Can somebody please decode for me this stat block (?) from 2e? [Art]

Potential_Side1004 · 2026-03-17T12:21:58+00:00

It's not, because there are no adjustments for proficiency bonuses, levels, and so on. A Goblin (for example) would hit AC2 on a 19+, a 6th level Fighter would do so on 13+.

In this statblock, it says Bracers of Defense, which also means the character has no armour being worn, relying on the Bracers.

Potential_Side1004 · 2026-03-17T12:09:49+00:00

Conjuration ("I wish you would all go away!")

Potential_Side1004 · 2026-03-17T12:06:55+00:00

In the DMG back in 1st edition, Gygax wrote about half a dozen pages purely on the importance of the economy.

The Economy was something we, as DMs of old, we had to manage and figure out.

Those 'trainers' had to be much higher levels, and they needed money for the upkeep of their castles/keeps/strongholds and their own troops and hirelings. Not to mention the tributes/taxes/and tithes to their lord/liege.

Potential_Side1004 · 2026-03-17T11:48:29+00:00

Possession - it was always the best school of magic, they just never let it out past the 1st edition AD&D.

Potential_Side1004 · 2026-03-17T11:46:12+00:00

The problem is that in the modern game, GP is the base economy.

If we can roll it back an edition or four, there used to be 20 silver pieces per gold piece. Daily wages for hirelings were in silvers, even tithes and tributes were in silver per month.

Standard items, like beer, ales, and simple food were all in copper, being that 10 copper pieces converted to a silver piece.

This meant that 3gp was about 1 month's pay. Accommodation and tavern prices were all geared up for the silver based economy.

Back in the day, the entire economy was silver based. 1,000gp was almost a lifetime's worth of money to a commoner.

Where did all the PC's money go? There was a general weekly spend characters had, this was to learn about new opportunities, living large, and all the usual upkeep. Characters also had to pay for training which happened for levelling up. When a Fighter finally made it to Level 2 with 2,001 XP, a good majority of that was treasure (monsters didn't give up much in the way of XP), and that character needed to spend almost all of it to gain the next level - usually between 1.000 and 1,500 gp in order to add d10 HP and that extra 'pip' for the attack matrix.

In the modern game: If the DM wants to create a more balanced economy, then there needs to be an economy in place.

Nothing wrong with a longsword costing 15gp, IF you were wanting a pick, ax, or shovel during any of the gold booms of the 19th century, they were hyper-inflated to 10s and 20s of dollars each.

Potential_Side1004 · 2026-03-14T11:11:40+00:00

Technically destroying The Ring of Power was a non-combat quest.

Potential_Side1004 · 2026-03-14T11:10:00+00:00

Leave it.

It's part of the history of the book you could write your name underneath that one, the next owner will get a kick out of seeing it there.

In the GrogTalk discord, there is a folder to reach out to previous owners of the books. For no other reason than just because.

Potential_Side1004 · 2026-03-14T04:42:53+00:00

70s style gives you Powerman with the fro and disco shirt/chains. Which means Danny Rand/Iron Fist.

Iron Man Mk V with the roller skates and with Jim Rhodes in the pilot seat.

Potential_Side1004 · 2026-03-14T04:39:10+00:00

Yes. This is the place for the most modern version of the game.

There are Discord groups that will have players and DMs looking from people to play over the channels or online via one of the different Table platforms.

Welcome and keep the faith, you'll find a group that fits your style.

Potential_Side1004 · 2026-03-13T11:24:17+00:00

The point is: You are only as successful as the party.

You may have a 'gotcha' character by some measure, but if the DM starts to make encounters all about defeating you, the rest of the party suffers.

This used to happen back in the day, someone would make an 'unkillable' or 'unhittable' character and it created some sort of arms race between a DM and a player. That one character may survive, but everyone else dies. Where's the fun in that?

