(OOC) Hypertech and Boffer

[David Lunking]

(Because I clearly have been at my desk too much today...)

 

Last Saturday, during some downtime, John, SP, Carolyn, myself, and a variety of other people were discussing Hypertech and Boffer combat. A number of good points were raised, several of which we believe warrant further discussion. Speaking briefly with Kirt yesterday, he mentioned he had already considered the how hypertech could be represented in boffer combat, but had yet to fully implement it. Given our discussion last weekend, I believe we should discuss further some of the topics of note, before potentially proposing a rules change.

 

There were several things discussed, but John and SP likely have the best recall of these events. I specifically recall discussing

• Blink is useful in boffer combat - but just requires the ability to quickly invoke the Moose.
• Stasis is rather overpowered in its current usage of neutralizing one foe for an arbitrary time for elimination later.

Regarding Stasis, the suggestion was to make Stasis useful only against a willing target, and make Stun the 'take someone out for a while' power. This would directly translate to 'Freeze' in boffer. Stasis meanwhile would still be useful for preserving an injured person for medical attention later, or for delaying the inevitable bomb blast or other not unwilling object. I would further suggest making Stasis, with its reduced power and purview, an Easy skill rather than the current Hard, as at least a partial payment towards Stun, a Very Hard skill.

 

And while we're on the topic of rules changes, I know there was discussion about reducing/eliminating the cost of having a wetware jack. In my opinion, given their general lack of utility and the PC-driven advances in slapjacks, 10 points for a technomage to have a Technosphere jack (vs. 20 for someone else) is quite expensive, and does not reflect character traits or abilities as well as having those 10 points in a skill/proficiency/resource. I recommend reducing the cost to a nominal fee, say 5 or less. It is still Nice To Have, similar to the ability to Harvest Grays, but not 10 points worthy.

 

Thoughts? If there is a more appropriate venue for this discussion, we can also move it there. The Threads-Combat and Security list is long dead and spammed, and most of the people affected are on this list.

 

 

~D, who's going home, honest.

[Kirt Dankmyer]

> And while we're on the topic of rules changes, I know there was discussion
> about reducing/eliminating the cost of having a wetware jack. In my opinion,
> given their general lack of utility and the PC-driven advances in slapjacks,
> 10 points for a technomage to have a Technosphere jack (vs. 20 for someone
> else) is quite expensive, and does not reflect character traits or abilities
> as well as having those 10 points in a skill/proficiency/resource. I
> recommend reducing the cost to a nominal fee, say 5 or less. It is still
> Nice To Have, similar to the ability to Harvest Grays, but not 10 points
> worthy.

There was a long discussion of this on the Writer's List quite some
time ago, and the general consensus is to eliminate the cost of the
wetware jack in character points. It's really more of a tool that lets
you use other abilities, like a cell phone. You buy it with in-game
money (or get installed as part of your schooling, for the
Technosphere) and you're done.

I need to make an announcement about this, and haven't bothered to do so.

--
Kirt "Loki" Dankmyer -- http://ivanhoeunbound.com -- xiomBRAG on AIM
cats * hats * RPGs * love * Eris * Agent Patriot * anime * Dada * poetry
"Only ONE MAN can kill this many Russians. Bring his guitar to me!" -Death

[Kirt Dankmyer]

> I need to make an announcement about this, and haven't bothered to do so.

Or, more accurately, I haven't had the time. The writers agree, but
the trick is announcing it and making it clear, and writing a clear
doc and updating the wiki takes time.