Modified Kindred Modifiers for dT&T

I think he's mad at me.

I thought I would play game designer and work with the T&T kindred modifiers to see if I could "improve" them to my own satisfaction. I sought to find some balance in the positive and negative modifiers to the various attributes. As written in the dT&T rules and previous editions the nonhuman kindred tend to get a lot of extra attribute points with little reduction of any values, although there are exceptions. I thought changing the attribute modifiers would be a good solution in place of the proposed human advantage of dT&T. Instead of giving humans a new advantage over the other kindred, the other kindred could have disadvantages, or certain lower than average attributes,  to "balance" their big increases in various attributes. Using this method, no human advantages are needed; problem solved (chuckle).

Listed below are the five "standard" nonhuman kindred for T&T. I've given the dT&T attribute modifiers for each kindred followed by my own changes to those modifiers to provide some balance. Positive modifiers are highlighted in Blue; negative modifier in Red. Any modifiers that I changed are in Bold.

Dwarves

STR 2  CON 2  DEX 1  SPD 1  LK 0.75  IQ 1  WIZ 1  CHR 1

Dwarves have significant increases to STR and CON and only a minor reduction in LK. With two attributes being increased, I decided two should be reduced. Since dwarves had a reduced CHR in 5th edition and a reduced LK in 7th edition, I thought the combination of these two attributes was best. I kept the positive modifiers to STR and CON as they were and adjusted negative modifiers to LK and CHR to balance them out.

STR 2  CON 2  DEX 1  SPD 1 LK 0.5  IQ 1  WIZ 1  CHR 0.5

Revised dwarves are just as strong and hearty, but somewhat unlucky and surly.


Elves

STR 1  CON 0.67  DEX 1.33  SPD 1  LK 1  IQ 1.5  WIZ 1.5  CHR 1.5

Four of eight attributes get positive modifiers at the cost of reducing CON by 3/4. That's quite a deal. The reduction in CON does balance out the increase in DEX,  but obviously CON cannot be reduced further to compensate for the x1.5 boost to IQ, WIZ, and CHR. Since elves are meant to be less robust than humans in terms of CON, I also gave them a reduced STR. I also removed the positive CHR modifier because, let's face it, not everyone is enamored with elves.

STR 0.5  CON 0.7  DEX 1.4  SPD 1  LK 1  IQ 1.5  WIZ 1.5  CHR 1

Revised elves retain their extra intellect, magical potency, and agility (slightly enhanced), but tend to be physically weaker in terms of brawn and health.


Fairies

STR 0.25  CON 0.25  DEX 1.75  SPD 1  LK 1.5  IQ 1  WIZ 2  CHR 1.5

Fairy modifiers are actually pretty well balanced. They have big reductions in STR and CON making them fragile, but good boosts to DEX, LK, WIZ, and CHR. Despite their apparent weakness, however, with the Adds generated from DEX and LK fairies can decimate the opposition with missile fire. Their lethality is only increased by the loss of negative Adds in dT&T. Plus, you know, they can fly.

STR 0.25  CON 0.25  DEX 1.5  SPD 1  LK 1.5  IQ 1  WIZ 2  CHR 1.5

Overall I am happy with the fairy modifiers. My modified fairies only have a slightly reduced boost to DEX to make up for the loss of negative adds.     


Hobbs

STR 0.5  CON 2  DEX 1.5  LK 1.5  IQ 1  WIZ 1  CHR 1

Hobb are fairly weak, but are quite robust as well as agile and lucky. The boosts to DEX and LK give Hobbs a lot of extra Adds and their lack of STR is more than made up for by their high CON.

STR 0.5  CON 2  DEX 1.5  LK 1.5  IQ 0.75  WIZ 0.75  CHR 1

Revised hobbs have all the great boons of normal hobbs, but tend to be not quite as bright and less in tune with magic than other kindred.


Leprechauns

STR 0.33  CON 0.67  DEX 1.5  LK 1.5  IQ 1.25  WIZ 1.5  CHR 1

Leprechauns represent a nice balanced build in my opinion. They are physically weaker and less robust than humans but have slightly better agility, luck, intelligence, and magical aptitude to make up for it. No changes required here.


Character Example

Let's take a sample character and see how it looks cast as the various standard kindred from dT&T. Attributes that are positively affected by modifiers are in Blue; those that are negatively modified are in Red. Rolling 3D6 in order we get:

Human

STR 11  CON 10  DEX 16  SPD 14  LK 10  IQ 10  WIZ 13  CHR 9

Level: 1
Adds: +6


Dwarf (Standard)

STR 22  CON 20  DEX 16  SPD 14  LK 8  IQ 10  WIZ 13  CHR 9
(Total Attribute Increase: 21)
(Total Attribute Decrease: 2)
Level: 2
Adds: +16


Elf (Standard)

