DwD Studios
Multi-Action Penalty and Form-Fillable Sheets
Tue, 01/23/2018 - 2:00pm | 
Argamae
Hello all,
I have recently stumbled upon FRONTIERSPACE and since I was a fan of TSR's old "Star Frontiers" game I fell in love again. Only that FS is much more coherent and streamlined.
Now, what bugged me almost immediately when reading the rules about "multi-action penalty" was that the penalty is only affecting actions after the first. Wouldn't it be more prudent to have the penalty affect ALL actions in that round, including the first? Like, -20 to all actions for each action after the first, so when you tried to pull off three actions that round you would roll EACH of them with a -40 penalty. Otherwise players might be tempted to just try multiple actions anyway, since it will never affect their first (and likely most important) action that round. Just a thought.
Plus: could you make form-fillable versions of those beautiful sheets found in the game?
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It's a matter of playing style, I think. The way it's written, you can be a lot more spontaneous, rather than having to declare in advance everything you're doing. I suspect it makes for a more fast paced game this way, too.
Which sheets were you looking for?
Actually, for all of them: the design sheets for sectors, systems, planets, species, villains, et. al. It's asking for a lot, I know, but only because the form-fillable character sheet included in the pdf download is awesome.
Concerning the multi-action penalty you're absolutely right: it IS a matter of play-style. Most systems I have played and who had that sort of thing most often did it in the way I described it. So maybe I am biased. I will certainly try out the rules as written before I decide upon changing that rule. Maybe it does lead to a more spontaneous and quick-paced way for players to resolve combat.
Actually, for all of them: the design sheets for sectors, systems, planets, species, villains, et. al. It's asking for a lot, I know, but only because the form-fillable character sheet included in the pdf download is awesome.
Most of them are pretty simple, and could be made fillable in a matter of seconds with the form wizard in Acrobat. I'll check with Bill to see if it's OK to post them. Doing calculations, would be more work, but is do-able. I don't think there's a way to add editable graphics for stuff like the star system sheet, though.
In my experience, it's always best to start with the rules as written. But it's always OK to house rule stuff that you don't like.
Rule #1: To paraphrase Rudolf Abel in Bridge of Spies, "The gamemaster isn't always right, but he's always the gamemaster."
But Rule #0 is "If you (and everyone else) are not having fun, why are you doing this?"
OK, Bill's paying attention on Google+ today. (There's more traffic on the Google+ site than here, BTW. The link is at the bottom of the page.)
Is this what you had in mind, more or less?
And the Major NPC Sheet
New Creature Sheet
New Species Sheet
Mission Generation Sheet
Master Villain Worksheet
Space Sector Sheet (The text portions only. I see no way to add graphics to the map that is user editable.)
Star System Sheet (same as above on graphics)
Planet Sheet (same not as above on graphics)
Wow! I'm flabberghasted. Yes, that was what I had in mind. Awesome! Thank you so much, I've never experienced such a fast response. :))
It was actually pretty easy. The form wizard in Acrobat did about 95% of the work. All I had to do was a handful of boxes it didn't pick up.
Unfortunately I don't have access to that program since I am using a different pdf-viewer. So, again, thank you very much!
When I first read the point about multi action penalties I agreed. But that was before I played it.
My players decided to use loads of actions for attacks right down to the base 5% chance of success. I was uncomfortable with this but then these three things struck me:
1. Put in a hidden adversary that pops up and shoots. Anyone who has burnt through their actions suddenly has no defense!
2. When you get to the 5% chance limit remember that they have a 5% chance of success and a 9% chance of a critical fail. Be harsh with the fails, the players luck/fate points to mitigate them. (can't remember the term!) At this point let them roll as much as they like, they have a better chance of doing harm than good!
3. Enforce the energy/ammo rules rigidly. Most players aren't happy with it but the rules are streamlined enough.
In short. We play with the rules as written and haven't found an issue with it.
And when they do, point out to them that the game is no a Roadrunner cartoon, and they are the coyote.
(In case it's not clear, I agree with you entirely.)