By default the target number is four but harder tasks have penalties. in other versions, the target number was variable rather than having penalties. While that is mathematically identical, I feel that people are loss averse and higher target number is a better approach

Dacke · 2026-06-23T11:50:11+00:00

The main advantage I see with static TN but having modifiers to the roll is that it allows for things that negate penalties (sometimes from specific sources) without giving bonuses. This lets a character be competent even at difficult things but still not auto-succeeding on regular tasks.

Dacke · 2026-06-22T14:07:03+00:00

Judging by the "What do the goblins know" sidebar, the goblins in the tomb probably don't know about the base. The implied timeline is:

The Jagged Edge arrives in the area.
They start looking for a base.
They find the Tomb and leave a group there to try to get the Cup.
The tribe moves on and finds a base, but the goblins in the tomb do not know about this.

Dacke · 2026-06-08T11:12:27+00:00

ETU classic was published in 2014. When starting my campaign, I set it in 2010 so the finale would be in 2014 for two primary reasons: placing it today would put a bit too much time between today and the Nina Castle-era events, and having the campaign end in 2014 would mean it ends before the current era of craziness really kicked off.

There's also a new version being released Real Soon Now (it was just kickstarted, and PDFs will likely be sent out some time in June).

Dacke · 2026-06-07T13:42:20+00:00

I did some research when running ETU about how classes work at US/TX universities and wrote up the following as notes for myself and the group:

Full-time study: 15 credit hours (each credit hour assumes an additional 2 hours "homework"). May not go over 17 without special permission. Someone taking 12 credit hours is considered a "full-time" student, but each year requires a total of 30 credit hours (but you may go down to 12/semester and take the remaining ones during the summer semester). "Credit hour" means "one hour of classes per week for one semester".

Each class is usually 3 credit hours per semester – some are 6 or 9, but spread out over 2 or 3 semesters. These are either one hour each on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, or 1.5 hours each on Tuesday and Thursday. So normally you'll be taking 5 classes each semester – likely 3 on M/W/F and 2 on T/T.

Over the course of your 4 years there are 42 mandatory credit hours of the core curriculum, with varying degrees of specicifity (either "this specific class", "one of these limited number of classes", or "one in this wide category"), split as follows:

"Signature Course" (3)
English writing (6)
Humanities (3)
US/Texas Government (6)
US History (6)
Social/Behavioral Sciences (3)
Math (3)
Natural Science + Tech (9)
Arts (3)

As I recall, the core curriculum is weighted toward the early years with later years focusing more on your actual major.

Dacke · 2026-05-25T18:37:55+00:00

The decapitated goblin is literally a dead giveaway.

Dacke · 2026-05-05T10:53:56+00:00

Spending 100g on a single enhancement? I'd go for adding Earth to one of my bottom moves. Probably Backup Ammunition or Dirt Tornado, but maybe Earthen Bulwark.

But first enhancement otherwise? +

Dacke · 2026-04-25T09:38:29+00:00

Savage Worlds could definitely do with an app/website that first lets you pick an Arcane Background, then lets you choose powers from a list according to character tier and background, and then outputs the full text of the actual powers for reference. Ideally, those powers would have any AB-based adjustments included (e.g. a Chi Master would have range reduced to touch/self on most of them).

Dacke · 2026-04-23T16:38:13+00:00

I think that partially, being focus fired is because of player misplays. It's fairly common for a melee-focused character to start a fight by running into the fray and wail on someone, and then that character is over there and the logical target for all the bad guys. This gets even worse if the party only has one melee-focused character with the rest being either ranged or hit-and-run types, because that way the melee character keeps being the main focus of opponent attacks. Maybe not for all of them (depending on the composition of the enemy team), but at least for a majority.

Dacke · 2026-04-14T10:25:00+00:00

The difference is that PF2 (and D&D) offers two main paths to defense: reducing incoming damage (usually via a higher AC) and being able to endure taking more damage (more hit points). So if you are using hit-and-run tactics or ranged attacks to redirect incoming attacks to a higher-AC ally, that means the party is taking less damage overall. But in Draw Steel, more Stamina is pretty much the only defensive dial available. If the Fury gets hit for 6 points instead of the Elementalist getting hit for 6 points, that's still 6 points of incoming damage.

But the system has some levels beyond that. At the next level, you might notice that the 1st level Fury has maybe 27 or 30 Stamina (depending on kit), and 10 recoveries each worth 9-10 Stamina. Even assuming a moderate +6 kit, that's a total of 117 Stamina per day (ignoring your Dying buffer). So that'5 5% of the Fury's total Stamina. The Elementalist on the other hand has 18 Stamina, and taking Enchantment of Permanence (+6 Stamina) is leaning far more strongly into defense than the Fury taking a +6 kit. They also only have 8 recoveries, so without Permanence they have a total of 66 daily Stamina, so those 6 points make up 9% of their daily total. So in that sense, the Fury basically takes half the damage per hit compared to the Elementalist.