STR 11  CON 7  DEX 21  SPD 14  LK 10  IQ 15  WIZ 20  CHR 14  
(Total Attribute Increase: 22)
(Total Attribute Decrease: 3)
Level: 2
Adds: +11


Fairy (Standard)

STR 3  CON 3  DEX 28  SPD 14  LK 15  IQ 10  WIZ 26  CHR 14 
(Total Attribute Increase: 35)
(Total Attribute Decrease: 15)
Level: 2
Adds: +21


Hobb (Standard)

STR 6  CON 20  DEX 24  SPD 14  LK 15  IQ 10  WIZ 13  CHR 9
(Total Attribute Increase: 23)
(Total Attribute Decrease: 5)
Level: 2
Adds: +17

Leprechaun (Standard)

STR 4  CON 7  DEX 24  SPD 14  LK 15  IQ 13  WIZ 20  CHR 9
(Total Attribute Increase: 23)
(Total Attribute Decrease: 10)
Level: 2
Adds: +17


The ratio of attribute increase to decrease varies from 10.5:1 (dwarves) to 2.3:1 (fairies and leprechauns). Dwarves and Elves really are the uber-characters of the bunch with Hobbs as a close third. Neither Dwarves nor Elves have any real disadvantages. Hobbs at least have a low STR to go along with their high CON, DEX, and LK. The Fairy and Leprechaun both have low STR and CON that make them fragile to help balance out their many other advantages. In addition, all of the nonhuman kindred start off as Level 2 characters with all of the advantages associated with their Type. The human will need to acquire a minimum of 700 Adventure Points to gain those advantages. The nonhumans also start with 2 to almost 4 times the Personal Adds of the human. This difference has really been accentuated by the removal of "negative adds" generated by key attributes with values less than 9 in dT&T. Cuts in STR, for example, used to keep adds in check for certain kindred like fairies, hobbits, and leprechauns.


Now let's look at my modified kindred. The attributes that have been affected by the changes are in bold.

Human

STR 11  CON 10  DEX 16  SPD 14  LK 10  IQ 10  WIZ 13  CHR 9

Level: 1
Adds: +6


Dwarf (Modified)

STR 22  CON 20  DEX 16  SPD 14  LK 5  IQ 10  WIZ 13  CHR 5
(Total Attribute Increase: 21)
(Total Attribute Decrease: 9)
Level: 2
Adds: +16


Elf (Modified)

STR 6  CON 7  DEX 22  SPD 14  LK 10  IQ 15  WIZ 20  CHR 9
(Total Attribute Increase: 18)
(Total Attribute Decrease: 8)
Level: 2
Adds: +12


Fairy (Modified)

STR 3  CON 3  DEX 24  SPD 14  LK 15  IQ 10  WIZ 26  CHR 14
(Total Attribute Increase: 31)
(Total Attribute Decrease: 15)
Level: 2
Adds: +17


Hobb (Modified)

STR 6  CON 20  DEX 24  SPD 14  LK 15  IQ 8  WIZ 10  CHR 9
(Total Attribute Increase: 23)
(Total Attribute Decrease: 10)
Level: 2
Adds: +17

Leprechaun (Unmodified)

STR 4  CON 7  DEX 24  SPD 14  LK 15  IQ 13  WIZ 20  CHR 9
(Total Attribute Increase: 23)
(Total Attribute Decrease: 10)
Level: 2
Adds: +17


Even with the modifications, the nonhumans still come out in better shape than humans (start as 2nd level, 2-3x the Adds), but all have some key disadvantages associated with one or two low attributes even if they do not affect personal adds. The resulting affect on Saving Rolls will certainly be critical (that's one unlucky dwarf). Importantly, the attribute increase to decrease ratio for each of the kindred is now approximately 2.3:1. That seems much more reasonable in my opinion. I'm anxious to play test these new kindred to see how they work out in an actual game.

More on Human Advantages in T&T

I've been thinking more about the "human advantage" introduced to the dT&T beta rules. This one rule change sparked more discussion than any other aspect of the dT&T rules (although pole arms may now be getting close). In previous editions of T&T, humans were the plain vanilla of kindred. As Ken explained humans were the base line against which other kindred were compared. While other kindred received no special abilities like in other fantasy RPGs (seeing in the dark, detecting hidden things, hiding, shooting, etc. better than humans), they did (and still do) get modifiers to their basic attributes, some positive (up to 2x) and some negative (down to x0.25). Human attributes remain at whatever was rolled on 3D6. The end result is starting nonhuman PCs with some very high attributes and very high Personal Adds in comparison to humans.

A big change that came with 7th edition was the direct linking of attributes and levels. Characters increased their attributes by spending Adventure Points. A characters level increased whenever an attributes went up to the next 10 value (10 = 1st level, 20 = 2nd level, 30 = 3rd level). Characters received certain bonuses partly depending upon their Type upon reaching new levels. As a consequence of this change, nonhuman characters tended to benefit the most typically starting as 2nd or even 3rd level characters and outclassing their human comrades. A freshly rolled human warrior in comparison to a freshly rolled dwarf warrior were very different.

