tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1287550692312955328.post3898850809718294154..comments2023-04-07T01:24:10.515-07:00Comments on No School Grognard: Imbuement Skills in Play So FarMark Langsdorfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00301984145275679568noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1287550692312955328.post-81583505340338089322013-11-17T03:16:55.105-08:002013-11-17T03:16:55.105-08:00I would have no problem with it, BUT I would ask y...I would have no problem with it, BUT I would ask you if you do not mind if I expand and spell check it a little ;) I'll start writing it, and send it to your email, ok?Kuroshimahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09397927739954234653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1287550692312955328.post-27012580181507977752013-11-16T07:54:01.040-08:002013-11-16T07:54:01.040-08:00Also, Tony, if it's okay for you, I might prom...Also, Tony, if it's okay for you, I might promote your entire comment and some stuff I got from Kalazz via email to a guest post later this week. Would that be okay with you?Mark Langsdorfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00301984145275679568noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1287550692312955328.post-48547854932645660112013-11-16T06:34:00.436-08:002013-11-16T06:34:00.436-08:00I see we're generally in agreement.
Annihilat...I see we're generally in agreement.<br /><br />Annihilating Weapon is very effective against monsters with strikers and other "armed" unarmed fighters. How often those will come up will vary by game, but it is enormously satisfying to cut off a Corpse Golem's arms on the defense. You're going to parry anyway, why not make it hurt? And there's plenty of loot that I don't mind destroying: axes, spears, and clubs don't have a $/lb ratio that makes them appealing to take unless the group is really desperate.Mark Langsdorfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00301984145275679568noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1287550692312955328.post-50885122671124982022013-11-16T06:05:30.991-08:002013-11-16T06:05:30.991-08:00Thanks for the link to Spiderweb in the Corner!Thanks for the link to Spiderweb in the Corner!adia134https://www.blogger.com/profile/16961567020609864407noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1287550692312955328.post-9244335442680133562013-11-16T02:53:19.709-08:002013-11-16T02:53:19.709-08:00[Continued from previous post]
-Vampiric Weapon: A...[Continued from previous post]<br />-Vampiric Weapon: Awesome in the hands of a melee fighter, almost useless otherwise. I also make it slightly worse by making non-living beings (constructs, undead, spirits, elelementals, some demons) immune to it. At leastr in my games, no matter what, you're going to eventually get hit and take damage, and in combat healing is hard to come by in GURPS. In combat healing that doesn't cost you actions? You might not use it every attack, but when you use it, it is a life saver.<br />-Project Blow: I do not allow ranged imbuements, with the exception of far shot, apply to this either. This leads to people not taking it, so I might change it so that you can not use melee exclusive imbuements with it instead.<br />-Transformation skills that change the damage type: Maybe it's me allowing the (2) AD from bodkin arrows work even when you change the damage type, but cutting strike is a fan favorite. Cutting works against (almost) everything, unlike piercing and impaling that have issues with unliving and homogeneous foes. Fatigue damage strikes (Fatiguing, Chilling and Withering) can down big monsters with loads of HP but limited Will and FP very fast. They also make short work of foes with elemental weaknesses (Burning Weapon against a Draugr's skull results in a one shot one kill situation).<br />-Enhancement skills that add damage: They require building your character to take advantage of them, but with multishot or nmultistrike, they can be efficient. Stack a bunch of them with a sorce of making an attack do multiple hits, and enjoy the fireworks.<br />-Defensive Imbuements that multiply DR: When you're in the area of a horrid skull or 5, or surrounded by flaming skulls, you'll like spiritual defense. When facing foes that have armor divisors, reinforce armor is godsend. Blunting armor, given the popularity of cutting damage, lets you AoA without fear of retaliation. The others are probably too situational, but given that mystic knights can spend points on the fly, to gain new imbuement skills in combat, they will save your skin more often than not.<br />-Other defensive imbuements: Not so good. They might look nice and useful on paper, but in actual play, they aren't that awesome. Energizing Defense, for example, looks OMGAwesome on paper, but it really isn't. Of course, for 1 point, you might consider it worthwhile to take them just because, or you may wait until you actually need them and buy them on the fly.Kuroshimahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09397927739954234653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1287550692312955328.post-53234096136860959872013-11-16T02:52:33.220-08:002013-11-16T02:52:33.220-08:00As the author of the Mystic Knight, I do have a lo...As the author of the Mystic Knight, I do have a lot of data points on Imbuements in play. They may be colored by my biases, by what I put in the campaign, and by what my players like. My game is now at over 600 points after years of weekly sessions, though we started at 300, so that might color my impressions too. That said, here are some highlights:<br /><br />-Arcing Shot: The way I read it, this gets around shields, unless they are placed overhead. Given that block is the bane of archers, this is awesome.