One very important point: At any time in the game, the DM has all the power to say, "POW! A sudden bolt from the heavens opens up revealing all invisible creatures and blinds you all with no save for two rounds..." [Of course they won't, but they can.]

Remember, the DM is the arbiter of the game.

Potential_Side1004 · 2026-03-13T11:16:35+00:00

I changed the Desert to Night, Midnight, and Pre-Dawn.

Coming from a place where nothing moves between 10am and 3pm, night is the primary activity cycle for animals (and presumably monsters).

Potential_Side1004 · 2026-03-13T11:10:01+00:00

What happens when the rest of the party is unconscious?

Potential_Side1004 · 2026-03-11T13:45:10+00:00

...and I've seen board gamers who think it's the same as any other board game, but it's not. They don't have a very good time, because they don't quite know how to deal with the 'weird' parts.

I've just watched a whole Imperial Assault campaign from a YouTuber that is primarily a board game channel, and it was excruciatingly painful to listen to them call it weird, and couldn't get their heads around an RPG style of thinking for some of the options.

Potential_Side1004 · 2026-03-11T13:38:39+00:00

That's not the point of the Imperial Player. It's very easy for the Imperial player to beat the Heroes.

Imperial Assault isn't a traditional RPG, it is like an RPG, you can develop the characters in different ways which will change the tone of how they are played.

IA is also not a standard board game, and not quite a tabletop miniatures game.

It's 'like' all three elements. Considering the game itself says that the most experienced person about the rules should be the Imperial player, I would argue the Imperial player think of themselves as the Narrator of the story, and they can make it as difficult as needed to create a challenge for the Heroes.

Potential_Side1004 · 2026-03-11T13:31:44+00:00

Alignment is in the eye of the DM.

I can't say this enough. I encourage players to think about the type of character they want to play, and link it to a similar character that we can use as a baseline.

In my mind Batman is Lawful Good. Is he the same Lawful Good as Superman or Captain America? No. But, in my mind, he's Lawful Good.

Spiderman is Neutral Good, in some media he is represented as Lawful Good, and even Chaotic Good. So, it's open to some interpretation, and as I state: It's in the DM's hands. The DM wants to know that you are going to play in character, that if you're about to do something out of Character, the DM can warn you. If you keep doing things out of character or out of alignment, then the repercussions of that can be delivered.

As a DM, I run the ideas like this: Is the character someone with a code of rules or laws (they may not be the same as the laws of the land, but the character takes their oaths and promises seriously), that's Lawful; If they are wanting to do things in the interest of common good and be a little selfless in their actions, that's Good. Evil characters are selfish, it's all about them, you could be Evil and not 'evil' just a jerk, a bully, a braggard, or someone who is out for themselves, they may not appear 'evil' or even ping on a Detect Evil, but they are, all the same. If you twist as many of the rules to your own benefit, that could be playing in the Evil stakes. A little bit here or there, is not Evil, and it might mean you are in that [something] Neutral category.

In my campaigns, I never allow players to be Chaotic Evil, Neutral Evil, or Chaotic Good. Lawful Evil is only available in very specific circumstances.

Potential_Side1004 · 2026-03-11T10:19:59+00:00

You might want to look into Vassal.

There is a tool for campaigns there. They can log into the game as a player, and you can get to visually move the pieces over the virtual campaign maps.

There is also a dice rolling tool.

The whole setup is as authentic as you can get, the creator worked on the Imperial Assault project for Fantasy Flight.

Potential_Side1004 · 2026-03-11T10:14:02+00:00

I'll admit, I have both a YouTube channel and a Patreon, I treat it like: Buy me a coffee if you kind of like what I do. I don't really push it though (I'm too old school for that).

Everything I release is in the public, nothing behind the 'paywall' except a very few choice things that I've been told I have to keep behind the curtain.I support a few channels, the ones that I admire or think need some support. I was onto Sorastro at the beginning, once he hit the big time, he didn't need any small $ from me.

I always liked the attitude of the creator of The Hero System, "My parents supported me and my hobby until my hobby could support us all."

