Monday, November 5, 2007
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Quoted in the comments to this post (and hosted at the scion wiki) is another article I'd put on the Scion wiki earlier this year. What it boils down to is a rather inelegant, but functional, system for approximating the correct level of challenge to throw at your PCs. It's lengthy, and not the best writing I've ever done, but it works.
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Here's the text of the system, as a back-up in case the whitewolf wiki ever goes down or gets edited drastically...
Threat-Generation (Scion) From White Wolf Wiki
Contents
* 1 Balanced Threats
* 2 The PC Spreadsheet
* 3 Implementation
* 4 Further Customizing
* 5 One size does NOT fit all
* 6 Fleshing It Out
* 7 Summation and Credits
Balanced Threats: A system to stat-out monsters and threats for your game.
The system presented here was sort of inspired by a system in the Rune RPG from Atlas Games. In that system, monsters don't really stats of their own. Instead they have a single line that says how much better or worse in each category they should be than the average PC's stat in that area. This system won't go quite that far into abstraction, but it will use some basic math to make it easy to determine what a balanced fight is for your Character group.
The idea is that the tools below will provide challenging encounters for your players, that are less likely to be lopsided slaughters than just randomly grabbing monsters out the rulebooks. The goal is for each player to be engaged and satisfied, to feel some measure of challenge and danger in every fight, without the GM having to worry about accidentally killing the entire party off in 5 ticks of freakish die rolls during what they thought was going to be a "filler encounter".
To make use of this method, you'll need to figure out certain derived stats of the PCs in your game. I recommend making a spreadsheet for it.
The PC Spreadsheet
For each PC, you need to know (and enter into your spreadsheet) :
1) Character name
2) Average DV
(PCs have a dodge DV and typically some number of Parry DVs. However, in many cases these, especially the Parries, will be very close to each other. Enter either the most commonly used DV, or the average of all their DVs, whichever you're more comfortable with.
Some PCs have powers that increase their DV under certain circumstances, such as flying or untouchable opponent. Unless these powers are very situational or expensive to activate, it's best to assume they'll be used every battle and figure them into the stat you record here.)
Other than that, assume a DV+0 action when deciding the value to record.
3) Soak Values
List either 3 soak values: Agg, Lethal, and Bashing,
or 6 soak values, each both with and without the Piercing Effect applied.
Whether you want 3 or 6 values is based on how much detail you want to go into and whether or not your PCs are typically armored. If they all disdain armor, you can skip the Piercing bit.
4) Each PCs primary attack, including:
Dice rolled assuming no stunts or modifiers
Base damage pool if they rolled exactly the DV.
If the PC has powers that grant bonus dice, assume those powers are used unless they have very high costs. However, don't include Legendary Deeds, Guaranteed Competence via Willpower, or Virtue Channels. What constitutes Very High? Probably a Legend cost greater than the characters Permanent Legend or a Willpower cost of 3+.
Include auto-successes from Epics and other powers. You can make the spreadsheet simpler by just counting each auto-success as 2 dice. That way you can record "10" instead of "6 dice + 2 successes".
If PCs have low-expense powers that reduce the DV of opponents, you can take that into account by adding dice to their attacks instead. Each -1 DV it gives a foe is the equivalent of +2 dice on the PCs attack. If the power affects all enemies or a large number, add those dice to every PC attack, otherwise add it to just this PCs dice. Either way, make yourself a note in the margins of the spreadsheet so you know these powers have been accounted for.
5) One or more likely secondary attacks or actions.
Many PCs will have both ranged and melee attacks, for example.
For high-strength PCs, include grapple pools. Since a crush is against DV:0, it wouldn't hurt to include their average attack roll (1/2 their modified attack pool, as calculated by methods similar to those used in step 4) as bonus damage dice when recording a crush.
Followers: You may find it useful to include in this spreadsheet the stats of any Followers or other NPCs likely to join them in battle on a regular basis.
