immensely in shooting bringing the percentage change to hit on a d6 shooting skill from 16% to 50%, with only a 16% chance of shooting your friend (if you roll a 1 on the shooting die and miss the shot you hit your friend, rolling a 1 on the wild die does not matter).

2. Improvised Weapons - when engaged in melee without a melee weapon in hand you are at a -1 to your Parry, so for those with pistols you may want to carry a melee weapon in your off hand so that never really applies.

3. Smite is only +2 Damage - not the +1d6 I was saying...which will explain some of the reasoning behind the poor choice I made in the boss fight at the end of last session.

4. Forgetting critical materials - I have made a big checklist and taped it in prominent place so hopefully that will not happen again. 

The choice I made based on player capabilities or "Why the f*ck did I make that guys toughness 12" - and where my assumptions were off.

Assumptions  (yes, the phrase about assume applies here, with the emphasis on me)

1. The average of 3d6+1 is a 12.  

2. Most players would be doing 2d6+1 (which includes their AP of 1.)  

3. That Smite would be applied to a weapon to be used on the big-bad to bring that weapon to 3d6+1.  (I had failed to recall smite is only +2 I thought it was +1d6, hence the bad math).

4. Therefore a Toughness 12 (which includes 2 points of armor) would be, on average hit and shaken - so about 50% of the time. 

Where I went Awry:

Bad application of shooting into Melee dropped the hit chance from 50% to 16% for most players.

Even with a TN of 4 (see mistakes above) to hit 50% of the time means only 25% of the time would you shake him with his toughness 12.

A GM with a reserve of Bennies to remove the shaken, it would become nigh impossible to damage him.

Result:

Fast, Furious, and Fun turned into a Slow Sucking Slog.

The fix:

1. Properly apply shooting into Melee (TN 4 would mean hits 50% vs. 16% for the d6 shooters)

2. Properly known how much dmg smite adds (+2)

3. Build foes such that their toughness is no more than 75-80% of the party's average unboosted max damage without an intentional understanding that you are making combat long on purpose.  (So at this point most people are 2d6, Chal being the exception with d8+d12 - the total max damage of the group is 68. Divide that by 5 and you are seeing an average max of 11, 75% of that is about 8.  So an 8 or 9 toughness foe with armor would have been way fairer and hopefully faster.

4. GM's don't get Bennies for Jokers drawn.  (slims their pool so less ways to keep baddies in the fight)

5. An adjustment of the Chems in the game is in order.  I like that they are like Potions, and one shot powers, but instead of having them apply for the scene, they will probably last for the normal power's base duration + 2 rounds.  By doing this I will be less fearful of putting them in the hands of both the players and the NPCs.  It also means the timing of when to take chems is an important consideration.  In that slog most of the toughness came from the big bad taking Med-X as well as Jet.

Rebuilding characters.

There was a lot of chatter at the table about feeling useless and/or redundant and some of that can be tied to character development choices, and some it due to encounter design.  As noted above, those things I can control, I will do my best to fix.  But, if you feel this way about your character, you are always free to shift things around until you find something that works for you. 

But, I ask that this must be done between sessions and I ask that you tell me what it is your changing so I can properly prepare the next session.  (I would hate to create a situation that is your "spotlight" moment and discover you no longer have that skill/edge).  And, if you are changing something because you feel redundant, reach out to the other character you feel you are duplicating and the let them know - I can imagine a situation where two people think they are redundant in a skill and change the same thing and now no one has that ability.

Power Balance Issues

So we are playing with some new rules here, in particular the Power Edges of Chemist, Herbalist, and Scrapper.   After reviewing them after play it was clear they were not in balance between each other.  Herbalist was the weakest and Chemist was the strongest.  So in an effort to balance them, some changes were made, with Herbalist being the baseline as that was the "source" material.

For the Chemist: Med-X was removed.  In none of the Fallout Games (even FO 4) could the player make Med-X, also all the other Power Edges have 3 Powers, so having this one made the Chemist roughly 33% more powerful.

The stimpak doesn't cure poison and disease. Stimpaks never cured poison or disease - in FO:NV the herbalist mixtures could help with that.  

Jet power lasts only 5 rounds.  Jet is probably the shortest lived drug in the game universe, lasting seconds, but as it slowed time it seemed to last forever.  This is the trade off. It is also the Seasoned level Power of the Chemist, to offset this power up, the Chems only allows boost trait and not lower trait and a higher skill cost to come into the Edge.

For the Herbalist - their poultice, in a world of Stimpaks, seems weak, so dropped the cost to 2 Herbs instead of 3.  It still has all the other advantages of staunching wounds and curing diseases and poisons.  But it taking 10 minutes to apply is primarily the reason to drop the cost.

For the Scrapper, the Smite wording was lined up more with that of the Herbalists power and the range of the Blast (a Seasoned Rank Power) was brought down to be just slightly better than your typical grenade of 6/12/18.

Players Guide Errata:(Note: all of this is in the updated version online)

Pg. 3

Add to Built For the Environment:  "Lastly, they are immune to Radiation."

Pg. 6

Stimpak (3 chemicals): The character creates a healing Stimpak that generates an effect similar to the healing Power. It will not  draw out poison or cure diseases.

Med-X has been dropped from the Chemist List of abilities- as to balance with the other two "power" edges.

Re-balance of Jet has changed the wording to:

Jet (4 chemicals): This non-habit forming version of this normally highly addictive drug grants an effect similar to the quickness Power for 5 rounds.

General Cleanup of the Power Edges (Chemist, Herbalism, and Scrapper) to line up Smite wording.

Pg 8.

Poultice - decrease cost to 2 herbs as it does take 10 minutes to apply, except to staunch bleeding.

Pg 10.

Rebalance of Blast to bring the seasoned power to Novice rank, adjust range to 6/12/18

Pg 16 - Chems were adjusted putting round limits on buffs and putting them on a price par.