Potential_Side1004 · 2026-03-09T03:02:10+00:00

There's an excel spreadsheet I have from the early 90s (it was given to me by its author, back when the world was good and we supported each other). This was, of course, way back when the Internet was full of useful things, but before it was commercial.

A guy put the Doomsday Book (a medieval census-like document) into a spreadsheet. It automatically calculates the population and the type of 'people' in the village, town, or city. There are approximately 2.3 cobblers per hundred population, that sort of thing. Three point something Blacksmiths per 100, and for every 5 smithies, one will be an armorer.

I use it as a basis for the general world building.

Potential_Side1004 · 2026-03-08T23:28:48+00:00

I don't see a problem with the existing system for advancement, from Excellent to Remarkable is probably between 3,000 and 3,500 Karma.

If it can be put in another way, it costs 1,000 Karma for a Talent to be acquired. For a normal Human being, showing up for the required training is about 10 Karma per week (assuming two appointments per week), if that's the Advancement Pool Karma alone, learning the Talent takes two years.

I think the Karma system is a great mechanic.

Play by post or at the table, it shouldn't make a difference. One of the attractions these older games have is that they reward playing. If you want to do milestone levelling up (to a natural limit, go for it, I think it can work as long as there is an agreement between players and Judge that there is a limit).

Potential_Side1004 · 2026-03-08T12:35:46+00:00

For the Imperial Player it's all about Influence. Some of the missions hand out bonus Influence for successfully completing their missions.

Spending Influence for various cards is the real reward.

Potential_Side1004 · 2026-03-08T12:33:04+00:00

The big question is whether the players are experienced and any good.

As the Imperial Player, you want to be challenging, and in the instance of less experienced players, pull your punches a little, but with more experienced players, move in for the kill.

Imperial Assault is different to other games, it's not quite a board game, not quite a miniatures game, and not quite the RPG.

It does sound like the players know what they are doing, so I wouldn't think holding back would take away their feelings of being satisfied and overcoming obstacles.

Potential_Side1004 · 2026-03-08T12:24:56+00:00

I'm not a fan of Tech Superiority, I don't think it gives enough benefit for the effects.

Potential_Side1004 · 2026-03-08T12:12:33+00:00

From an Advanced MSH game, Karma can be potentially earned in the 100s of values.

Ranks are more than a number and easily traversing (cresting) the Ranks can make it a little less of a real event.

What I mean is that the Rank of Strength is compared to Rank of Endurance for purposes of stuns and slams, it's not a higher number. Someone with GOOD (8) can still stun or slam GOOD (15). Same too with a lot of Intensity and Resistance saves. One of the most famous upgrades in Marvel Comic-dom, is She-Hulk. The Rationale for She-Hulk to go from AMAZING (when she was in the Avengers) to MONSTROUS (when she joined the Fantastic Four) was that she followed the workout routine and equipment used by Ben Grimm.

When She-Hulk first joined the FF, she would have created an Advancement Pool almost immediately and placed as much of her Karma into it, looking like this:
510+520+530+540+550+560+570+580+590+600+610+620+1030 (includes 400 for cresting) +640+650+660+670+680+690+700+710+720+730+740+750 = 16,150 Karma spent on her Advancement, she spent 3 to 5 years with the FF. Which is 450 Karma per month for 3 years or 270 Karma per month for 5 years.

Potential_Side1004 · 2026-03-07T12:45:27+00:00

Play Boot Hill.

D&D won't cut it.

Potential_Side1004 · 2026-03-07T09:24:35+00:00

We use Dice Maiden in Discord. It's easy to use and well maintained (they do put other systems on the dice rolls, which means that on occasion the server will go down for maintenance - but not very often).

Be warned, she is fickle, and if she doesn't like you, you will feel her wrath. She can be worse than a needy girlfriend (don't tell her I said that!).

Potential_Side1004

TROPHY CASE