OOC comments, house rules and questions

[Pulpatoon]

6 torches = 1 encumbrance slot.
1d6 usage die per torch. (This is explicitly stated in the rules, as a note on the equipment chart).

Roll the usage die each exploration turn (which TBH calls Minutes).
On a 1 or 2, the die is downgraded to a d4.
When the d4 returns a 1 or 2, the torch is out.

According to a chart on the TBH Screen, this should average out to about 5 rolls, or roughly 50 minutes of use per torch.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Wow. This feels like one of those times you've lost something and looked and lookee and looked. And then you find it sitting right in front of you. I have no idea why that was so difficult to understand that, but there was something in that explanation that finally clicked. Thanks.

So that means i have several torches at d4 still. Okay. Got it. Thanks.

[lab mix]

Wow. This feels like one of those times you've lost something and looked and lookee and looked. And then you find it sitting right in front of you. I have no idea why that was so difficult to understand that, but there was something in that explanation that finally clicked. Thanks.

So that means i have several torches at d4 still. Okay. Got it. Thanks.

Well, it's not like you were the only one with a different interpretation of the torch rules...! I could see a bit more explanation showing up in a future edition. (Of course, it's easy enough to just house-rule, anyway.)

[lab mix]

Hi all. Can I get the campaign ID from someone? It's not a big deal...for some reason I'm just bugged by the blank space on my character sheet...

Thanks!

[Rusty Tincanne]

Campaign ID: 455.

[lab mix]

Campaign ID: 455.

Thank you!

[mjulius]

I didn't realise that "on the fly" rolls weren't tracked either. Seems like an odd oversight.

No harm done if you still have the link (and it doesn't happen too often ).

Actually on second thought, it makes sense that it wouldn't archive 'on the fly' rolls with the campaign, since I can have characters in multiple campaigns. Anyway, I'm sure there's an archive somewhere of those rolls but I like to have everything connected. The good, the bad, and the saaaad.

What constitutes 'mundane healing'? Is that binding wounds performed by another PC after the combat? If yes, how many hp can Aden recover?

Also, unless requested otherwise, I am going to roll the arrows usage die after the combat.

Finally, all of the above might look odd and out of context, I edited all that out of my last post on 'A Grim Fate'. All the out of game talk was getting a little noisy.

[Pulpatoon]

When you roll on-the-fly, there is a drop-down menu with all of your characters listed. If you assign the roll to a character, it is recorded for teh campaign. Phew! I was worried, there, because I find the on-the-fly option really useful.

If I recall, arrows are supposed to be rolled at the end of combat, as mjulius suggests.

Re: Mundane healing. Here's an important wrinkle: Hit Points in TBH don't really represent damage, but the resources you can bring to bear to avoid getting seriously wounded. Once you're out of Don't-get-hit-points, you're in danger of something nasty happening via the Out of Action table.

This is why the idea of a Rest makes sense to recover your HP. There may be some binding of wounds as you rest, but you're not engaged in serious medical practice. In my personal interpretation, it also means that healing potions don't necessarily have to be magical. A refreshing tonic, a belt of whiskey, or a strong pot of coffee could all be considered ways of recuperating your HP, if the GM wanted to play it that way.

Mundane Healing could be useful in recovering from the non-fatal effects of the OoA Table. But I'm not entirely sure I'd suggest that. Damage and healing are very gamist in TBH, and won't hold up under simulationist-scrutiny.

[lab mix]

Don't-get-hit-points

Love it.

[Pulpatoon]

A healing potion as described by P.G. Wodehouse in Jeeves Takes Charge:

"If you would drink this, sir," he said, with a kind of bedside manner, rather like the royal doctor shooting the bracer into the sick prince. "It is a little preparation of my own invention. It is the Worcester sauce that gives it its colour. The raw egg makes it nutritious. The red pepper gives it its bite. Gentlemen have told me they find it extremely invigorating after a late evening."

I would have clutched at anything that looked like a life-line that morning. I swallowed the stuff. For a moment I felt as if somebody had touched off a bomb inside the old bean and was strolling down my throat with a lighted torch, and then everything seemed suddenly to get all right. The sun shone in through the window; birds twittered in the tree-tops; and, generally speaking, hope dawned once more.

[cmrsalmon]

Pulpatoon gets all the experience points for the Wodehouse reference.

As far as healing goes, TBH states the spells, potions and abilities will regain HPs, ditto Resting.

The first three would get Aden out his current pickle mid-combat. My interpretation of Resting is that it includes a degree of "patching up" or mundane healing that would similarly stop the bleeding.

What do we think?

[mjulius]

As far as healing goes, TBH states the spells, potions and abilities will regain HPs, ditto Resting.

