Author Topic: Unbalance Critical Result  (Read 883 times)

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Offline steff

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Unbalance Critical Result
« on: June 13, 2021, 11:53:50 AM »
So.  I am working on a campaign in fantasy grounds; and the ruleset does not address Acid Criticals (which i use for holy water attacks versus undead).  So, I have to create the XML file to make the module to allow me to access the crit table.

But.. while programming it i see a lot of "Foe is unbalanced" in the critical results, and i can not seem to find what that actually means.  I know there is an 'Unbalance' crit table but I don't think this refers to that. 

Is it just a penalty to db?  ob?  all rolls?  or is the character physically unbalanced and loses a turn?  goes prone?

can someone either explain what it actually means or point me to the appropriate rule section in RMII or RMC?

Thanks.

Offline Hurin

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Re: Unbalance Critical Result
« Reply #1 on: June 13, 2021, 12:42:26 PM »
I don't believe 'unbalanced' is a specific status. I believe most results specify the penalty for being unbalanced: e.g. must parry next round, loses initiative, etc. I don't think there is a specific condition called 'unbalanced'; I think that is essentially flavor text. The rest of the text in the critical box should specify what exactly the penalty is for being 'unbalanced', and it can vary from losing initiative to having to parry etc.
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Offline Cory Magel

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Re: Unbalance Critical Result
« Reply #2 on: June 13, 2021, 02:39:08 PM »
I'd echo what Hurin said. In most cases you can interpret the effects at the bottom on the crit box to cover it.

Not sure if it'd be useful to you, but the Channeling Companion was 'normal' sized Hold Weapon and Holy Spell crit tables.
Acid sounds like it might work well description-wise due to the environment however (underwater).
- Cory Magel

Game design priority: Fun > Balance > Realism (greater than > less than).
(Channeling Companion, RMQ 1 & 2, and various Guild Companion articles author).

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Offline Ginger McMurray

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Re: Unbalance Critical Result
« Reply #3 on: June 14, 2021, 08:09:38 AM »
I agree with them. We always used heat criticals for acid. "on fire" meant enough of the acid was still on you to cause damage until you could get it off.
No pre-written adventure survives contact with the GM.

Offline Cory Magel

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Re: Unbalance Critical Result
« Reply #4 on: June 14, 2021, 11:48:01 AM »
Page 44 in RMCIII has an Acid crit table.
- Cory Magel

Game design priority: Fun > Balance > Realism (greater than > less than).
(Channeling Companion, RMQ 1 & 2, and various Guild Companion articles author).

"The only thing I know about adults is that they are obsolete children." - Dr Seuss

Offline J.r.

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Re: Unbalance Critical Result
« Reply #5 on: June 16, 2021, 12:50:05 AM »
Hi Steff,

I created a python script that can create the necessary xml from a csv / excel table, maybe generated by an OCR scan. At least the basic effects stuff might be generated automatically and the more advanced effects can be added with less effort. Maybe this helps.
https://pastiebin.com/60545449a0f89