--- In
dqn-list@yahoogroups.com, Viktor Haag <viktor.haag@g...>
wrote:
> On Thu, 13 Jan 2005 00:36:02 -0000, Tom Miller <shaador@y...>
wrote:
> > How many of us have managed to infect others with this little
gem
> > from SPI? I think most people who play it enjoy the simplicity
and
> > flexibility of the game. It is just a much better system then
D20.
>
> On this note, I'm interested in infecting my gaming group with this
> new-old system. Getting started is not easy though. It doesn't
seem to
> me that starting PCs start out with a whole heck of a lot ability
> wise.
>
> What exatly do starting PCs look like?
>
> Also, there's not much guidance to assist one in figuring out what
> appropriate challenges are for newbie PCs -- can someone sketch out
> the challenges one would find in "your first adventure"? Just a
short
> list of the mechanics of the challenges involved would be good --
what
> combat opponents are suitable for newly created characters?
I've been GMing DragonQuest since 1988 and it never occurred to me
to ask for something like this. The lack of classes or archetypes
makes it too hard to arbitrarily decide whether a certain monster is
an appropriate challenge for a group of starting characters. What is
appropriate really depends on what abilities those characters have
and how good their players are at using them. That said... I've
found that goblins make good encounters for new characters.
Depending on the party, anywhere from half again to twice as many
goblins as player characters should give a challenging, but winnable
combat.
Now, if you happen to have a shapechanger or a giant among the new
characters, that encounter will go from challenging to trivial. A
young frost giant with a giant glaive, a 12 TMR, and as much
endurance and fatigue as the entire group of goblins would waltz
through the encounter. And a shapechanger could just shift and
become immune to non-silvered or non-magical weapons and be at even
less risk than the frost giant.
On the other hand, if your characters are all adepts with low
physical abilities, this combat may be too challenging. A group of
falchion or shortsword wielding goblins would run roughshod over a
like number of adepts with daggers and unreliable spells.
How well the players work together makes a big difference, too. If
they coordinate well and watch each other's backs, they are going to
be able to handle a much tougher encounter than if they just spread
out and do their own things. DQ gets very deadly very fast when you
get surrounded and in a position where you have to leave your back
exposed to an opponent.
>
> Are there any campaign-oriented websites that still have a copy of
the
> "original handout" the referee gave the players about guidelines
for
> building characters? Or perhaps a transcription of that "first
> adventure"?
>
Again, this is not something with a cut-and-dried answer. A person
really needs to decide what type of character he wants to play. Then
he needs to look at the skills, weapons, and/or college of magic
that best fit that type of character. Then arrange his stats around
this. For adepts, every stat is important. For non-adepts, every
stat except magical aptitude is important. Physical Strength affects
how much weight you can carry which determines how heavily armored
you can be, and along with Manual Dexterity determines which weapons
you can use. Manual Dexterity directly affects your strike chance
and your ability to avoid dropping or breaking your weapon during
combat. It's used in many Thief/Spy abilities, as well. Agility is
your defense and determines how far you can move each pulse.
Movement is very important in a game as tactical as DQ. Magical
Aptitude directly affects your cast chance and determines which
college of magic you can join and how many spells you can learn
before having to rank any spells past 5. Willpower is your magic
resistance and determines how well you unstun in combat. Being
stunned in DQ is a very bad thing. It is also an important stat for
horsemanship and Beast Master. Endurance determines how much damage
you can take before dying and how fast your heal.
Depending on what is important in your campaign, you may want to
encourage or discourage certain skills. For example, if you plan to
never have the characters go through a dungeon crawl or break into
some mage's tower on a theft mission, you might want to tell them
that Thief won't be a vital skill. On the other hand, if you wish to
feature such things, you may want to encourage at least one person,
maybe more, to take it. If you're going to be running an Arabian
Nights sort of theme, you might want to warn the players that
Navigator will be a useless skill for their landlocked characters.
Unless they plan to spend a lot of time laying in bed healing up
naturally, they will want an Earth Mage, Mind Mage, or someone with
the Healer skill in the group. Unless healing can be purchased
cheaply in most towns.
DQ is a versatile system that can fit well with many types of
campaigns. But that versatility makes it very hard to give concrete
answers to your questions. The particulars of your group and your
campaign are going to dictate most of these answers. Most of the
campaigns I've run have been intrigue oriented and have involved
long-term human (or elven or orcish) enemies. I rarely use monsters
and most of the combats involve members of player-character races.
Not many of the monster encounters in the book can compare to taking
out a Fire Mage general and his personal bodyguard.
After you run a few combats, you'll start to get a feel for what
your party can handle. You'll be able to look at how much damage
something does and how much it can take and just "feel" whether it
would be tough for your group. I reiterate that the ability of the
players makes as much difference as the ability of the characters.
I've seen many a simple encounter turn hard because a swordsman
whose player had no tactical ability would charge in such a way that
the Air mage could not lay down a lightning bolt to good effect.
I hope this was useful. Before applying it, though, keep in mind
that as I write this, I am semi-stoned on cold medicine.
-David