Implementation
Make a line in your spreadsheet that averages the PCs stats. If you are good with excel formulas, this can be made to self-correct as you update the PCs stats. (I tend to update the PCs entries in the spreadsheet at least once per Story, typically every third session or so, and before creating a "boss" or climactic final encounter of a Story)
Armed with those numbers, you can reverse-engineer appropriate monster stats. I like to break them up into 3 categories: Weak, Average, and Superior. Do the math and keep them in the same spreadsheet, a few lines below the PCs.
Weak Threats and Extras:
Should have a DV several points below 1/2 the average attack pool of the primary attacks of my PCs. This results in the players hitting with 80%+ of attacks.
Should have DV no higher than the 1/2 the average attack pool of PCs second-best attacks. This way most PCs will get to play around and won't alway have to use their best weapons on extras.
Should have a Soak several points below 1/2 the average damage dice of the PCs primary attacks. This means those attacks will result in several points of damage getting through with each hit.
Should have Soak no higher than the 1/2 the average damage dice of PCs second-best attacks. For the same reason listed for DV in the previous point.
Should have dice pools on the attack slightly (one to two dice) less than twice the average DV of a PC. This way, weak monsters hit only about 40% of the time.
Should have damage pools equal to twice the average Soak of a PC. This way, weak monsters only wound PCs when they get lucky on both the hit and damage rolls, between 15% and 25% of the time.
Should have the shortened health levels of an extra: 0, -1, -3, Inc. This way, a typical weak monster goes down in 1 to 4 attacks from a PC (1 to 2 of which hit).
It's up to individual storytellers whether or not to use the "1/3 of raw damage for extras" rule. You may also find "1/2 of raw damage" works better, since each die averages 0.5 successes.
Average Threats:
Should have a DV one point below 1/2 the average attack pool of the primary attacks of my PCs. This results in the players hitting with 50%-60% of attacks. Secondary attacks are less important, it's no big deal if the PCs have to mostly rely on primary attacks versus average threats. However, if the secondary attacks are much worse than primary, you may want to downgrade DV a little in case the PCs are caught without their best weapons.
Should have a Soak one to two points below 1/2 the average damage dice of the PCs primary attacks. This means those attacks will typically result in one to two points of damage going through. Again, secondary attacks are less meaningful unless they trail significantly behind the primary, which could justify dropping it a bit.
Should have dice pools on the attack exactly one die more than twice the average DV of a PC. This way, they hit about as often as the PCs do, 50% to 60% of the time.
Should have damage pools equal to twice the average Soak of a PC. This way, a hit results in damage around half the time, slightly less often then PCs score damage.
Should have normal health levels 0, -1, -1, -2, -2, -4, Inc. This way, it takes several hits, and probably half a dozen attacks, for a PC to down one.
Superior Threats and Bosses:
Should have a DV right around 1/2 the average attack pool of the primary attacks of my PCs.
Should have a Soak right around 1/2 the average damage dice of the PCs primary attacks.
Of those two areas, Soak and DV, you should set one a point below 1/2 average dice pool, and one at (PC's average Legend Rating) above 1/2 the respective average dice pool. Either they'll hit 50% of the time but need to spend Legend/Virtues to ensure damage, or the other way of needing to expend resources to hit, but being relatively sure of damage when they do.
If your players like using Coordinated Attacks, raise the DV by an additional (# of PCs -2). They'll still get a benefit out of coordinating, but it won't invalidate your Boss.
Don't consider secondary attacks at all - the PCs should sit up, play sharp, and pull out all the stops in the rare cases where a big nasty like this shows up.
Superior Threats should have dice pools on the attack exceeding twice the average DV of a PC. You don't need to go much above this, just two dice above should result in hitting better than 60% of the time.
Should have damage pools at least a couple dice above twice the average Soak of a PC. Nearly every hit will do at least a little damage, which is important for a serious threat like a evil boss villain.