<br />-Guided weapon: Awesome, though given the absurd skill levels of the weapon master/heroic archer scout/mystic knight in my games, it's getting less use lately<br />-Penetrating Weapon: This, and the relatively cheap armor divisor enchantments have made me include a very cheap enchantment to provide hardened, priced exactly as fortify<br />-Telescopic Weapon: Don't forget you can also use it when in close combat to cancel those crippling penalties for using too big weapons. Never leave home without it.<br />-Widen shield: Awesome, and you can position yourself to protect friends behind you. I would use the shield cover DR though, even if not using the shield damage rules, because the shield explicitly provides cover. I do not require block rolls if the shield is made bigger than 1 yard<br />-Annihilating Weapon: This one isn't used in my games because it destroys loot.<br />-Bank Shot: This is deceptive attack for ranged weapons that doesn't lower your attack skill. You might suffer increased range penalties, but guided weapon fixes that.<br />-Far shot: only useful for thrown weapons, yeah. Still, thrown axes dealing ranged swing damage are sick.<br />-Ghostly Weapon: It might be because for semi-insubstantial foes that have IT: Diffuse instead of insubstantial (see flaming skulls), I let this make the attacks do full damage, or because I love having undead in my games, but my players don't leave home without this.<br />-Shattershot: Not too shabby by itself, but combine it with multishot, and you can turn a mob of monsters into hamburger meat in no time. That led to me nerfing the combination, not really for it being overly effective (that it probably is) but for the sheer amount of rolling needed when you've got 10 monsters and attacks with RoF5. I make it so only the first arrow shatters. It's still a much better AOE effect against non-difuse foes than shockwave.<br />-Multishot: This thing is so powerful that I even made official a Kromm forum clarification that nerfs it slightly, while adding an extra note to make swing doing ranged attacks (thrown maces, thrown axes and specially slings) even worse. <br />Shockwave: As with explosion damage in general, this is something that is slightly misunderstood. In melee, it's use is for dealing with swarms and other diffuse foes, and for when you're surrounded. Remember that the floor doesn't dodge, and that you can rapid strike. With ranged attacks, it selves to make use of the internal explosions rules if you aim for an open mouth. Taking penalties to upgrade this to explosion 2 or 3 is very worthwhile.<br />-Conic blast: Should be renamed line blast for all the use it has in DF. Still, it's another way to deal with shield using foes, that would otherwise block your attacks. As an area attack, your only allowed defense is dodge and drop, and that means that most foes will have to either take it like a man, or spend 2 turns getting back up. Also awesome against diffuse foes.<br /><br />[split in 2 posts, because of the 4096 character limit]Kuroshimahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09397927739954234653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1287550692312955328.post-8779447049916679402013-11-15T13:12:37.568-08:002013-11-15T13:12:37.568-08:00While I really like the "Effectiveness" ...While I really like the "Effectiveness" articles, I liked this one even more. It's pure and simple "what worked and didn't work for me in game" and I always find that extremely valuable insight.Peter Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14246000382321978462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1287550692312955328.post-38717813749813038982013-11-15T04:05:39.103-08:002013-11-15T04:05:39.103-08:00I hadn't considered the utility of Impaling St...I hadn't considered the utility of Impaling Strike, since I tend to assume that all foes in DF will either be Homogenous, Unliving, or already dead thanks to the Scout before I get to them. Do you find that the extra damage multiplier makes up for the reduction in basic damage?<br /><br />Does Reinforced Weapon come up that much? I can see why it would be situationally useful, but the weapon breakage rules are not something that comes up a lot in actual play in my experience. At least in part because I assume everyone is using Fine Dwarven Axes for defense (I recognize this isn't a realistic assumption) and not many people use full size halberds on the offense, nor are ST120 monsters. Is your experience different?Mark Langsdorfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00301984145275679568noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1287550692312955328.post-39162091818613832892013-11-14T21:41:39.688-08:002013-11-14T21:41:39.688-08:00Also, reinforced weapon for my melee fighters is a...Also, reinforced weapon for my melee fighters is a life saver. <br />Reinforced annihilating penetrating impaling strike + human missile = get out of the way!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06355281362712031335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1287550692312955328.post-45686098180245701592013-11-14T21:38:39.648-08:002013-11-14T21:38:39.648-08:00My work around for using ranged imbuement skills i...My work around for using ranged imbuement skills is combination imbuement skills.<br /><br />Project far shot - let's you strike at a greater distance than normal with a melee attack, cost 2 FP.<br /><br />Stuuf like that.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06355281362712031335noreply@blogger.com