Lacking Natural Simplicity (Posts about tft)https://tkurtbond.github.io/categories/tft.atom2024-01-23T18:49:36ZT. Kurt BondNikolaThe Fantasy Triphttps://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2024/01/21/the-fantasy-trip/2024-01-21T17:31:57-05:002024-01-21T17:31:57-05:00T. Kurt Bond<p>[I should have posted this a long time ago. Oh well. At least it's
being posted now.]</p>
<section id="back-in-the-day">
<h2>Back in the Day</h2>
<p>I really wish I'd gotten a copy of Steve Jackson's Melee in 1977 and
Wizard in 1978 when they were published by Metagaming, and Advanced
Melee, Advanced Wizard, and In the Labyrinth when those came out in
1980. Together those make up the game The Fantasy Trip (TFT). Melee and
Wizard are the basic combat and magic rules, published as board games.
Advanced Melee and Advanced Wizard are the full combat rules. And In the
Labyrinth adds all the other stuff necessary for a complete roleplaying
game.</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metagaming_Concepts">Metagaming at
Wikipedia</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2024/01/21/the-fantasy-trip/Cover_of_Melee_board_game_1977.png">Melee, 1977</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2024/01/21/the-fantasy-trip/Cover_of_Wizard_Metagaming_1978.png">Wizard, 1978</a></p></li>
</ul>
<p>But I never saw them in any store in my area. I did meet one person who
played The Fantasy Trip, probably in 1981 or so, but never got to talk
to him about it; we were both quite busy with other things at the summer
camp from hell. Wish he'd brought his rulebooks…</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melee_(game)">Melee</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizard_(board_game)">Wizard</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fantasy_Trip">The Fantasy Trip at
Wikipedia</a></p></li>
</ul>
</section>
<section id="modern-times">
<h2>Modern Times</h2>
<p>I picked up my copies of the original Advanced Melee, Advanced Wizard,
and In the Labyrinth much more recently. Probably in 2018 or so. Thank
goodness for Internet game stores.</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2024/01/21/the-fantasy-trip/Cover_of_Advanced_Melee_1980.jpg">Advanced Melee</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2024/01/21/the-fantasy-trip/Cover_of_Advanced_Wizard_1980.jpg">Advanced Wizard</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2024/01/21/the-fantasy-trip/Cover_of_In_the_Labyrinth_1980.jpg">In the Labyrinth</a></p></li>
</ul>
</section>
<section id="legacy-edition">
<h2>Legacy Edition</h2>
<p>In 2018 Steve Jackson Games kickstarted The Fantasy Trip Legacy Edition,
with new versions of Melee and Wizard and a new version of In the
Labyrinth that contained everything from the original as well as the
rules from Advanced Melee and Advanced Wizard, and I backed it, and got
a LOT of stuff. I liked the new edition of The Fantasy Trip a lot. But I
didn't have a good chance to play it for a while.</p>
<p>There were some interesting changes from the Metagaming version of The
Fantasy Trip to the Legacy edition.</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2024/01/21/the-fantasy-trip/Cover_of_Melee_Legacy_Edition.jpg">Melee, Legacy Edition</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2024/01/21/the-fantasy-trip/Cover_of_Wizard_Legacy_Edition.jpg">Wizard, Legacy Edition</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2024/01/21/the-fantasy-trip/Cover_of_In_the_Labyrinth_Legacy_Edition.jpg">In the Labyrinth, Legacy
Edition</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="https://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2024/01/21/the-fantasy-trip/Cover_of_Pocket_Box_Melee_and_Wizard.png">Pocket Box edition of Melee &
Wizard</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.sjgames.com/">Steve Jackson Games</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fantasy_Trip#The_Fantasy_Trip_Legacy_Edition_2">The Fantasy Trip Legacy
Edition</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="https://thefantasytrip.game/">The Fantasy Trip at Steve Jackson
Games</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="https://www.hcobb.com/tft/legacy_first.html">The Fantasy Trip, Legacy vs First edition</a></p></li>
</ul>
<p>And the PDF of Melee is available from Steve Jackson Games for free!</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="https://warehouse23.com/products/the-fantasy-trip-melee">Melee for
Free!</a></p></li>
</ul>
</section>
<section id="playing-melee-online">
<h2>Playing Melee Online</h2>
<p>I got to play Melee online in 2023 and had fun. It took a while for
everybody to get used to the way combat works — it's a hex-based
tactical combat system that strives for verisimilitude, and is quite
different from anything that the others were used to. This group has