Should have normal or improved health levels "0, -1, -1, -2, -2, -4, Inc." or better. As a rule of thumb, add a number of extra health levels equal to the greater of (# of PCs in campaign) or (lowest Legend Rating of a PC). This way, it takes several hits, and probably a large group effort, to kill a boss. When you get to Demigod-level PCs, make sure the bonus health levels listed above are in addition to base health levels equal to those of the lowest-Stamina PC, or else your Boss will go down fast.
WARNING: Superior Threats can kill PCs. I try to include one fight scene per session, but only use a Superior Threat / Boss about once per story, typically at or near the climax.
Further Customizing
Obviously, you don't want every monster or villain to play (fight) identically, so you're going to need to customize those stats. Here's some benchmarks for figuring out how much to adjust them. These assume you're aiming for keeping the same relative level of difficulty for the overall threat.
DV=Soak: Basically, for balancing purposes, each point of Soak and DV are equivalent. +1 DV can be offset by -1 Soak, and vice-versa. (DV may seem slightly more effective than Soak both in that you have to hit first to score damage, and that extra successes on attacks turn into extra damage dice. However, there are many more ways to reduce an opponent's DV than to reduce their Soak.) This lets you make "glass jawed" opponents who are hard to hit, but go down with a couple strikes, as well as slow "juggernauts" who are easy to hit but rarely take damage.
Be cautious, however, as changing either stat by more than a few points can easily result in making the monster unhittable or unhurtable. In particular, never give a Weak or Average foe a DV in excess of the average dice-value of your PCs attack pools, unless you know the PCs can and will find some way to immobilize them. Likewise, never give a Weak or Average foe a Soak more than a point or two above the average dice-value of your PCs damage pools.
Attack=Damage (almost): A similar relationship exists between Attack Pool and Damage Pool. +1 Attack is roughly balanced by -1 Damage. However, at larger swings in dice, this conversion rate fails. (This is partly because you have to hit first in order to roll damage. Also extra attack successes add to damage, but not the other way around). So +3 Attack dice are roughly balanced by -4 Damage dice. +3 Damage dice are probably balanced plenty by -2 Attack dice.
The larger the change in stats, the wider the disparity in effectiveness between attack and damage. However, unlike the other two stats, you can afford a little wiggle room with this - not getting dice pools quite right will affect probability, but it's not as disasterous as an overblown DV or Soak.
DV to Damage, etc: +1 Soak or DV can be roughly balanced against -3 Attack dice or -4 Damage dice. Again, be careful though. It's very easy to make a villain that the heroes can't hit or hurt, but who can't damage them either. Such a foe makes for a long and boring battle.
+3 Attack can be balanced by -1 Soak or -1 DV. +4 Damage can also be balanced against a point penalty in Soak or DV. This generates very "flashy" foes who are very dangerous, but go down quickly. Used sparingly, this can be a lot of fun. Too much of a good thing will likely result in frequent random character deaths due to dice.
Soak to Health Levels: Each point of reduced soak can be offset by adding 2 or 3 health levels. The inverse, getting rid of health levels to increase soak can quickly result in players being unable to hurt the badguy, and should only be done rarely.
One size does NOT fit all
This section details what to do if your play group includes PCs with radically different combat stats.
Due to the open-ended and point-based nature of Scion character creation, it's very possible for two PCs of the same Legend to have radically different combat-related statistics. And this is likely amplified (not corrected) by the Second Visitation in DemiGod.
A survey of the Scion forums suggests that many PC Scion bands include some number of "social or mental Scions" and some number of "combat monster Scions". If that describes your group, you may not want to rely on the "calculated average" of your PCs DV, Soak, and Dice Pools. The PCs with the most attack dice, for example, may stomp all over a monster with a DV equal to half the average PC dice pool. A different PC at the bottom of the scale may never be able to hit that same foe.
If this is the situation with your PC Scion band, you may want to use mixed groups of NPCs to challenge the Players. Rather than using a "PC average" line, use the stats of each player to custom-build a preferred foe for them.
