Questions after first play session
Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 10:25 am
We just played our first session of Eldritch, and love the system - it's the best I've ever seen for old-style dungeon crawling. But we do have a few questions about the rules - could someone please provide some clarifications?
1. On page 14: "His Specialization with the axe grants him +2 points to damage, and a +1 to Initiative in battle when using his one-handed combat axe." Does this mean that you don't get the harm bonus or initiative bonus from a weapon unless you have the Specialization in that weapon? If this is the case, then what is the benefit of using a sword over a dagger if you don't have the Specialization?
2. Traps: the core rulebook does not seem to explain exactly how traps, etc. work. Do you get to roll your ability (e.g. Reflexes) first, and then only if you fail, soak the damage on your Active Defense Pool (e.g. Dodge)? Or does the damage go straight to the Active Defense Pool with no roll? (Or is it just a roll with no chance to use ADP points?) If possible, can you please provide some examples?
3. Shields (page 63): Medium shields grant +1 to the armour check, and Deflect is calculated normally, and Large shields grant +2 to the armour check but impose a penalty of -50% to the Deflect ADP. So... what if you're not wearing armour? Do you have an effective armour of 1 or 2, or is the shield bonus simply lost? If so, what is the benefit of using a Medium or Large shield when not wearing armour?
4. Ranges (page 32): "Each weapon has its own short, medium and long-range statistics." Where are these listed?
5. Reflexes are used to calculate Evade, but not to calculate Dodge - but Reflexes has the Specialization 'Dodge'. This is confusing/counter-intuitive - are we missing something here?
6. Initiative bonus - while carrying a weapon with an initiative bonus, does a character get that initiative bonus when doing any action in combat, or only when attacking with the weapon? If not, it seems odd - a character simply running would act after someone attacking with a heavy weapon.
7. Strength of objects under total cover (page 32): "Total cover - subtracts 4 points and potential harm is applied to the inanimate object first as if it were an extra defense pool." Is a guideline provided anywhere for how much damage various objects could take before being destroyed?
Thanks in advance for your answers! I hope we don't seem too negative - despite these questions, we really enjoyed the system and look forward to playing it again. We just need to understand it a bit better first.
Lastly, a few requests that we think would allow people to better enjoy this system:
1. A bestiary, or at least a monster a week added to the wiki. This is a real drawback for us as players at the moment.
2. A short one-session adventure designed to showcase the mechanics and guide new groups through the system.
1. On page 14: "His Specialization with the axe grants him +2 points to damage, and a +1 to Initiative in battle when using his one-handed combat axe." Does this mean that you don't get the harm bonus or initiative bonus from a weapon unless you have the Specialization in that weapon? If this is the case, then what is the benefit of using a sword over a dagger if you don't have the Specialization?
2. Traps: the core rulebook does not seem to explain exactly how traps, etc. work. Do you get to roll your ability (e.g. Reflexes) first, and then only if you fail, soak the damage on your Active Defense Pool (e.g. Dodge)? Or does the damage go straight to the Active Defense Pool with no roll? (Or is it just a roll with no chance to use ADP points?) If possible, can you please provide some examples?
3. Shields (page 63): Medium shields grant +1 to the armour check, and Deflect is calculated normally, and Large shields grant +2 to the armour check but impose a penalty of -50% to the Deflect ADP. So... what if you're not wearing armour? Do you have an effective armour of 1 or 2, or is the shield bonus simply lost? If so, what is the benefit of using a Medium or Large shield when not wearing armour?
4. Ranges (page 32): "Each weapon has its own short, medium and long-range statistics." Where are these listed?
5. Reflexes are used to calculate Evade, but not to calculate Dodge - but Reflexes has the Specialization 'Dodge'. This is confusing/counter-intuitive - are we missing something here?
6. Initiative bonus - while carrying a weapon with an initiative bonus, does a character get that initiative bonus when doing any action in combat, or only when attacking with the weapon? If not, it seems odd - a character simply running would act after someone attacking with a heavy weapon.
7. Strength of objects under total cover (page 32): "Total cover - subtracts 4 points and potential harm is applied to the inanimate object first as if it were an extra defense pool." Is a guideline provided anywhere for how much damage various objects could take before being destroyed?
Thanks in advance for your answers! I hope we don't seem too negative - despite these questions, we really enjoyed the system and look forward to playing it again. We just need to understand it a bit better first.
Lastly, a few requests that we think would allow people to better enjoy this system:
1. A bestiary, or at least a monster a week added to the wiki. This is a real drawback for us as players at the moment.
2. A short one-session adventure designed to showcase the mechanics and guide new groups through the system.