been playing Mini Six from Antipaladin Games mostly before this, with some
of Deep7's 1PGs thrown in; previously we've played a lot of Labyrinth
Lord from Goblinoid Games and Savage Worlds from Pinnacle Entertainment
Group, and while Savage Worlds is played on a square grid battle map,
it's still not tactical in the same way as TFT, DragonQuest from SPI, or
GURPS from Steve Jackson Games. I played a lot of DragonQuest and GURPS
(TFT's younger relative) in the 80s and 90s, which both have hex-grid
based tactical combat, and enjoyed them a lot, so TFT's system wasn't
such a shock to me.</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/144558/Mini-Six-Bare-Bones-Edition">Mini
Six</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.antipaladingames.com/">AntiPaladin Games</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/tkurtbond/Minimal-OpenD6">Minimal OpenD6 SRD</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="https://deep7.com/">Deep7 Press</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="https://deep7.com/?page_id=664">1PG - 1 Page Games</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/78524/Advanced-Edition-Companion-Labyrinth-Lord-noart-version">Labyrinth Lord (free no-art
version)</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/64331/Labyrinth-Lord-Revised-Edition-noart-version">Advanced Edition Companion for Labyrinth Lord (free no-art
version)</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/259983/Advanced-Labyrinth-Lord-Dragon-Cover">Advanced Labyrinth
Lord</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.goblinoidgames.com/">Goblinoid Games</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="https://peginc.com/">Pinnacle Entertainment Group</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savage_Worlds">Savage Worlds at
Wikipedia</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DragonQuest">DragonQuest at
Wikipedia</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/">GURPS</a></p></li>
</ul>
<p>Anyway, I backed Steve Jackson Games' TFT kickstarters as well as Gaming
Ballistic's kickstarters, so I've got a lot of the stuff published for
The Fantasy Trip Legacy Edition. It's a pity I'm not playing face to
face these days, because most of those kickstarters were loaded with
neat stuff for face to face play — megahex tiles, cards of all kinds,
neoprene battle maps, and more.</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="https://gamingballistic.com/">Gaming Ballistic</a></p></li>
<li><p><a class="reference external" href="https://gaming-ballistic.myshopify.com/collections/all?filter.v.price.gte=&filter.v.price.lte=&filter.p.m.my_fields.collection=The+Fantasy+Trip">Gaming Ballistic's TFT
products</a></p></li>
</ul>
<p>I continued playing Melee online, and added in Wizard. Eventually I
plan to start running a TFT campaign using the many adventures
released by Steve Jackson Games and Gaming Ballistic. And they've
released a number of solo adventures, so I plan on playing those as
well.</p>
<p>Right now I'm working on a hexcrawl using TFT, to be played somewhat
in the West Marches style, with a long past apocalypse that destroyed
a huge empire. The idea is the people are moving back into the areas
left abandoned for centuries after the apocalypse due to inimical
magic that has recently retreated.</p>
</section>
<section id="description-of-melee">
<h2>Description of Melee</h2>
<p>Melee is a person-to-person combat board game. A Melee character has two
stats, Strength (ST) and Dexterity (DX), and a secondary stat, Movement
Allowance (MA). ST determines what weapons you can use. DX determines
how hard it is for you to hit your opponents: you roll 3d6 equal to or
under your (adjusted) DX to hit (noted as a 3/DX roll). MA determines
how fast you can move on the hex grid battlemap. Human characters start
with 8 in ST and DX and have 8 more points to allocate however you want
between the two, for a total of 24 points. There are NO dump stats, and
every combination of stats, weapons, and armor results in quite
differently performing characters, which interact with the combat system
in interesting ways. Unarmored humans start with MA 10, but most armor
reduces a characters MA. Armor also lowers your DX. When you are
familiar with the system you and one or more friends can create
characters and fight a battle in an hour or so, but when you are first
starting out it will take a while to internalize the system so it runs
quickly. Melee also has various nonhuman opponents: bears, wolves, giant
snakes, giants, and gargoyles. It also has fantasy fighters: elves,
dwarves, halflings, orcs, goblins, and hobgoblins, who start with
different minimum ST and DX, sometimes with different maximum total
points. Characters gain experience and when they have 100 they can trade
