Notes 7 taken whilst reading Novus 2e rpg (Covers p42-48).
Only just noticed this rereading earlier. Why is it that a Half-Dwarf Kindred ends up with worse swimming roll penalties that a straight Dwarf? Likely cause the swimming penalties were once greater and I will change that to be a flat -1
p9 Kindred - Stat listings for Dwarf and Dwelf Stats are abbreviated, other kindred have the full name of the stat provided. I also noticed that the Kindred Talent for the Dwelf had at least 3 other errors (the overall price should be 9, the price for Striker was wrong, and the descriptions for Striker and Extra Sturdy needed corrections too
Training Paths and Culture listings both have 'CP & XP' section. Why, none of the choices list any extra 'CP' do they?The ones in the Core rules do not, no. However, there are Training Paths already written that do give CP, and there could be Cultures that allow for it as well (I have not written the Cultures for Anwyn yet). Basically, it says "CP & XP:" like that for future expansion and inclusiveness.
p42 First paragraph - There seems to be a repeat of information. Firstly we have 'selected your Race, Culture, Background Options,' and later we have 'You should have also chosen your Background Options'. The second sentence seems redundant.p42 Second paragraph - 'not only how to figure it up' seems strange to me 'figure it out' or 'calculate it'
p42 Second paragraph - 'each item is used while in play' - possibly delete the 'while'?rewrote paragraph:
We will go over each of these items below, not only covering how to figure them up, if any figuring is required, but also how each item is used during play.
p42 Left hand column - Bolded 'Attk Bns' - We have already introduced the Attack Bonus abbreviation as 'AB', why change it? Other abbreviations already on the sheet are BD and SD! If this is changed then character sheet needs to be modified as well. That was a hold over from earlier versions, but remained because the character sheet sill had it (and I was trying to not change it.... sigh... I had discovered another fix I needed to make on it (for the borders), so I have updated this.
p42 Top line or RH column. Interdoces the term 'Damage Threshold', should this be 'Defensive Threshold'?p43 Defensive Threshold - Second column - 'DT during combats' - Should this be 'DT during combat'?p43 Modifiers to Defense - The itallised 'Dodging' is p55, 'Diving for Cover' and 'Full Parry' are currently on p56?p44 Encumbrance - Weapons -'Weapons table on p38' should be 'Weapons table on p39'p45 Vitality & Wounds - 'When a character is attacked, he takes damage' is incorrect. Possibly 'When a character is successfully attacked, he takes damage' or 'successfullly hit'. Even this is incorrect, if armor absorbs the blow. rewritten as:
When a character is attacked, he may damage known as Hits. These Hits are subtracted from his Vitality on his character sheet, using the Hits box. In addition to Hits, there are a few other types of damage that he can receive.
'When a character is attacked, he may take damage'??
p45 Major Wounds - 'A character can never have less than 1 Major Wound starting out' seems to imply they start out wounded. 'A character's Major Wounds can never start at less than 1,'?rewrote that sentence for both Major Wounds and Dire Wounds
This value can never be less than 1 starting out
p45 Critical Damage - 'Refer to the Chapter on Combat, the section on Dealing Damage (p47)' When I first read this I thought it was two references, why not just write as 'Refer to the section on Dealing Damage (p47)'p48 Critical Damage
OK this section is what I got stuck on. I've reread it a number of times as I had trouble working out when it should be applied. At this stage I'm assuming that its any attack roll that >= (DT+3). Please correct me if I'm wrong. There are two things that puzzled me - firstly the use of 'critical' - as it already has a specific meaning in Novus (ie two 10's) so I initially thought that it was only related to an attack roll of (10,10). On the other hand if its based upon the Attack Roll/DT difference, why does the first paragraph of this section state 'there is also a chance that the attacker may also do additional Critical Damage'? Which sort of implies that there's some chance involved. Shouldn't it read 'Critical Damage will be dealt if the Attack Roll exceeds the DT by 3 or more'. ie Critcal Damage is automatic if AR>=(DT+3).
Critical Success (dice rolls) have been renamed to Prime Success
yeah, this section definitely needs a closer look. This was not the first critical table, in some versions, it based on the amount of hits dealt rather than amount over DT. Definitely needs some rethinking.
A couple of questions if I may
1)Now if I understand the system correctly, does this means that the first strike of (AR-DT)>=5 pretty much finishes the opponent due to cumulative penalties? (ie there's a death spiral once you're hit)
It depends on the Critical Damage Dealt -- at one point, the player choose one of the available entries per level, but currently all apply
2) As a DM, do you use counters/chips to indicate status and or further penalties to come in the following rounds. There seems to be an awful lot to track if you have (say) 8 combatants in a melee (4 party/4 opponents)!
I come from a Rolemaster background, so this does not seem like much to track at all to me.
I'll admit that I come from an early D&D background, which is more forgiving than (most) other systems, but I can understand why you recommend starting with a 'Fighting Defensively' stance to players.
So, I suspected from some eariler comments.. heheh But ou do have a point about Death Spiral, and I might change things slightly
OK back to editing....
p45 Left Hand Column - Second Paragraph - 'deliverd' should be 'delivered'
p45 Left Hand Column - Second Paragraph - 'If they choose, they may' may be better as 'If they choose, the attacker may' (ie 'they' is indistinct)p45 Left Hand Column -Bleeding - 'Hits of Bleeding' should be 'Hits from Bleeding'?p45 Left Hand Column - Bleeding - (p. p. 50) should just be (p. 50)p45 Left Hand Column - Stuns - 'There are 3 levels of Stun, Dazed, Shaken' should be 'There are 3 levels of Stun - Dazed, Shaken'.p45 Right Hand Column - First Paragraph - 'are gone the rounds of Daze are applied' should be 'are gone the rounds of Dazed are applied'p45 Critical Damage Table - Pen. should be replaced with 'Penalty'.
Anwyn