The first three would get Aden out his current pickle mid-combat. My interpretation of Resting is that it includes a degree of "patching up" or mundane healing that would similarly stop the bleeding.

Perfect. It's a matter of defining it in the narrative which is helpful in a PbP game as Pulpatoon mentioned:

A refreshing tonic, a belt of whiskey, or a strong pot of coffee could all be considered ways of recuperating your HP, if the GM wanted to play it that way.

[Pulpatoon]

I like the new avatar, Mr. Julius!

[mjulius]

Heh. Thanks, Pulpatoon! That avatar is pretty much my worldview in a snapshot.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Heh, thanks, Pulpatoon! That avatar is pretty much my worldview in a snapshot.

Are you an arborist?

@ Pulpatoon: that is an interesting take on healing elixirs, perfectly set jo for use in a low fantasy seeing. Thanks!

As an aside, I believe we were all new to the black hack. How are you all finding it so far? How does it excel? How does it fall short? (Clearly I had some problems understanding the torches. ..)

[Rusty Tincanne]

Pulpatoon gets all the experience points for the Wodehouse reference.

As far as healing goes, TBH states the spells, potions and abilities will regain HPs, ditto Resting.

The first three would get Aden out his current pickle mid-combat. My interpretation of Resting is that it includes a degree of "patching up" or mundane healing that would similarly stop the bleeding.

What do we think?

Speeking of which, what is the criteria for leveling up in this game? The rules say to establish benchmarks before selling out but I don't recall discussing it?

And it seems to me that as long as the area is free of enemies and comfortable (and therefore restful), said area can count as a place to rest. Maybe a 30 minute rest with some food and drink? Extra bonus if it is wine?

[Vile]

Oops, made a mistake - I forgot all about armour! I note splint is not in the book, how many AP is it?

[lab mix]

As an aside, I believe we were all new to the black hack. How are you all finding it so far? How does it excel? How does it fall short? (Clearly I had some problems understanding the torches. ..)

Seems like a great system to me so far...especially for play-by-post, where we have an idea of the outcome of each roll as it happens. I really like that every point of an ability score matters and will probably start using this roll-under method at least for saving throws in my go-to frankenrules.

[cmrsalmon]

Seems like a great system to me so far...especially for play-by-post, where we have an idea of the outcome of each roll as it happens. I really like that every point of an ability score matters and will probably start using this roll-under method at least for saving throws in my go-to frankenrules.

TBH so far
Agreed on all points. I was looking for a ruleset that was simpler, more than anything else, but TBH also delivers in terms of rules concepts. I wasn't a fan of roll-under, but "every ability score point matters" as a payoff is hard to argue with.

One downside to TBH's roll-under is that it distorts ability checks into something that feels more pass/fail than I'm used to. I'm a fan of the task DC, because it gives a clearer (and objective) sense of degrees of success or failure. There's probably not much in it in real terms, and it's just my brain failing to engage with the upside-down numbers.

We haven't had much chance to use Armour Points and Resting, but I think they are both great ideas.

Resting
On the subject of Resting, can you please explicitly announce when you are resting? I think anywhere between 15-30 mins is good enough for a Rest, and I will tell you if something happens that interrupts the Rest. It's up to you as to whether you think any given area is safe enough to Rest.

Armour
I reckon splint/banded armour should be worth 7 AP, i.e. just a bit better than chainmail. Too much? We'll see...

Experience
Rusty is quite right, we didn't discuss levelling. I want to see what an impact levelling has, but as the rules suggest, it should be reserved for significant achievements, e.g. completing a minor quest, defeating a reasonably "big bad", or surviving a dungeon. What do we think?

[lab mix]

One downside to TBH's roll-under is that it distorts ability checks into something that feels more pass/fail than I'm used to. I'm a fan of the task DC, because it gives a clearer (and objective) sense of degrees of success or failure. There's probably not much in it in real terms, and it's just my brain failing to engage with the upside-down numbers.

I'm actually with you on being a fan of the task DC, for somewhat different reasons though. One is that it just seems like the most intuitive way to handle tasks...roll, add, see if you met the target. (Of course, there's probably some bias based upon my first RPG experiences.) The other is that, from a GM's perspective, I like the idea of players telling me what they rolled, and then indicating to them whether or not it was successful, rather than having players know based on the roll. Now, as I mentioned, I think it works really well for PBP...and there's a simplicity to it that's irresistible. I can understand why TBH has gotten so much love.

The other side is that only using stat values to determine bonuses - especially in games where there are fixed modifiers - just feels artificial to me. Why not just go the True20 route and skip straight to the bonuses? So, if the full 3d6 values are gonna be there, I like the idea of incorporating them somehow...