[.10] Design Philosophy for Class Function and Balance

Going to be blunt.

Skill shouldn't matter. That's the whole point of our ruleset and primary selling point. "Be all you can't be" is predicated on your character sheet mattering more than your OOG ability to throw hands.

Well I guess it is a matter of opinion of what, if anything, the "Live Action" part of "Live Action Role Playing" is. Personally I read that term and come to a conclusion where I disagree with you. Moreover, if we really wanted that the be the outcome we would be increasing the gulf of character sheet abilities, not trying to decrease them.

Joe Siegel
 
Well I guess it is a matter of opinion of what, if anything, the "Live Action" part of "Live Action Role Playing" is. Personally I read that term and come to a conclusion where I disagree with you. Moreover, if we really wanted that the be the outcome we would be increasing the gulf of character sheet abilities, not trying to decrease them.

Joe Siegel

Despite Muir and I starting in the same area/chapters, I strongly agree with the above, Simon. I've played in types of games where card is all that matters, and frankly, it feels like I'm tabletopping, not LARPing anymore...and that's not what I come to Alliance for. I come for the blend of the actual skill/acting/etc and the card. When it becomes 100% one over the other, it's not the game we've been playing forever. It's a fundamental shift of philosophy. 2.0 feels more like a tabletop pretending it was once a LARP (IMO, not pretending very well, but that's my opinion). 1.3 felt more like a blending of acting and tabletop...not perfect by any bit of imagination, but it at least tried to blend.
 
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Going to be blunt.

Skill shouldn't matter. That's the whole point of our ruleset and primary selling point. "Be all you can't be" is predicated on your character sheet mattering more than your OOG ability to throw hands.

Couldn’t disagree more. If OOG skills do not matter then this is a live action video game.
 
Skills not mattering at all? Come now, that’s not even reasonable.

There’s skill in being stealthy and being able to handle the most dangerous traps; no Rogue skill gives you that.

Fighters with stick skills will always outperform fighters without them.

Mages/archers with excellent arm mechanics and aim will always outperform those who don’t.

Skills matter. No, they aren’t the only variable, but saying they shouldn’t matter at all would be a little silly.
 
I think the pgilosophical question should be how hard you try to make up for this player skill gap vs. Allowing for distinction between length and quality of activity in the game. In other words should skill seek to just negate player skill, or allow it to be accentuated. Today fighters need to physically hit all their targets as payment for having skills that work all day. Spells work when hitting anywhere from range in payment for being more limited in use. When you look at all the changes to disarm and mettle you are making it more likely that those fighters can use their oog skills less and less and the game will turn more into to a videogame style yo-yo affair. Remember you are making it easier for greater proportions of fighter cards to be these burst abilities. I think pairing these things will not have an enjoyable effect. The final consideration us what happens when you have more damage being taken and the healing capacity to fix it does not also increase. At some point plot is going to wake up Saturday morning with a player base uninterested in playing until reset.

Joe Siegel
 
It seems to me reading the past few responses that most people are in an agreement that it is a blend of skill and IG skills that create a perfect balance. I would agree completely. I think another thing that reinforces this at least at my local chapter, crossroads, is the prevalence of fight days and OOG practice. Players are wanting to improve both their martial skills of hitting things with a stick or aiming a packet but also their ability to use in game skills. We practice calling defenses and strategies to land those take out effects. I think making the game purely a character sheet game takes away one of the most fun parts of LARP, getting together with your friends outside of the LARP and getting better at the game. When I started I sucked. I never called defenses, I rarely landed hits, etc. I still suck but not as much as three years ago hahaha.

To address the OG post I am not fond of the fighter class being regulated to just a tank. I strongly prefer the abilities now of being able to somewhat hold a line with constant dmg and skills like stun limb etc. and maybe ending things with take outs than just being forced to swing low dmg and deal with "swarms" which really just means dealing with crunch while the rest of the group takes down the BBG. Now if there were skill trees within the fighter class to specialize in shield work and becoming more of a tank while others are more offensive in nature I think that could be really cool. I would imagine that system could be used across classes.

I am 100 percent for reaching high magic through spending XP on the relevant magic skills instead of just spells!!!!
 
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