it in for a point to increase ST or DX. Up to 8 points can be gained
this way.</p>
</section>
<section id="description-of-wizard">
<h2>Description of Wizard</h2>
<p>Wizard adds a third stat, Intelligence (IQ), and a lot of
spells. You've still only got 8 points to spend between the three
stats, so characters can have 32 points total. Wizards can know as
many spells as they have IQ points. Spells are rated by the IQ
necessary to learn them. Wizards roll 3/DX to see if they've cast
their spells correctly. Each spell has a ST cost to cast; some spells
can be continued with a different ST cost. Typically if a wizard
fails the roll to cast the spell it still costs 1 ST. Wizard also adds
a couple more monsters, Myrmidons, and two sizes of dragon: 4 hex and 7
hex. Wizard is scaled well to work beside Melee as a person to person
combat board game.</p>
</section>
<section id="description-of-in-the-labyrinth">
<h2>Description of In the Labyrinth</h2>
<p>In the Labyrinth (ITL) adds some elaborations to combat and magic, as
well as all the things necessary to make The Fantasy Trip a complete
roleplaying game. In particular, they add talents, non-magical
abilities. Talents allow a character to try to do something, or makes
something anybody can do easier. Talents are rated by the IQ necessary
to learn them, and by how many points IQ points they cost to get at
character creation. Talents cost twice as much (in IQ points at
character creation and in XP after character creation) for wizards as
they do regular “hero” characters. Regular heroes can learn spells, but
they cost triple (in IQ points at character creation and in XP after
character creation) what they cost wizards. ITL adds lots of spells,
many of which have non-combat uses, as you'd expect from an RPG.</p>
<p>Finding out if your character succeeds is a matter of rolling dice
equal to or lower than your stats. For easy things you roll 2 dice or
even 1 die, normal things take 3 dice, while difficult things take 4,
5, even or <em>more</em> dice! Look at the chance to roll a 14 or less on
6d6! Yikes!</p>
<img alt="/d6-dice-odds.png" src="https://tkurtbond.github.io/d6-dice-odds.png">
</section>
<section id="random-things-i-like-about-tft">
<h2>Random things I like about TFT</h2>
<ul class="simple">
<li><p>Melee and Wizard are relatively simple person to person combat board
games that serve as an introduction to the full system.</p></li>
<li><p>Uses only six sided dice.</p></li>
<li><p>Tactical hex grid based combat with verisimilitude.</p></li>
<li><p>The RPG is a complete fantasy roleplaying game in one 176 page book.</p></li>
<li><p>ITL's one page Quick Character Generation lets you quickly roll up a
new character with interesting features and personality.</p></li>
<li><p>The Table of Jobs.</p></li>
<li><p>Creating Magic Items.</p></li>
<li><p>ITL's mini setting of the Village of Bendwyn and Southern Elyntia.</p></li>
<li><p>Characters, even complicated ones, fit on a 3×5 card.</p></li>
<li><p>It's got a free app, <a class="reference external" href="https://thefantasytrip.game/products/accessories/tft-helper/">TFT Helper</a>,
for iOS and Android!</p></li>
</ul>
</section>Slings in RPGs: Often Nerfedhttps://tkurtbond.github.io/posts/2020/02/07/slings-in-rpgs-often-nerfed/2020-02-07T14:40:23-05:002020-02-07T14:40:23-05:00T. Kurt Bond<p>In response to reading <a class="reference external" href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4541318/Roman-sling-bullets-deadly-44-Magnum.html?fbclid=IwAR2IZhVYW4-4_BcuQDOq2yGXwwurzBd3HNSo1BzN7XUwZLKHF4XZ54yy0VU">this</a> article, headlined “Roman sling bullets
used against Scottish tribes 2,000 years ago were as deadly as a .44
Magnum”, I was thinking about slings in RPGs.</p>
<p>I've often thought that sling bullets are woefully nerfed in many
RPGs, especially D&D. In D&D 5E, for instance, they're only 1d4,
while a short bow is 1d6 and a long bow is 1d8. For comparison,
daggers are 1d4 and longswords are 1d8. In OD&D using Greyhawk's
“Damage Done by Weapon Type” table sling <em>stones</em> are 1d4, and the
same in B/X D&D's optional “Variable Weapon Damage” table. However,
in 3-book OD&D and B/X D&D without the “Variable Weapon Damage” table
all weapons did 1d6 damage, so slings weren't nerfed there. AD&D 1E
has sling <em>bullets</em> as 1d4+1 vs. Size Small or Medium and 1d6+1
vs. Size Large. Sling <em>stones</em> are 1d4 vs. Size Small, Medium or
Large. Compare that to arrows at 1d6 vs. Size Small, Medium, or
Large. But all bows fire twice per round, so they can be doing up to
2d6 per round. Interestingly, heavy quarrels are 1d4+1 vs. Size Small
or Medium, and 1d6+1 vs. Size Large with the heavy crossbow firing
once in two rounds, while light quarrels are 1d4 vs. all three sizes
and fire every round. So, nerfed once you take into rates of fire.
