Talislanta for FG: Rumor? Dream? Reality?

[SmokinDeist]

In the case of this NPC, I believe that the Effective rating has already been calculated. But combat skills are modified the the CR (Combat Rating Attribute) and not DEX or STR. Though STR does add to melee damage. So the base calculation--barring any other situational modifiers would be War Axe Rating + CR. (Since this was taken from an adventure, they did the math for you.) This is rolled versus the opponent's Combat Skill + CR.

If this Thrall were to attack a basic Za Bandit, You'd do initiative (An attribute roll using SPD. With plain attribute rolls you double the modifier and add a D20 roll.) Tonfa rolls a 10 and adds +4 (SPD +2 x 2) to the roll, getting a 14. The Za Bandit has a SPD of 0 so he just rolls a D20 and gets a 12. This give Tonfa initiative.

There are four categories of tactics in a combat round and using one counts as one action. They are Attack, Defend, Move and Stunt. We are trying to keep this simple so Tonfa swings at the Za Bandit with his axe. Considering that Tonfa is a low-level Thrall and looking at his stat block, we see that his CR is a respectable +6 and that his total skill is +9. (A +3 skill is about right for the character so +9 total looks right.) The Za Bandit has a +5 CR and is armed with a Za Broadsword with a skill of +4. This makes his total skill +9 so it's an even roll in this case. Tonfa rolls a 14 and scores a full success so he gets a good hit and does damage. The DR (Damage rating) for the war axe is 8 and Tonfa has a +4 STR, bringing the total damage to 12. If the Za has any armor, then you subtract the PR (Protection Rating) from the damage. Let's say he has leather armor (PR 2) so that would reduce the damage to 10. Total HP for an average Za is 29 so the guy is hurt but still in the fight.

Defend is an option that I must note here as well. Before the attacker rolls, the defender can sacrifice an action to either Dodge or Parry. If the Za were to have initative and attack first, Tonfa could take this chance to, as an example, parry the sword with either the axe or his Garde--the Thrall's spiked parrying armor. If he uses his Garde, then he would roll using his Tazian Combat and CR--total here looks like a 9 minus the Za's +9 with his broadsword. Tonfa squeaks the roll with an 11. With a full success or higher, the attacker doesn't have to roll.

However if say Tonfa decides to parry the Za's attack during the round in which Tonfa attacked, he can do so but he incurs the multiple action penalty (-5 cumulative modifier for each additional action) That parry would then be at a net -5 (9-9-5=-5). That 11 he roll would be dropped to a 6, just a partial success. The Za can then roll and if he hits, the partial success on the parry would be enough to halve the damage.

This is long to describe but in practice, things go pretty quick.

The sampler for Tal 4th edition is a good way to preview the rules--it is just missing a lot of the world info and most of the magical orders. For the most part, the mechanics have been fairly stable across the editions. Weapon damage going from rolled to fixed in 4th edition is one of the major changes and magic really has evolved between most of the editions. The sampler can be found here. And the full archive is in downloads section at talislanta.com.

[SmokinDeist]

Damn, I was going through some of the tutorial information and I discovered that I need at least the Full version...

[damned]

To use and test this you can use the Demo version.
To run a demo game where it doesnt save you can use a Demo version.
To save/export content you will need a license.
You can get a license for a month for $4 and if you dont think its for you request a cancellation and refund prior to 30 days and you will get your money back.

I personally think the license costs are pretty fair.

[SmokinDeist]

Good news is I now have a part-time job to supplement my Social Security--it a pain to do this with all of the rules but I needed money badly for a "new" car and other things. I'll be able to save up for FG a lot easier now. Then I can continue this project once I can buy the program. Perhaps I should play with some programming tools so I'm more familiar with the proper syntax and formatting.

[damned]

Good luck with everything SmokinDeist