Re: [DL] Night Train d20 (Spoilers and Tinhorn Questions)

[Fred Jandt <fajandt@yahoo.com>]

--- Zach Welhouse <bumbershoot42@yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> Howdy,
> 
> There's stuff below that just ain't for players.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Spoiler space.
> 
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> 
> After flipping through Night Train this evening, I
> tried to visualize how my hypothetical d20 posse
> would
> handle the nosferatu threat. Guns a blazin', with
> the
> Lord's mercy, and not much trouble was my
> conclusion.
> The d20 stats for the vamps have save DCs low enough
> that no one should worry about an energy drain or
> stench. Yeah, I could just pump them up a bit. Not
> knowing the original system though, how often were
> those attacks meant to be successful?

Well, considering John Goff wrote this adventure, I am
thinking it should be pretty deadly for your
adventurers. ;)

> Also, do normal weapons have any effect when not
> aimed
> at a bit of undead that isn't its weak point? I'm
> thinking that it would just be dramatic flair
> without
> a loss of HP, but that seems... weird. Has the HP
> system corrupted me?

Personally, I would let normal weapons tick off hp
just fine, but they can't put the bad guy down. The
problem you run into is a zombie with enough hit
points where a shot to the head won't bring him down. 

However, if you let normal attacks (body shots for a
zombie) tick off hp but not bring him down, you have
two results:

1) You scare the bejeezes out of your players when
their characters fill the bad guy full of lead but
don't bring him down.

2) You have the dramatic scene when they finally plug
him in the head and he drops.

Of course, if they aim for the head right away, you're
in trouble. ;) I would just have them do double damage
or something to a "weak spot."

For Night Train (IIRC) the vampires included are a bit
different than the normal ones. I believe they are a
bit tougher with less of the normal weak spots for
their kind. That alone should be enough to trouble
your players and their characters who fall back on
centuries of incorrect vampiric lore. *insert evil
Marshal laugh*

Hope this helps,

Fred


=====
Fred Jandt
Freelance author, designer, guru
Moderator New Gamers Order mailing list

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