When doing so, it's best to give each PC a single Average Threat, or 2 to 4 Weak Threats. Create a scene where the PCs encounter them all at once. Just make sure you've planned it out in advance and remember which PC each specific badguy is going to attack. The movement rules in Scion are abstract enough to mostly keep the correct opponents closest at all times. Just make sure that if one PC has the ability to fly, or spider-climb, or lightning sprint, that the NPCs who are supposed to attack them have similar powers or ranged attacks.
The Superior Threat stats in the sections above are really meant to be a challenge for multiple PCs. If you give those to a tailored-to-one-PC villain, you'll likely stomp all over them.
And be prepared for (and largely okay with) the times when a PC decides to heroically attack the wrong foe. The combat monster will occasionally decide to wipe the floor of "extras" that were meant to challenge the social-PC. The Social PC will sometimes decide to be a hero and challenge the uber-threat to a duel. There's things you can do to minimize this (special movement powers, as mentioned, and sometimes you can get away with "OMG! It's the six-fingered, one-armed man who killed your father and your wife!") but you can never completely rule out the possibility of PC stubbornness or creativity. Every so often, it's okay that the PCs get their butts shellacked. And it's almost always a good thing for Players to get to show off just how awesome their Scion character is. But if it happens all the time, where the combat-guy beats up the minions while the social-dude gets impaled by the main villain, then it's time to be blunt and honest with your players.
Fleshing It Out
First off, every Average or Superior monster or villain (and some Weak threats, too) deserves their own gimmick to make them different from the other bad guys.
For enemy Scions it's pretty easy to pick one or two splashy Boons or Knacks and have them rely on those heavily.
For monsters, you can do the same, or make up your own special powers. The main goal is flavor - it doesn't even have to be mechanically relevant if it's colorful and entertaining.
For minion races, you can give the entire species the same power, but Bosses of that race should get something extra.
Beyond that, it's up you, the Storyteller to decide how much more detail you want to go into.
If you enjoy improvising (and are just using this system as a rough guide to make sure your improvs don't randomly overwhelm the PCs) you can partial-stat the Threats. You might be able to get away with just the DV, Soak, and Dice Pools generated above, with no other stats. However, unless your PCs have no mind-affecting Knacks or Boons at all, you'll need to know the monster's Willpower, Legend, and whether or not they have any Integrity. Just decide if you want Serpent's Gaze or Overt Order (or whatever) to affect them, and give them traits that either cancel or allow it. Don't make your badguys immune too often - the Player's spent points to get those powers, after all.
However, you may also choose to really fill in the details, and build an entire character sheet for each NPC Threat. There's nothing wrong with that, if you've got the time to do so, your game will be all the richer for it. Here's some helpful tips:
Legend Rating: If a threat is customized to a particular PC, use their Legend for Average Threats and 1 or 2 dots less for Weak Threats.
If the threat is based on PC averages instead, use the party's lowest Legend (or one less) for Weak Threats, the average PC Legend for most Average Threats, and the Highest PC Legend (or 1 dot above it) for Superior Threats.
Weak threats can only spend Legend to activate powers they have, not for Legendary Deeds or Rerolls. Average Threats spend normally, but assume they've used about half their points before this scene. Superior Threats should start at or near their full Legend point pool, and pull no punches.
Willpower and Virtues: Weak Threats should typically have Willpower below the PCs and no Virtues. Average Threats should have a single strong Virtue, and Willpower roughly equal to the number of PCs in the band. Superior Threats should have at least two virtues rated 3 to 5, and Willpower at least equal to the number of PCs + the threat's Legend Rating.
Getting to that DV: DV is mostly a function of Dex and Epic Dex, but sometimes it's hard to set those to the appropriate level without inadvertantly making the badguy much better at attacking. Other ways to boost DV include:
The Untouchable Opponent knack
Shields (Kite shield on Hero page 205 gives +2 to effective DV and -1 die to villain's attacks)
Athletics, especially for high-legend foes who can spend for do-overs.
Parry DV with a Defense-boosting weapon (Trident, Khopesh and Tepoztopilli all have +0 accuracy but +2 defense) and high Melee (though this can hit the same problem as high Dex).