D&D 3.5E has sling bullets as 1d4, while longbows are 1d8 and heavy
repeating crossbows are 1d10 and light repeating crossbows are 1d8.
Definitely nerfed. In D&D 4E slings are 1d6, while longbows are 1d10,
shortbows are 1d8, and a crossbow is 1d8. There is even more
variability among editions of D&D than I remembered.</p>
<p>In <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savage_Worlds">Savage Worlds</a> slings are Str+d4, while a bow is 2d6. For
comparison, a dagger is Str+d4 and a long sword is Str+d8. Nerfed.</p>
<p>In <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RuneQuest">RuneQuest</a> 2E they are 1d8, similar to a Composite bow at 1d8+1
and broadsword at 1d8. In Elric! (a member of the <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stormbringer_(role-playing_game)">Stormbringer</a> line
of games, appearing between 4th Edition and 5th Edition, but the rules
were substantially equivalent to Stormbringer 5E; It is relative of
RuneQuest mechanically, part of the <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_Role-Playing">Basic Roleplaying (BRP)</a> family
of games) a sling is 1d8+1, similar to a Desert Recurve Bow at 1d8+2,
and a broadsword at 1d8+1. So in the BRP games they are not nerfed.
In DragonQuest their Damage Modifier is +1, while a dagger is +0, a
long bow is +4 and a broadsword is +4. Nerfed.</p>
<p>In <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talislanta">Talislanta</a> 4E a sling's Damage Rating is 4, as is a dagger, while a
long bow and broadsword are 8. Nerfed.</p>
<p>In <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero_System">Hero</a> 5E, sling damage is 1d6+1, same as a medium bow or a light
long bow, while a medium long bow is 1½ d6 (that's 1 and ½ d6)
and a heavy long bow is 2d6. A dagger is 1d6-1 and a broadsword is
1d6+1. Note that strong enough characters add damage to this based on
how strong they are. Not nerfed.</p>
<p>In <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GURPS#Prior_RPG_history">GURPS</a> 4E, damage is based on your strength, and the only dice used is
d6. We'll use an average Strength 10 character as an example. Their
Thrust damage is 1d-2 and their Swing damage is 1d. An opponent's
Damage Resistance (DR) is subtracted from the rolled damage and any
damage left is multiplied by a modifier for each type of damage.
Piercing damage has a ×1 modifier, cutting has a ×1.5 modifier, and
impaling has a ×2 modifier.</p>
<p>So, sling damage is swing piercing, and the damage for that for our
average character is 1d. A longbow is thrust+2 impaling. and the
damage for that is 1d, and whatever makes it past DR is doubled. A
regular bow is thrust+1 impaling, and the damage for that is 1d+1
(minus DR) ×2. A dagger is thrust-1 impaling, so that is 1d-3 (minus
DR) ×2. A thrusting broadsword is swing+1 cutting (1d+1 (minus DR)
×1.5) or thrust+2 impaling (1d+2 (minus DR) ×2). I <em>think</em> that's
nerfed a little.</p>
<p>(I'd like to note that when actually playing GURPS I think this is
simpler to do at the table than it sounds like. The damage values for
each attack is figured out at character creation :-)</p>
<p>In <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fantasy_Trip">The Fantasy Trip</a>, which like GURPS only uses d6, slings do
1d-2, small bows do 1d-1, longbows do 1d+2, daggers do 1d-1, and
broadswords do 2d. A little bit nerfed.</p>
<p>In <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Eyes,_Small_Mouth">Big Eyes Small Mouth (BESM)</a> 2nd Edition Revised, slings are not
listed, but a long bow does 5 damage, a longsword does 10 damage, and
a dagger does 5 damage. In BESM 3rd Edition, an average person has an
Attack Combat Value (ACV) of 4 and a Damage Multiplier of 5. Each weapon has
a Level, which is multiplied by the Damage Multiplier and added to the
ACV for the final damage. Slings are Level 1 (1 × 5 + 4 = 9), as are
daggers. Longbows are Level 3 (3 × 5 + 1 = 16), as are longswords.
