Topic: Equipment and skills

[markc]

  In your opinion should not some equipment cause penalties or bonuses to some skills? I do know that now some of this stuff is handled by weight penalties but I also think some special case's should be talked about.


   For example I am mainly thinking of the frame pack making it harder to do some acrobatics or inter fear with swimming.


  What do you think? And what are some of the special cases you can think of?
MDC

[Marc R]

Like a really superior set of lockpicks, that kind of thing?

[mistrornge]

I would think mastercrafted items may increase skill totals but of course be many multiples more expensive.

[rdanhenry]

I would say it is for the GM to take such encumbrances into account when setting difficulty. My golden armor would be a big minus to Hiding in a sunny swamp, but a bit of a bonus hiding in the king's treasury. The rules cannot cover every eventuality and should not attempt to do so.

[markc]

 I was thinking more of negative things that can impact skill use then positive things.
MDC

[VladD]

So you mean equipment hindering beyond encumbrance?

Only if people insist on wearing wall shields while climbing trees, or build backpacks that'd put a draft camel to shame, that I'd worry about that.
Calculating encumbrance is not something people already enjoy and adding "bulk" rules will not ingratiate the GM any further...

[markc]

So you mean equipment hindering beyond encumbrance?

Only if people insist on wearing wall shields while climbing trees, or build backpacks that'd put a draft camel to shame, that I'd worry about that.
Calculating encumbrance is not something people already enjoy and adding "bulk" rules will not ingratiate the GM any further...

 Yes.
   So for example a Frame Pack of holding IMO should have some negative impact even though it may not weigh anything.


  I know that enc is a pain and I am on both sides of the equation, being GM and player. I just thought that there were/might be some obvious ones people use for negative values like they might use some equipment positive values. Like using a pole to help cross a tight rope.
MDC

[arakish]

A good way to figure what may give penalties, watch "Lord of the Rings" movie trilogy.  Pay close attention to Samwise Gamgee.  Look at all he is carrying and how it is attached.  Then you can get a good idea of how carried packs encumber other than by weight alone.

rmfr

[markc]

A good way to figure what may give penalties, watch "Lord of the Rings" movie trilogy.  Pay close attention to Samwise Gamgee.  Look at all he is carrying and how it is attached.  Then you can get a good idea of how carried packs encumber other than by weight alone.

rmfr

 I remember personally as I did a lot of hiking with the scouts when I was younger, 580 something in one year. I often joke that I just should have done an extra 80 miles so I could get the 600 mile patch.
  But also we did have a lot of specialized equipment and it was not like we were just hunting for out food.
MDC

[GrumpyOldFart]

Then you can get a good idea of how carried packs encumber other than by weight alone.

Not least in that it changes your center of mass, and therefore your balance. That changes according to bulk as much or more than according to weight, it seems to me. A 10 kg weight strapped to your chest wouldn't be as cumbersome as a 5kg weight kept 1m distant, I'm thinking.

[arakish]

Then you can get a good idea of how carried packs encumber other than by weight alone.

Not least in that it changes your center of mass, and therefore your balance. That changes according to bulk as much or more than according to weight, it seems to me. A 10 kg weight strapped to your chest wouldn't be as cumbersome as a 5kg weight kept 1m distant, I'm thinking.

And that also...

I remember personally as I did a lot of hiking with the scouts when I was younger, 580 something in one year. I often joke that I just should have done an extra 80 miles so I could get the 600 mile patch.
  But also we did have a lot of specialized equipment and it was not like we were just hunting for out food.
MDC

I only got to the 500 mile patch.  But I did so much marching/hiking in the military that I think I earned the 2000 mile patch?  Don't really know.  But it could have.

rmfr

[GrumpyOldFart]

I won't claim to have the mileage to be an expert. But I'll claim to have the mileage to have noticed things that seem to act a certain way, and throw them out there for the actual experts to confirm or deny.

Most of my hiking hasn't been organized at all, it's been more "out in the woods/mountains/canyons with my buddies", and pack in and out anywhere from 5-30 miles each way. And in the military I was a fleet squid. I "hiked" from the computer room to CIC, a matter of about 50', every week or two, if that helps.

 

But... you live in Albuquerque, right? In the Sandia foothills south of the crest, between the crest and I 40, there's a little canyon called Piedra Lisa I think, that has a rock face partway up the canyon. Not a hard climb for a veteran climber, but challenging for an ignorant newbie.

And yes, I've noticed on that very face that something as simple and minor as a pack of cigarettes in the wrong place or one shoe tied tighter than the other will make a lot more difference than I thought. I can just imagine trying it with Sam Gamgee's pack on my back, and imagining it is as far as I want to go in that direction, tyvm. Those fallen rocks at the base of that face don't look comfy to land on.

 

[OLF, i.e. Olf Le Fol]

I was thinking more of negative things that can impact skill use then positive things.

Such as a cape/cloak? Quite light but try to climb with one, as it would just catch the winds~

[Marc R]

(Visions of "The Incredibles". . ."No Capes!")

[arakish]

I was thinking more of negative things that can impact skill use then positive things.

Such as a cape/cloak? Quite light but try to climb with one, as it would just catch the winds~

And could snag on things...

(Visions of "The Incredibles". . ."No Capes!")

None of my Champions characters ever had a cape.  They throw off all the aerodynamics of flying.

rmfr

[Morgian]

I think I get what you mean. And if I do, you have to play it by ear, as there are no rules for it.

If you wear a heavy backpack you have problems with jumping far or fitting into tight corridors, but you have also a kind of automatic shield on your back (and nobody is going to stab right through Sam Gamgees stuff ). When wearing gloves to protect you from poison needles when working a lock, you lose some feeling for the lockpicking. Wearing dark and light clothes is good for sneaking and infiltrating, but chainmail would be better, if a guard actually catches you - but doesnt do much for the sneaking of course.

[PhillipAEllis]

Running with this, it might be possible to factor in modifiers in the skill descriptions. For example:

picking locks might list:

No implements = -25
Improvised implements = -15
Poor implements = -10 to -5
Lockpicks = +0

with higher bonuses for lockpicks of quality/magical nature.

Otherwise, keeping to equipment descriptions, as per older versions of ChL, have the bonus/modifier listed as per those items considered an improvised weapon.

[markc]

  I also just thought of no snow shows, or poor snow equipment, etc. Thanks for that Hurricane Sandy, it was not a push that I needed. I also hope those people get the help they need until the who mess get figured out.
MDC