I have just finished reading (listening to) the twelfth book in the Wheel of Time series. There is still one more to go before I catch up, and then one more that is supposed to come out last year. This is a really long series. It is actually my second attempt Read more…
I recently picked up Magic: The Gathering Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 on Steam. My brother-in-law was playing the free trial that was available on PSN when we were visiting last month and it was fun. It has been a long time since I’ve played Magic, played in 6th and Read more…
Wilhelm has a post up today about his love of battleships and a coming game called World of Battleships. I started making a comment but it grew to long so I decided to make a post instead. It’s not really a direct reply, but more ‘inspired by’. Battleships are a Read more…
Saw a post from Keen and Graev recently that alerted me to the new Gamefly digital client. It sounds a lot like Netflix streaming but for video games. Kind of like Gamefly itself is just a copy of Netflix DVD delivery. On one hand, paying $30 every month in order Read more…
Well, apparently SyFy (unholy child of a good television station called Sci-Fi) decided to cancel Eureka. First they ended Atlantis early, in favor of Stargate Universe. Then, just as SG:U was getting good, they canceled it. Now they are cutting Eureka. The only thing left will be Warehouse 13, assuming Read more…
GeekDad had a fun (re)post recently that talked about the things kids born recently or in the future will never have any experience with. Throughout time, this has always been true, but it seems to be more prevalent in the last few hundred years. Things are changing at an accelerated Read more…
Well, the robots don’t have lightsabers…..yet….but thanks to the guys at Stanford, they will know how to fight with them. So when your arm is cut off by a Terminator (after Google becomes self-aware), thank these Stanford students.
We saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 yesterday. I’m a huge fan of the books, less so the movies. I didn’t discover them until college, shortly before book 5 came out. I remember skipping class one spring semester to read more of book 4. They’re not the Read more…
I’m starting a new Star Wars Saga Edition RPG today. For a change I won’t be the GM which should be fun. But as I was making my character, I kept thinking about the disparity in the game. The gain in Reflex Defense far outways the gain in ability to hit anything.
I’m going to run through some number, looking at attack bonus versus reflex defense at various levels. The character set up I’m using will be at the end if you’re curious.
Level 5 combat character (Att +9/RefDef 24)
Level 5 support character (Att +6/RefDef 19)
Level 10 combat character (Att +16/RefDef 33)
Level 10 support character (Att +10/RefDef 24)
Level 15 combat character (Att +23/RefDef 40)
Level 15 support character (Att +15/RefDef 31)
Same Level Matches
CL5 Combat vs CL 5 Support
CL 5 Combat vs CL 5 Combat
CL 10 Combat vs CL 10 Support
CL 10 Combat vs CL 10 Combat
CL 15 Combat vs CL 15 Support
CL 15 Combat vs CL 15 Combat
Various Level Matches
CL 5 Combat vs CL 10 Support
CL 10 Combat vs CL 15 Support
CL 5 Combat vs CL 10 Combat
As you can see, fully tricked out combat characters versus other fully tricked out combat characters of the same level hit each other only 20-25% of the time. Support versus Combat, at the same level start out at only a 15% chance to hit and it drops to requiring Crits only very quickly. Characters, especially combat characters, Reflex defense gets so high, it can really make combat all about the crits.
Now, out of curiosity, I wondered what it would look like if Reflex Defense bonus only went up at Half Your Level, instead of full level, like it does for skills.
Level 5 combat character (Att +9/RefDef 24)
Level 5 support character (Att +6/RefDef 16)
Level 10 combat character (Att +16/RefDef 28)
Level 10 support character (Att +10/RefDef 19)
Level 15 combat character (Att +23/RefDef 32)
Level 15 support character (Att +15/RefDef 23)
Same Level Matches Version 2
CL5 Combat vs CL 5 Support
CL 5 Combat vs CL 5 Combat
CL 10 Combat vs CL 10 Support
CL 10 Combat vs CL 10 Combat
CL 15 Combat vs CL 15 Support
CL 15 Combat vs CL 15 Combat
Various Level Matches
CL 5 Combat vs CL 10 Support
CL 10 Combat vs CL 15 Support
CL 5 Combat vs CL 10 Combat
Now, in one sense, this is better. There are no Crit Only hit chances. However, squishy support characters are more squishy, even getting so high as almost guaranteed hits at same level. Combat would certainly go faster that way. It might be worth trying a one shot game with mid to high level characters, just to see. It still doesn’t address one problem I have, that low levels, even in greater numbers, have a poor to no chance against high levels. That makes it boring for high levels to always wade through weaker guys and never get hit or fear them. Hard not to meta-game that.
I wonder how it would work if Base Attack Bonus scaled differently as well. Say, combat classes (soldier/jedi) only increased at 3/4 and support at half. So soldiers increase at levels 2,3,4 but no bonus at 1 or 5 and scoundrels got BAB every even level. Or maybe ALL BAB increase at 3/4’s, just combatants gain at levels 1,2,3 but not 4.
I don’t feel like doing anymore math so I’ll just leave that to speculation for now.