HSI: OOC Discussion

Sounds good to me.

I hope we use the leveling up stories, McB. They’re cool and something people rarely mention about TBH!

Fully support no skill piling, btw.

Question: How do you feel about me detailing the monster's stats like HP and damage? I don't want people to metagame. I just thought it would allow you to describe the battle from your character's perspective. Typically one PC is fighting one monster. That battle between the PC and monster can be resolved by the player in one sitting. All the rolls are on you're end, so it makes sense you can play it all out instead of waiting for me. I'm just not quick when it comes to posting.

There could be negative aspects that I'm not aware of. I just thought that it might make combat a bit more dynamic and fun. Let me know if you have other suggestions to make the combat a bit faster. We can keep it the same. I'm just spit-balling.

I'm not opposed to it. I think combat will speed up as we get used to the flow of it.

Sounds good to me.

Also be aware the pace of combat in PbP games is just slower... but also, our fights so far haven't been bad at all. I don't think you need to 'bundle' rolls or fast-forward or list monster stats. Part of the OSR vibe is us not knowing that stuff.

What specifically is bugging you?

I just feel like i should be responding to attacks quicker. I like to keep my posts to one a day, but I was getting concerned that combat could be very slow at that pace.

If the pace is fine with everyone, I'll keep it the same. I just figured player facing rolls allow for faster combat.

I have this ongoing battle with GMing. My desire to keep players happy is always in direct conflict with my firm belief that a GM is just another player at the table.

Others should weigh in with opinions on pace, but I personally prefer not rushing things too much -- it's a balance. And player-facing rolls generally are faster -- heavy combat in PbP is slow!

Mauve -- armor works a little differently in TBH. When you are hit, you can choose to sacrifice an armor die. With your gambeson, you have two. Using / breaking an armor die absorbs all the damage -- and when you stop for a rest, you have a chance to regain that die... or it might be permanently broken, indicating damage to your armor that has to be fixed by a smith or armorer.

To wit:


In this island location, damaged armor will be a big deal!

I'm in no rush and thanks Harrigan.

Thank you very much for the assist @Harrigan! I really appreciate the help with the rules.

I wasn't indicating a shield bash, I got a crit on the defense roll and was using the crit defense house rules post up here. I agree, the shield bash should only be an option when a shield is in hand.

Ah, sorry. I misunderstood.

From my perspective, a fighter has shield bash as a special feature. Given that, they should not forgo that because of the crit damage. I believe both would apply (crit 1/2 damage and shield bash equal to level).

No worries, McB. Just tell me to sit down and shut up if I get obnoxious or overstep. ;)

I made an error of the Usage Die roll for the arrow. I was looking for usage die rules before asking for the roll. I read this first:

When that item is used its Usage Die should be rolled. If the result is 1-2 then the Usage Die is downgraded to the next smallest die in the following chain:

Ud20 > Ud12 > Ud10 > Ud8 > Ud6 > Ud4

I missed the next paragraph:

USAGE DIE & AMMUNITION
When tracking the Usage Die for ammunition such as arrows and bullets, roll the Ud after the combat is resolved.

Mauve rolled a success on the Usage Die, so no need to roll after combat is done.

Edit: it was Fafnir that rolled the Usage Die. No need to roll again.

Sounds good, McB.

Usage Die for Food & Water:
This is an area that some people love and some people hate. Keeping track of food and water during your travels across this island can be an interesting challenge to add to the mix, or it can be an accounting slog. If you all feel it'll be an accounting slog, I am okay to hand waive it. Personally, I see it as an interesting part of Old School hex crawling.

If you prefer to keep the added challenge, then we need to decide how to handle it. I have not used usage die much in the past. It says to roll every time it's used. My thought is to roll at breakfast, lunch and dinner. The day is broken into watches, so easy enough to identify these rolls.

If you prefer to keep the rolling to a minimum, we could just roll all three each night as part of the camp process. If you roll a 1 or a 2 on any of the rolls, then you drop that usage die down. If you roll a 1 or 2 all three times, then you drop down 3 usage die.

Tracking food & water means that you would need to hunt & forage to replenish food. You would need to find fresh water sources to replenish water. You can also be strategic in your approach to the game and look for any opportunity to build up these stores (such as the Zip Birds - aka chickens).

Harrigan brings up a good point. U20 is a big usage die (average 30 uses). What would make sense for food and water carried in backpacks? A d8 gets about 9 uses on average. That seems fair to start with.

Ah, I just commented on this in the IC thread -- sorry I didn't see this first.

My advice: Make it a combined "Food & Water" die, limit it to a d12 in size (which takes up one inventory slot), and roll it once a day, at the end of the day.

For your foraging, make sure the mechanics jive with the UD system. Foraging, hunting, trapping, fishing -- on a successful roll, you can find enough for 1d4 'bumps' of the usage die, spread across everyone. People can trade as well, so someone with d8 food and water could give two people d4 food and water and still have d4 left themselves.

I've also see it done at the party level (one UD representing everyone), or where food and water is indeed split out like you're describing, McB, which makes the foraging actions a little more complicated.

It varies wildly with a d20, but a d20 will give you about 10 resources before it shrinks, on average. (1-2 out of 20 results is 10%, so one in ten rolls you're like to hit the 1 or 2.)