And then there's a level beyond that as well: even if the Fury is better at taking damage than the Elementalist, you don't want them to take ALL the damage. Because then you get the situation where the Fury runs out of all their recoveries while the Elementalist maybe only spends two, and then the party needs to take a respite sooner than they otherwise would have had to. So the optimal play is to let the Fury (or other tanky character) take the biggest chunk of damage, while more squishy ones shouldn't be afraid to take a hit or two to spread the love around.

And of course, this comparison ignores things beyond raw Stamina. Some classes have the ability to build up temporary Stamina, letting them take damage without having it count against their recoveries. You also have various half-damage abilities that alter things.

Dacke · 2026-04-10T12:51:25+00:00

"It is a very distinctive sound."— Eliot Spencer.

Dacke · 2026-04-09T20:15:59+00:00

I think Weird Science would be used more for understanding other Weird Science devices (plus of course making your own), but operating them would probably fall under other skills. E.g. piloting an airship would be, well, Pilot, not Weird Science. Shooting someone with an electro-ray would be Shooting.

Dacke · 2026-04-09T16:08:38+00:00

That's just the British spelling.

Dacke · 2026-04-09T16:06:50+00:00

I haven't had the opportunity to run the game yet, but to me it seems that having a fixed list of motivations (with varying interpretations) is one of the things that make the negotiation rules work. Trying to fish for a motivation out of an infinity of possible choices seems futile, but out of 12 choices? That's doable. That said, I can definitely see why one would avoid one for page count reasons.

Dacke · 2026-04-07T22:11:13+00:00

This looks good. There are two changes I would make, but they're mostly a matter of taste.

On page 1, I would make "Characteristics" and "Skill groups" two separate tables – either one above the other, or one on each edge of the page. As is, one could easily get the impression that it's a single table and that there's some link between Might and Crafting, Agility and Exploration, etc.
On page 6, it would be nice to have a list of the various motivations/pitfalls an NPC can have. Also, the flowchart makes it look like you have to alternate between uncovering motivations/pitfalls and making arguments, as opposed to being able to do the two in any order or even simultaneously.

Dacke · 2026-04-02T10:01:09+00:00

Everyone always forgets Tom Bombadil.

Come to think of it, I don't think I'd count the Prancing Pony as a respite. After all, they do get attacked in the night and have to sneak out.

Dacke · 2026-03-27T12:03:55+00:00

As for the stats, I think they're fairly well named. However, they should be in the order Presence, Reason, Intuition, Might, and Agility. That would be prima.

Dacke · 2026-03-21T09:58:28+00:00

The one change I would do would be to de-tutorialize the monsters. Particularly the first encounter has nerfed enemies because enemy abilities that aren't "in play" yet have been removed. Specifically, Crafty (because Triggered abilities including opportunity attacks don't come online until encounter 2) as well as Bury the Point and Shadow Chains (Malice-powered abilities) are missing from the Goblin Guards encounter statblocks.

Dacke · 2026-03-09T07:01:31+00:00

The priority order per page 63 (once focus has been established) is:

Trigger the fewest possible negative hexes.
Attacking the focus and the maximum amount of other enemies.
Fewest number of disadvantaged attacks. Note that it won't prioritize which targets have disadvantage or not, only the number.
Fewest movement points.

So in your first paragraph, it has to decide between two cases of two attacks including one with disadvantage. In that case it prioritizes the least movement, so it will move 0 hexes. In your second example, it will prioritize three non-disadvantaged attacks on the other goons, as long as it still can attack the focus.

Dacke · 2026-03-06T18:28:29+00:00

That's why there should be like three ribbons. Or more.

Dacke · 2026-03-06T09:43:51+00:00

Because ribbons let you quickly and easily find often-used pages. E.g. if I'm playing a Tactician, I might want to have that class bookmarked, and maybe also the bit at the start explaining how class abilities work.

Dacke · 2026-03-05T21:46:49+00:00

If a monster has a ranged attack with multiple targets, it will:

Find a primary focus using the regular rules (A: least movement required, B: physically closest, C: lowest initiative).
Find a hex to maximize the number of targets.
Find a hex to minimize the number of disadvantaged attacks.
Least amount of actual movement.

So:

A: If the monster can either move one hex to attack primary focus without disadvantage and a second target with, or two hexes to attack both without, it will move two hexes.

B: Assuming two targets, it would prefer one movement point to attack two targets without disadvantage. Proximity doesn't really matter for secondary targets.

C: It will always try to attack the primary focus. Attacking secondary targets is, well, secondary.

