[PnP] pnp Digest, Vol 40, Issue 20

[J Hooten]

I have always assumed the NWI was the skill since it is used just like 
one, otherwise it has little meaning

Paul L. Ming wrote:
> Hiya.
>
>   
>> 1.A question regarding monsters
>>
>> How good is a monster like the troll with a natural  NWI of -2 with a
>> weapon?
>> The description of most monster describe what kind of preferred weapon
>> they use but not how good they are?
>> Myself i rule that they are profficient with his preferred weapon and an
>> EL of (1d12+2) up to his maximum due to stats.
>> The troll for example uses stone club as preferred weapon he uses Mace
>> skill his maximum is (s+St)10 =(50+35)10=9 which means with a roll of
>> 1d12+2 he could have between 3 and 9 in EL
>>   
>>     
>    I think 1d12+2 is way to high. I've always just kinda 'ad-hoc'ed' it 
> based on how tough I wanted the fight to be. That said, I did, of 
> course, have some guidelines. :)
>    My general rule was that if the creature had a weapon, it's EL in 
> that weapon was equal to 1d3 + ability bonuses used in the Maximum EL 
> formula. So a creature wielding a scimitar who had a SB +2 AB+1 would 
> have 1d3+3 EL in it. Of course, certain monsters dictated more expertise 
> (chieftens, clan heroes, really bad-ass ogres with a name, etc.) in 
> which case I generally picked an EL appropriate to their likely 
> experience (usually using their CEL as a base; 1/2 of CEL rounded up, 
> +1d3, + SB, StB, DB, AB, as depending on the weapon used).
>    You know how for 'normal races' they are divided into "NPC class" and 
> "Character class" as per book 4? I think of monsters the same way. The 
> ones in the book are the "normal, every day 'npc class' level 
> monsters"...but there are always exceptional individuals (the "unique, 
> more experienced 'character class' level monsters). Exceptional monsters 
> is where the cool 'variation' rules in the back of Book 3 come into play. :)
>
>    If you think my EL's are generally too low, I chose these levels for 
> a reason. The reason is simple, the *highest* EL I've ever seen a PC 
> start with in a weapon was, iirc, EL8. This is without the special event 
> "Trained with weapon master"...for that I think it was EL12. It has been 
> my experience that an EL of greater than 5 is uncommon for a starting 
> character. For characters that have been around the block a few times, 
> it still didn't reach more than about EL10. The EL a person/creature has 
> in a weapon makes a HUGE difference in combat; that extra 2 or 3 EL's 
> makes or breaks Severe and Deadly hits all the time. Also, by trying to 
> keep EL's lower, it makes tactics more and more desirable; if you can 
> wiggle a -3 or -5 bonus out from using your terrain and team work it can 
> make the difference between success and imminent death.
>
>   
>> 2.Nr of attacks for monsters
>>
>> When a description of a monster description  tells he uses claw and bite
>> for example i as a GM rules hes got 2 or even possibly more attacks how
>> do you GM out there rule?
>>     
>    As far as I can tell, unless the monster description under "SPECIAL - 
> ..." lists it, no monster gets multiple attacks. That said, it's never 
> stopped me. :) I based my rule on the creatures PMR as well as the 
> creatures description. If the creature has a description that mentions 
> they use any sort of 'man made' weapon (like the troll, for example), 
> then they do *not* get multiple attacks. Other non-weapon wielding 
> creaturs I give one attack per 4 PMR. So a creature that has a PMR of 
> 5/4/5/4 would get 2 attacks, 1 attack, 2 attacks, 1 attack. For example, 
> a Cait Sith has a PMR of 12/12/12/12 (yes, they are that fast!) would 
> get a full 3 attacks *every phase*.
>    Fast creatures = more chances for maneuvering for another attack. So 
> far, I don't use this for anything 'normal' (re: human, elf, dwarf, 
> faerry; the 'pc races')...only for 'monsters'.
>
> Paul L. Ming
>
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