Another important change to dT&T is the removal of "negative adds" or -1 Personal Add for every point a PA-contributing attribute is below 9. The consequence of this is that low attributes resulting from nonhuman kindred modifiers do not affect Personal Adds and combat effectiveness.

Let's create a dT&T Warrior character as an example:

Rolling 3D6 you get the following attributes:

STR 16 DEX 12 CON 12 SPD 12 LK 14 INT 9 CHR 12 WIZ 6

If you decide to play a human warrior your attributes are what you see above and your character will be a Level 1 Human Warrior with +6 Personal Adds and +1D6 in combat.

If you decide to play a dwarf warrior, however, your attributes will be adjusted (x2 STR and CON, x0.75 LK) and come out to:

STR 32 DEX 12 CON 24 SPD 12 LK 11 INT 9 CHR 12 WIZ 6

Now you will have a Level 3 Dwarf Warrior with +20 Personal Adds and +3D6 in combat.

That is quite the difference at a cost of only 3 points of Luck. That's right, 28 extra attribute points at the cost of only 3. That's hard to pass up. If you're curious, that comes out to 5860 adventure points to raise STR and CON to those levels.

As an added note, the attributes of this dwarf allow him to wield two axes for 10D6 in combat. So that's 13D6+20 for this freshly rolled Warrior. Wow.

Many have said in response to the dT&T human advantage rules that they are not needed because there is nothing wrong with the current system. I would argue that the example above shows that there is at least a small problem. While there are certainly role-playing reasons to play a human warrior (I tend to make this choice for my own reasons) there are certainly not many "roll"-playing reasons. Mechanically the human is outmatched and a terrible choice especially as a warrior.

I have wondered why the nonhuman kindreds get such large attribute boosts. As starting characters many of these boosts seem a little excessive (like the example above). It could be that nonhumans are meant to be favored (I know Ken prefers the more monstrous characters); it is a fantasy game after all. But my question is, if a nonhuman character did not have any attribute boosts, would you still play one? Why not have a greater "balance" of the attribute modifiers? Wouldn't it be more symmetrical to have negative modifiers equal to the positive modifiers? If a dwarf, for example, gets x2 in both STR and CON, shouldn't the dwarf also get a x0.5 to two other attributes such as LK and CHR? That would sit better with me.

Another question is why don't humans get any special advantages? This is actually true of most RPGs; humans are the rather plain go-to characters for new players with no complicated abilities to keep track of. But why? Humans certainly have special abilities. We are incredibly adaptable, imaginative, inventive, capable of radically modifying our surroundings, and somehow, against all odds (so far at least), survive.

A separate human advantage provides some more flavor for the plain vanilla human. Perhaps the "do-over" Saving Roll rule introduced by the dT&T Beta rules was a bit of an over-compensation, but I do think that it is on the right track. Finding a way to apply an advantage to Saving Rolls reflects the nature of humans. As I mentioned in a previous post, bringing back the "add level number to Saving Rolls" rule and giving that advantage to humans only would be better or at least state that in the "do over" rule fumbles always fail. Yet another method would be to allow humans to make all Saving Roll at one level less than normal, but with a minimum of a Level 1 Saving Roll. Of course this would have the potential disadvantage of a lower adventure point reward, but such is the nature of kindred modifiers (they giveth and taketh away). An option outside of Saving Rolls, which I've mentioned before, is to provide humans with more resources at the beginning, either in terms of more starting gold or just some select pieces of equipment.

Yet another avenue would be to highlight some of the disadvantages of nonhuman characters. Height, for example, can be a big issue. Dwarves, leprechauns, and hobbs are all shorter than humans and should, therefore, have trouble reaching things designed for taller kindred. Let's say a leprechaun was exploring an ancient manor of a long-dead human family and discovered a safe set in the wall. The leprechaun should not be able to reach that safe and would need to overcome that obstacle before even considering how to pick the lock. The same is true of items that may be discovered while delving. Most armor that is found should not be dwarf-, hobb-, leprechaun- or fairy-sized (although it certainly should not all be human-sized either). The same is true of weapons, shields, rings, necklaces, bracelets, etc. many of which may have magical properties. You could also consider mass. Ken's dwarves are supposed to be made from stone; so can dwarves swim? Nonhumans may also be a lot less resilient and adaptable that humans, living in specific environments and generally not wandering far from home. This could be reflected by requiring higher level Saving Rolls when faced with challenges outside of their "comfort zones." But isn't all this a little more complicated than simply giving humans an advantage to reflect their own resilience?

This is all, of course, simply my own opinion and we are all entitled to our own especially when it comes to esoteric topics like RPG rules. When dT&T comes out I will certainly be playing it (I have already paid for it after all) both as written and, as usual, modified with lots of house rules as it's creator, the Trollgod, intended.