Definitely nerfed. (It is the same in <cite>BESM 4E</cite>.)</p>
<p>In <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A2rnMaster">HarnMaster</a>, weapon impact (damage) for Melee weapons has three
Aspects, Blunt (B), Edge (E), and Point (P). A dagger's impact is B
1, E 2, P 5, while a broadsword is B 3, E 5, and P 3. A Missile
weapon's impact depends on the type of missile weapon and the range:
short, medium, long, and extreme. Slings are Short 4, Medium 3, Long
2, and Extreme 2. Shortbows are Short 6, Medium 5, Long 4, Extreme 3.
Longbows are Short 8, Medium 8, Long 6, Extreme 5. Nerfed. I'll note
that these weapon or missile impacts are added to a Strike Impact is
decided by a table indexed by how well the attacker did on opposed
rolls of attack skill against the defender's skill in Block,
Counterstrike, Dodge, or if the defender ignored the attack. For Melee
attacks this can result in the defender having blocked the attack,
either the attacker or the defender fumbling or stumbling, the
defender gaining a Tactical Advantage (a free action), or either or
both having made a Strike, which generates from 1 to 4 d6s. For
Missle attacks this can result in a Miss (with a chance to hit an
adjacent combatant, a Wild (a fumble roll), a Block, or a Strike,
which generates from 1 to 3 d6s. The Armor Protection value is
subtracked and the result is the total Effective Impact, which is then
referenced on the Injury Table to determine where the on the body the
injury is and how serious it is. There are no Hit Points like D&D or
Wounds like Savage Worlds. Instead the character accumulates injuries
like “1 Minor Slash Left Upper Arm, 1 injury level”. The total injury
level determines the difficulty of the character staying conscious and
penalty to any skill roll. Some of the injuries may immediately kill
the injured character.</p>
<p>There is a good thread by Robert S. Conley (<a class="reference external" href="http://batintheattic.blogspot.com/">1</a>, <a class="reference external" href="http://www.batintheattic.com/index.php">2</a>, <a class="reference external" href="https://rpggeek.com/rpgdesigner/22847/robert-conley">3</a>) on <a class="reference external" href="https://www.rpgpub.com/threads/the-one-where-i-sing-the-praises-of-harnmaster.2363/">RPG PUB</a>
that talks some more about HarnMaster combat.</p>
<p>In West End Games' <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D6_Fantasy">D6 Fantasy</a>, attributes are measured in d6s and 2D
is an average human. Bow and sling damage and melee damage as d6s
added to a number of d6s determined by your Strength Damage, which is
determined by your Physique attribute or Lifting skill (both measured
in d6s), drop any adds, divided by 2. So our average human's Strength
Damage is 2D. Then longbows add +2D+2, shortbows add +1D+2, and
slings add +1D. For comparison, daggers add +1D and broad/long swords
ad +2D+2. So, nerfed, although it is hard to make precise
distinctions at this level of resolution.</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunnels_%26_Trolls">Tunnels & Trolls</a> only uses d6s and weapons are measured in “Dice +
Adds”, that is the number of d6s to roll and the number of points to
add to the dice total. The common sling is 2d. A very light self bow
is 2d, a light self bow is 3d, a medium self bow is 4d, a heavy self
bow is 5d, and a extra-heavy self bow is 6d. These all have
increasing Strength Required to use the weapon. For comparison, a
Dirk is 2D+1 and a broadsword is 3d+4. Nerfed.</p>
<p>In <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Warriors">Dragon Warriors</a> weapon damage has two parts: an armor
penetration die (measured in dice: d4, d6, d8, etc.) and damage
points. The armor penetration die is rolled against the Armour Factor
of the defender's armour: a Gambeson has an Armour Factor of 2 while
Plate has an Armor Factor of 5, and the attacker has to roll <em>higher</em>
than the Armour Factor to inflict damage.</p>
<p>A sling has Damage (d6, 3 points) while a Bow has Damage (d6, 4
points). For comparison, a dagger has Damage (d4, 3 points) and a
sword has Damage (d8, 4 points). Slightly nerfed.</p>
