Comments on the GM chapter

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momosnyx
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Comments on the GM chapter

Post by momosnyx »

p. 100: Creating conflicts
I like the idea of the TV to get a rough estimation of how to desgin encounters.
However, a description of how to calculate the Threat Value is given, but it is never actually mentioned what to do with it (The same goes for the first table on p. 101).
A short sentence like "Calculate the TV of the PCs and compare it to the TV of the enemies" or "To get an encounter of the chosen Conflict Difficulty, multiply the PCs TV by the factor in the right column to get the enemies TV."

p. 104: NPC (same goes for the sample PCs on p. 21ff)
It would be quite useful if Health and Endurance were included in the character descriptions, as many of the characters have a Ability or Weakness which modifies either one or both of them.
Additionally, if the characters has Power Move, the DT could be mentioned, so it doesn't need to be looked up.

p. 112: Business Person
As an extra with 10 Health & Endurance and with "Languorous -1" that makes for 10 Health and 0 Endurance? (OK, they don't have much time for anything else and are easily annoyed if distracted :) )

p. 106/107: Flunkies and Extras
Grant Zurkrieg has Flunkies +4 (Men in Black) with Strong +2, Tough +2, Dumb -3, Emotionless -3, Servitude -3, Slow -2.
"Flunkies" seems to me like the right Ability to give a villain some henchmen which are basically Extras (Some nice cannon fodder to throw at the PCs :) ).

On p. 100 Extras are described that they "only have a base 10 Health and Endurance, and if using the Ground Zero rule, there should be only a gap of 1 or 2 between Abilities and Weaknesses".

On p. 46 Flunkies are described as having "10 Health and Vitality" (or rather Endurance) which seems to fit the assumption that they are Extras. But it also says that they "may not have more than one +1 Ability, regardlesse of what Weaknesses they also have."
This contradicts the stats Strong +2 and Tough +2???

The same goes for Captain Jiro and his Policemen (a.k.a Soldiers" with Armor +1, Combat Skill +1 and Weapon +2.
Clay
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Re: Comments on the GM chapter

Post by Clay »

momosnyx wrote:p. 100: Creating conflicts
I like the idea of the TV to get a rough estimation of how to desgin encounters.
However, a description of how to calculate the Threat Value is given, but it is never actually mentioned what to do with it (The same goes for the first table on p. 101).
A short sentence like "Calculate the TV of the PCs and compare it to the TV of the enemies" or "To get an encounter of the chosen Conflict Difficulty, multiply the PCs TV by the factor in the right column to get the enemies TV."
It's mentioned that the TV gives you an idea of the difficulty of the encounter. What, and how, you deal with this information is up to you. A table is also included to put the numbers into worded examples.
p. 104: NPC (same goes for the sample PCs on p. 21ff)
It would be quite useful if Health and Endurance were included in the character descriptions, as many of the characters have a Ability or Weakness which modifies either one or both of them.
Additionally, if the characters has Power Move, the DT could be mentioned, so it doesn't need to be looked up.
Unfortunately, there wasn't enough room for this additional information. I did calculate the TV for everyone, at least. ^_^; But through play, it becomes second nature what bonuses the different levels of Abilities and Weaknesses impart. Maybe look at it as incentive to learn the rules. ;)
p. 112: Business Person
As an extra with 10 Health & Endurance and with "Languorous -1" that makes for 10 Health and 0 Endurance? (OK, they don't have much time for anything else and are easily annoyed if distracted :) )
Yes, it does. You may also notice this gives them a permanent -1 to all actions. Isn't fun being a mundane old fart? ;D
p. 106/107: Flunkies and Extras
Grant Zurkrieg has Flunkies +4 (Men in Black) with Strong +2, Tough +2, Dumb -3, Emotionless -3, Servitude -3, Slow -2.
"Flunkies" seems to me like the right Ability to give a villain some henchmen which are basically Extras (Some nice cannon fodder to throw at the PCs :) ).
They are kinda tough, but they're also slooooww....slow and dumb...they're like Zombies. Hard to kill but not heard to fool. In the end, they're still very weak encounters, even if they take a few hits to go down.
On p. 100 Extras are described that they "only have a base 10 Health and Endurance, and if using the Ground Zero rule, there should be only a gap of 1 or 2 between Abilities and Weaknesses".

On p. 46 Flunkies are described as having "10 Health and Vitality" (or rather Endurance) which seems to fit the assumption that they are Extras. But it also says that they "may not have more than one +1 Ability, regardlesse of what Weaknesses they also have."
This contradicts the stats Strong +2 and Tough +2???

The same goes for Captain Jiro and his Policemen (a.k.a Soldiers" with Armor +1, Combat Skill +1 and Weapon +2.
Another throwback to an older version of OVA. Through the creation of the game, the rule was changed to be "no more than +1 in Abilities" rather than "no Ability more than +1" I will add this to my list of changes.
momosnyx
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Re: Comments on the GM chapter

Post by momosnyx »

Clay wrote:Unfortunately, there wasn't enough room for this additional information. I did calculate the TV for everyone, at least. ^_^; But through play, it becomes second nature what bonuses the different levels of Abilities and Weaknesses impart. Maybe look at it as incentive to learn the rules. ;)
Oh, come on: For the sample characters a single line like "Health: x / Endurance: y" in the Attributes box would fit nicely, as well as for the sample NPCs on p. 104ff. And the whole idea of the "Grunts, Bystanders, and Others" is to have some pre-generated NPCs...
So cram them in somewhere (easy for me to say as I am totally ignorant about laying out a book :) )

Clay wrote:You may also notice this gives them a permanent -1 to all actions.
Good that you mentioned it, I had missed that one...

Clay wrote:Another throwback to an older version of OVA. Through the creation of the game, the rule was changed to be "no more than +1 in Abilities" rather than "no Ability more than +1"
I didn't notice it in the beginning, as the old rule makes some sense for something like a school bully and his cronies or a gang-leader and his mobsters.
But the new rule is better: The Flunkies do not need to be inefficient, but they go down after the first hit (more or less). Very cinematic...
Clay
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Re: Comments on the GM chapter

Post by Clay »

momosnyx wrote:Oh, come on: For the sample characters a single line like "Health: x / Endurance: y" in the Attributes box would fit nicely, as well as for the sample NPCs on p. 104ff. And the whole idea of the "Grunts, Bystanders, and Others" is to have some pre-generated NPCs...
So cram them in somewhere (easy for me to say as I am totally ignorant about laying out a book :) )
Fair enough. I'll look into it, but you can see some pages (check Miho and the Saspar/Acacia) are truly filled to the brink. But it can't hurt to mull over it.
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