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Dumpshock Forums _ Shadowrun _ Quick way to NPC Magic?

Posted by: Clank Jul 7 2004, 07:08 PM

I recently ran a SR game where the group was being attacked by mages. I had an NPC in the party and felt it would be unfair if I only picked on the PC's. What ended up happening is that I slowed down combat b/c I was rolling the Enemy's Sorcery, then the NPC's Resist, then the Enemy's Drain. Near the end of battle I just had one of the PCs make the resist test so they weren't just watching me roll dice and say, "Ooo, that was close." I don't really wanna just make up test results b/c I don't want to give the PCs the battle, but neither to do I wanna cheat them out by just deciding that the NPC takes Light drain. I also thought about rolling two sets of dice at the same time (white for Sorcery, black for drain), but that seems like a lot to roll at once. Any suggestions?

Posted by: BitBasher Jul 7 2004, 07:35 PM

You know what's going to happen, roll it all in advance. have a list of premade 6 dice rolls, 4 dice tolls, ect. Cross them off as you use them.

Posted by: Zazen Jul 8 2004, 06:36 AM

Generally if there's an NPC in the party I try to make it a non-combat type for this reason. I have trouble thinking of combat tactics for both sides, being unbiased toward his chances (especially if I just thought of something really cool), working out the tedious NPC vs NPC rolls that you mention, and so on. Mine just jump behind cover as soon as they smell the first hint of danger, because they're only deckers/technicians/faces/whatever.

That's probably not a very satisfying solution, but it works for me.

Posted by: cha-cha Jul 8 2004, 07:27 AM

One thing I have done is just give the NPC a "rating" and the "bad guys" a rating and just do opposed tests, like banishing spirits. So, for instance, NPC has a rating 5 and the bad guys have rating 3. Take 5 dice TN 3 and 3 dice TN 5 and whoever wins knocks down their enemy's respective rating. Then just add in flavor text to note the decreases in numbers. Works pretty well for me and I am pretty upfront to players about it, so they dont think I am flubbing numbers.

I like the pre rolled numbers, too, but I tend to be a pretty on the fly GM, and some of my descriptions are a bit over the top from time to time, so they just sit back in those cases and enjoy the story (and the fact they are not being shot at for once !!!).

Posted by: Lindt Jul 8 2004, 02:29 PM

One of my little tips is to have a string of d6 generated numbers, a 100 or so, and cross them off as I use them. Great for a high drama game, its much faster too.

Posted by: snowRaven Jul 8 2004, 09:23 PM

As Lindt said, a paper with pre-rolled numbers works.

The other option is to work each roll by averages. TN 6? Every 6th die is a success. TN4? Every second die is a success. Etc. It's relatively fair; it's quick; it's easy. I only suggest it for NPC vs NPC action though.

Posted by: Diesel Jul 8 2004, 09:28 PM

Problem with that one Raven is that the results become invariable. The pre-rolled dice sound like a much quicker solution. If you have access to a laptop or PDA, a dice roller on the platform may aid you, as it does it without the dice skittering about.

Posted by: Backgammon Jul 8 2004, 09:56 PM

QUOTE (cha-cha)

Nice. I'm adding that to my bag of GM tricks!

Posted by: snowRaven Jul 10 2004, 09:26 PM

QUOTE (Diesel)

Problem with that one Raven is that the results become invariable.

Yep, which is why it should only be used for NPC vs NPC rolls. And it will create the most likely outcome of any test, which is satisfactory for less significant tests, as long as you don't use it too often.

Pre-rolled dice are better, though, but require more time in preparation, unless you have a computerized dice roller to create the rolls for you. cha-cha's rating system seems neat as well.