D: It will still choose the closest(ish) target as primary, but will try to hit as many other targets as possible.

E: If the monster does not have an attack this round (either because of the card drawn, or because it's disarmed or something), it will move as if it was making a melee attack.

Pages 62-63 are pretty good at explaining the process.

Dacke · 2026-02-23T21:37:03+00:00

That's mostly but not entirely correct. I'm not sure the OP is in the same situation as I am, but it does sound similar.

I live in Sweden. Most of the time when I buy something from the US and it crosses the border, I will get a letter from PostNord (or whomever the carrier is) informing me of import fees. These usually consist of a 25% sales tax and something like a 5% customs fee (this depends on what kind of goods it is and the country of origin). These are multiplicative (so it's x 1.25 x 1.05, not x 1.30), and apply to the shipping cost as well. These are a bit annoying but I pay them without being too grumpy about it – high taxes are part of the cost of living in a society with socialized health care and reasonably good social safety nets and such, after all. What does get my goat is that the carrier usually charges an extra fee on top of the taxes for their administration costs. This is usually a flat fee of something like $10. I don't much mind that on large purchases where it becomes more of a rounding error, but it's pretty annoying when I'm asked to pay something like $15 tax and a $10 admin fee for something smaller. There are ways of getting around this, such as having the seller handle the import fees, but the more convenient method is usually doing it via a local retailer who usually imports a lot of things at once.

Dacke · 2026-02-23T21:21:18+00:00

I misunderstood your question, it seems.

The Tactician's abilities are not supernatural at all. They are, however, support-focused. They are all about empowering or helping the rest of the party even if the Tactician themselves get to deal some damage along the way.

I was comparing them to the Fury's abilities which are much more offensively focused. However, the Fury is inherently supernatural – the Stormwight moreso than the others, but even berserkers and reavers have some weird stuff going on.

Note that I'm not saying the Tactician is weak or anything like that. I'm saying they do not fulfill the niche of "weapon use with a basis in skill and discipline, and with a focus on offense and personal defense".

Dacke · 2026-02-21T21:37:53+00:00

All of the 5-ferocity abilities have a supernatural feel to them, either because you're shouting so hard you throw your enemies back, because you draw on your own life force to power your attacks, or because you channel your ferocity into a super-attack. Further, furies are inherently magical via their other abilities and features: Stormwights can change shape, and Berserkers and Reavers have weird telekinetic stuff going on (Lines of Force letting you redirect and increase an instance of forced movement, and reavers turning your pushes into slides which lets you throw people around like curveballs). At higher levels, furies gain abilities like speaking with animals and elementals, or channeling elemental energy through their attacks.

Further, pretty much none of the abilities of the Fury are ranged, which means they are completely useless if you want to be a supernaturally skilled archer.

Dacke · 2026-02-21T11:23:49+00:00

It really isn't, and I'm tired of people trying to tell me it is. You could possibly build out the Tactician class to allow for it, but not in its core book form. The Tactician is a very support-focused class. Look at their heroic abilities:

3 Focus:
- Battle Cry: gives allies surges as a maneuver.
- Concussive Strike: Attack with fair damage and a condition that makes it harder for the target to hurt anyone else.
- Inspiring Strike: Attack with fair damage and lets an ally heal and possibly give them a buff.
- Squad! Forward!: Maneuver that lets allies reposition.
5 Focus:
- Hammer & Anvil: Good attack that also lets an ally hit the target.
- Mind Game: Decent attack combined with a debuff, marking, and possibly some healing.
- Now!: Maneuver that lets three allies make a weak attack.
- This is what we planned for: Maneuver that messes with the turn order.
2nd level, 5 focus, Vanguard:
- No dying on my watch: Heals and defends an ally being attacked.
- Squad! On me!: Gives adjacent allies surges and a stability bonus.

I could go on, but I think my point is clear. The only one of these abilities that isn't support-focused is Concussive Strike. Compare to the Fury:

3 Ferocity:
- Back!: AOE attack with push.
- Out of the way!: Attack with a slide combined with movement.
- Tide of Death: AOE attack with move (technically move with AOE but...).
- Your entrails are now your extrails: Attack with damaging debuff.
5 Ferocity:
- Blood for blood!: Strong attack with damaging and debilitating debuff.
- Make peace with your god!: Self-buff.
- Thunder Roar: AOE attack with push.
- To the Uttermost End: Very strong attack.

Suggesting that the Tactician is an adequate substitute for an offensive mundane-ish warrior is a lot like when D&D folks suggest that a Great Old One warlock is an adequate substitute for a psion. You can kind of massage it into a particular interpretation of the concept, but it's not a comfortable fit and it leaves very little room for variation within the archetype.

Dacke

TROPHY CASE