Warrior Ideal (War 3) is mathematically similar to a DV boost equal to half your Legend rating.
Getting to that Soak: Soak is mostly determined by Stamina and Epic Stamina, so it's easy to get to without having a lot of impact on the other combat stats.
Relic Armor can be useful for humanoid foes, though it will end up in the hands of the PCs after the fight.
Aegis (Guardian 2) provides Hardness, which is close to being Soak equal to 1/2 times (Stamina+Fortitude), though it doesn't stack with other Soak as written.
If you need to boost Lethal Soak to deal with a particular PC's weapon without making the Bashing soak jump as well, your best bet may be chainmail. It's stat line is missing from the page with it's description (Hero pg 204) but I'd recommend 3L/1B, Mobility -1, Fatigue 1, making it Hide/Leather with the Soak ratings swapped.
Getting to that Attack Pool: This starts with Dex and Epic Dex, but can get tricky since raising those will affect DV. Here's a few ideas:
Melee or Brawling Skill boost Parry DVs, so may not be a great idea in those circumstances.
Weapons. The best accuracy bonuses are from Remingtons and Peacemakers (which do unscalable 7L or 4L damage, so not very flexible), or the Bo staff(+2 accuracy, and damage scaled by strength).
Relic Weapons. You could put +5 accuracy dice on such an item. Beware, however, as the PCs will likely take it and use it in the next fight if you do.
Natural Weapons: For monsters, you can always give them claws that boost accuracy (and damage). While the PCs may want them as trophies, they'll need time and Craft skills to use it, plus you can downgrade them when not fueled by the monsters blood or magic.
Boons that grant extra dice. Animal Aspect (Animal 3). Arete at any level. The Helpful Spirit (Tsukumo-Gami 3)
Boons that penalize DV, especially to entire groups of PCs. Tidal Interference (Moon 2) is great for this. Each -1 DV is like +2 attack dice.
Superlative Martial Arts is described in Sojobo's description on Demigod page 277. It adds attack dice equal to Legend Rating.
Reducing Attack Pool: If your efforts to raise DV resulted in an over-developed attack roll, there are simple solutions.
No attack skill. Not often this makes sense, but a lack of attack-related Ability not only increases the difficulty by 2 (effectively draining 4 dice from the roll) it also takes Epic Dex out the equation entirely. But be prepared for the question "why is the villain a pacifist?"
Crappy weapons. Darts, AK-47s, Kontos and Scutum all have -1 accuracy.
Armor adds to soak, at the cost of a Mobility Penalty.
Fatigue gives penalties to those who don't have Epic Stamina.
Fierce blow and Heavy Unarmed Attack both increase the difficulty and the damage, so combine them with a lower Strength.
Crippling Attack and Disarming both raise difficulty.
Zorro, Pulling a Blow and Flat of the Blade can raise difficulty and humiliate PCs instead of hurting them.
Provide the PCs with Cover and stage the fight in a place that suggests lots of defensive Stunts.
Getting to that Damage Pool: Well, this is easy. Strength and Epic Strength. Throw in a weapon, relic weapon, or some claws. You can pretty much hit any size damage pool you want without effecting other stats, limited only by the implications of logic, Legend and body size (i.e.: a Legend 0 mortal human can't have Strength 6, Epic Strength 1)
Summation and Credits
Thanks for taking the time to read this page. I hope it was helpful, and enables you to stage fight scenes that are better balanced / less lopsided / more challenging. Implementing this system greatly reduces the danger of Total Party Kills. TPKs suck, unless they occur by means of heroic sacrifice in the final reel of the story. Scion is a game where tragic "Greekesque" endings are appropriate, but Protagonists dying in the opening reel due to bad luck goes against the cinematic and mythic roots of the game.
This system was created and initially written by r_b_bergstrom. As stated earlier, it was inspired by mechanics in the Rune RPG from Atlas Games and Human Head Studios. This being a wiki, chances are someone else will edit or contribute before too long...
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