<p>When I GM games that I think nerf slings, like D&D, I often use a
house rule that sling bullets are higher damage than sling stones, and
more similar to the damage of a short bow, 1d6, for example. I may
have been underestimating them and should consider them closer to a
long bow, 1d8, as Chaosium's <a class="reference external" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_Role-Playing">Basic Roleplaying (BRP)</a> variants
(RuneQuest, Elric, Stormbringer) do.</p>
<section id="addendum-classic-traveller-cepheus-engine">
<h2>2020-03-14 Addendum — Classic Traveller & Cepheus Engine</h2>
<p><a class="reference external" href="https://wiki.travellerrpg.com/Classic_Traveller">Classic Traveller</a>'s <cite>Supplement 04 Citizens of the
Imperium</cite> (1979) has a section on bow weapons, on p. 16! A sling does
2D wounds and a long bow does 2D wounds also. For comparison, from
<cite>Book 01 Characters & Combat</cite> (1981) on p. 47 on the “Range Table” (?)
dagger, blade, cutlass, and sword all do 2D wounds. Not nerfed.</p>
<p><cite>Cepheus Engine</cite> (<a class="reference external" href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/237247/Cepheus-Engine-RPG">C1</a>, <a class="reference external" href="https://www.paulelliottbooks.com/what-is-cepheus-engine.html">C2</a>) doesn't have slings, but a bow is 2D6.
<a class="reference external" href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/304840/The-Sword-of-Cepheus">Sword of Cepheus</a>, the fantasy variant, has sling as 2D, short bow
as 2D, long bow as 3D, dagger as 2D, and sword as 3D. Maybe a little
nerfed.</p>
</section>
<section id="addendum-advanced-fighting-fantasy-1e-2e">
<span id="aff"></span><h2>2021-07-19 Addendum — Advanced Fighting Fantasy 1E & 2E</h2>
<p>AFF 1E (<a class="reference external" href="https://fightingfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Dungeoneer_(book)">Dungeoneer</a>, <a class="reference external" href="https://fightingfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Blacksand_(AFF)">Blacksand</a>, <a class="reference external" href="https://fightingfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Allansia_(book)">Allansia</a>) does not, as far as I can tell,
mention slings at all. Boo, hiss!</p>
<p><a class="reference external" href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/667/Arion-Games/subcategory/1684_25223/Advanced-Fighting-Fantasy">AFF 2E</a> <em>does</em> have slings. Yay! In AFF you roll a d6 (the Damage
roll) and look up the result on a table for your weapon. You can have
bonuses to the d6 Damage roll that can give a result of 7 or above.
Here is the entry for sling, along with longbow, shortbow and sword
for comparison.</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr><th class="head"><p><strong>Weapon</strong></p></th>
<th class="head"><p><strong>1</strong></p></th>
<th class="head"><p><strong>2</strong></p></th>
<th class="head"><p><strong>3</strong></p></th>
<th class="head"><p><strong>4</strong></p></th>
<th class="head"><p><strong>5</strong></p></th>
<th class="head"><p><strong>6</strong></p></th>
<th class="head"><p><strong>7+</strong></p></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr><td><p>Sling</p></td>
<td><p>1</p></td>
<td><p>1</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td><p>4</p></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><p>Arrow - Longbow</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td><p>4</p></td>
<td><p>5</p></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><p>Arrow - Shortbow</p></td>
<td><p>1</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td><p>4</p></td>
</tr>
<tr><td><p>Sword</p></td>
<td><p>2</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td><p>3</p></td>
<td><p>4</p></td>
<td><p>5</p></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>So, slings are a little nerfed. I think I'll use a house rule that
says the sling damage in the book is for sling stones, and sling
bullets do the same damage as an arrow fired from a shortbow.</p>
<p>What do you think?</p>
<p><em>Last edited: 2021-08-09 12:15:25 EDT</em></p>
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