Re: [DL] Are We Doing It Correctly?

["Daphne Brunelle" <dbrune4@po-box.mcgill.ca>]

*snip*

>    We'd played about five sessions and I'd give out about one of each color
> chip per session. That's about the average anyway. There are only two PCs.
> This is (was) the big bad guy:

Now, I haven't Marshalled all that many games myself, but that seems a
little excessive to me, unless you're *really* making your posse spend chips
like they're going out of style. Maybe you should award either a red chip
*or* a blue chip at the end of the session instead of both. White chips are
another matter, of course.

> Michael
>
> Corporeal: D: 3d6, N: 3d6, S: 3d6, Q: 4d12, V: 4d8
> Shootin': Pistol 5d6, Fightin' 5d6,
> Mental: C: 4d8, K: 4d8, M: 4d12, Sm: 4d8, Sp: 3d20
> Scrutinize 5d8 (+2), Search 5d8 (+2), Disguise 5d8, Overawe 7d12,
> Performin' 5d12, Persuasion 5d12, Bluff 7d8, Ridicule 5d8, Hexslingin' 6d*
> Edges: Keen (+2 to perception), Level-Headed (drop lowest Action Card)
and draw another card to replace it, of course ;-)
> Hindrances: Big Britches (overconfident), Oath
> Pace: 6
> Size: 6
> Wind: 28
*snipping really powerful NPC powers*


Umm, oh my God! Glad my posse didn't run into him ;-) (Ross, don't start
getting any ideas: Landry's bad enough already)

>>>or he just succumbed to really good dice rolls.<<
>
>    Didn't seem like especially good ones. Although this was the first time
> we'd use open-ended rolls for damage.

I'd like to know what kind of guns (if guns it was) that your posse was
using. Frankly, with normal six-shooters, 3 levels of armor means he should
have been taking 1d4 damage per shot. Even with a rifle, it would still end
up being 3d4 damage.
Of course, if they were using something else, maybe you could look into
toning down the power level of your PCs, by separating them from their
heavier artillery.

>>>That way if your villain has a more than decent vigor, he shouldn't have
> any problems recovering from any pain and suffering the heroes decide to
> inflict on him.<<
>
>    He's got decent Vigor. What I think did him in was the Stun checks. Once
> he started collecting wounds, he just couldn't make them with the wound
> penalties. If he was stunned, he couldn't do much else but become
> "unstunned," right?

Right. I'm just amazed that he was so severely wounded in that first action
that he was too stunned to do anything for the rest of the combat.

>>>Also, that's why the Marshal gets Fate Chips: to negate wound levels in
> your villains ;-)<<
>
>    I had used them all up.

Well, the only thing I can think of for next time is, if you know you have a
combat planned with a major villain, make sure you have enough chips to back
him up. Otherwise, it just sounds like you had a streak of bad luck with
your evil guy.

Just ask Ross what we did to Padraig O'Brien, who was meant to be a major
nemesis in his campaign (okay, I'll tell you now instead *g*: we killed him
within fifteen minutes of encountering him). Bad things happen to bad NPCs
you need to keep around, it's all part of what makes player characters
player characters ;-)

My condolences, however. It really bites that they killed your fearmonger
with such ease.

Daphné
--
"I may be dead, but I'm still pretty."
                                -Buffy the Vampire Slayer