> - Allen S. Rout wrote
> I'm musing about running a HERO RPG campaign in dragaera, and
> was wondering if
> anyone had run across technical opinions about game mechanics, or was
> interested in discussing same.
I have a group of friend, some of which are Brust fans. We were interested
in starting role-playing again after a couple of year hiatus, and I decided
to start one in the Jhereg universe. We are using AD&D 3rd Edition rule set
(which is new to me as well.. as the bulk of my AD&D experience was before
they had editions). We play bi-weekly with a group of eight, and have had
about six session so far. All the characters are of the Jhereg house, 5
"Humans", 3 "Easterners" (which is a bit high..) Used a few house rules
1) No alignment, you are what you play
2) No shield.. parry daggers that serve the same function
3) Limited armor - leather only.. am thinking of replacing armor entirely
with a "parry bonus" for fighters as a balance adjustment, as lack of armor
takes away one of the fighters abilities
4) Sorcery is clerical magic, comes from the orb instead of deities. Some
specialized spells added (such as teleport)
5) Witchcraft is Arcane (wizard) magic. Same rules about specialized magic
6) Only races available are Elves ("human") and human ("Easterner").
>
> I'm thinking pre-interregnum settings, so my first challenge has been
> modelling flashstones so that they aren't totally unbalancing.
>
D&D combat is very simplistic, so flashstones were not a problem. I decided
they were ranged attack that ignored armor (but you still get dex bonuses).
Damage if hit is based on the skill of the sorcerer that create them, so
they can do anywhere from 2d6 to 6d6 or so.. Same with number of uses - the
can be one shot, or hold multiple charges.
At least half of each session is role-play rather than combat anyway, so the
combat is minor. That's where the background and setting really shine.
About half the players have gone through at least the Vlad series, and they
are loving it.. especially the intrigues (they are in the midst of trying to
figure out a Yendi plot...) The ones that have not read the books have
picked up enough from those that have to keep up and have a good time.
Jim S