Module Questions

1. Does the PnP module specify what armor ToEE's various NPCs are wearing? I've got a mod in production wherein I'm changing NPC gear to more closely match what they seem to be wearing in their portraits. In most cases this will not amount to anything beyond superficial changes (add a cloak, etc.), but in a few instances there would seem to be a need to change armor. If the module states what they're supposed to be wearing specifically, then I probably won't change it. But if it doesn't specify, I'd like to change it to something of similar or identical AC that more closely resembles their portrait.
   
   A good example is Rufus. In his portrait he seems to be wearing something akin to full plate, but in the game he's got a suit of chainmail +1.
   
   
2. I notice that Rannos Davl wears a suit of leather armor +1, while Gremag wears a suit of (again :yawn: ) chainmail +3. (I really dislike that friggin' red-breasted chainmail that everyone seems to wear.) I wonder why there's such a dramatic disparity between these two? Again, is it module-specific? I'd like to change Gremag to maybe a chain shirt +1 or something like that, because in his portrait it doesn't look like he's wearing chainmail at all.
   
   I wonder though if these two have deliberately been tweaked this way to balance the assassin confrontation/revenge encounters or something to that effect. Would changing Gremag's armor to something closer to Rannos' have a great impact on those scenarios?
   
   
3. I'd also like to change the attire of Hommlet's various civilians from their various armors to either cloth armor or regular clothing. In some cases they wear stuff like scale mail, so changing that could lower their AC significantly. But it seems silly to me that civilians would stand around in their armor (unless there's a specific reason for them to be armored, like they're supposed to be fought ala R&G). Furthermore, I don't know that these NPCs pose a challenge to players who go the butcher of Hommlet route and slaughter them anyway, particularly as they're usually taken on singly, so it seems to me that changing their 'armor' wouldn't have that much effect ultimately. Unless by chance ... Sitra, have you possibly scripted an event in your R&G mod wherein the citizens of Hommlet assemble to battle the PCs or anything like that?
   
   
4. Rannos Davl is supposed to be a fat guy. He looks fat in his portrait, and Gremag remarks to the player at one point that he is "slow and fat." Yet like all other human males in ToEE, in-game he appears chiseled and broad-shouldered. I can change his model to that of a dwarf and enlarge him so that he's of human height, thus much more closely approximating the appearance of a fat guy. The only drawback is that the hairstyle doesn't seem to work with this and he looks like he's either got a mohawk or a monk-style top-of-the-head-only motif. Does anybody have any objection to making Rannos Davl fat in this way?

All insight/input is appreciated ...

 

Re the locals wearing armour, they are listed in the module as wearing peasants clothes but having this or that weapon and armour tucked away for use if called to militia duty: much as Terjon doesn't wander around in his armour all day but has it if needed. Obviously the downside of this approach is PCs would never stop to let the peasants arm, and the the computer is not proactive like a human DM would be: "Calmert, I see those murderous adventurers coming up the road toward the church! Grab you armour and ring the bell!"

Rufus is listed as "+1 chain and shield" in my edition. And I am very much in favour of the use of the dwarf model.

 

Alright, thanks for all the input everyone. I guess we'll let Rufus keep his chainmail, but I think I will take the liberty of changing Gremag's armor to a chainshirt, since I strongly suspect (based on your provided evidence) that it was really intended that way.

I'm also going to go ahead and put most all civilians in cloth armor or regular clothing if there are no compelling objections. We can rationalize that they indeed have other stuff at their disposal (which they would use in their official militia role) but as Ted explains they have no opportunity to change into it when the PCs come to kill them as they tend their crops/brew their beer/curdle their cheese. I still think this will not ultimately make much gameplay difference, other than that they'll now look more like their portraits while they're dying. I will spare NPC's like Captain Renton this fate, however - basically anybody who's got a job that would require considerations of violence to be among their primary concerns. Or anybody who can have their armor disguised under a robe.

And we'll see about making Rannos a fat guy, dwarf style.

Thanks again.

 

I guess I'm less interested in the outfits worn in the PnP modules than in their AC and related armors, specifically. I'm more interested in the in-game portraits as far as appearance goes. So the ideal would be to have any given NPC look like their portrait in ToEE while retaining the AC specified in the module and wearing armor at least similar to what is listed in the module, if not identical.

I'm also willing to take some small liberties to align this stuff. For example, as HK says, changing Rufus' chainmail to a breastplate would retain the AC and make him look like his portrait, while sacrificing only the specifics of the armor type from PnP. This is probably not that big a deal, but ...

This type of thing tends to send you down the slippery slope, so you have to be very disciplined about it. We need only look no further than Orion79 to see what happens when you get a mind to alter things and then lose sight of the big picture. So I would make every effort to avoid doing this stuff if at all possible and hopefully make only the rare exception. That way you people won't be unpleasantly suprprised down the road to see that Calmert or somebody is wearing dragonhide plate or purple elven chain.

The standard at Co8 has always been module fidelity, although fidelity in certain areas - specifically the ruleset - seems to be more important than in others. For example, there was no Hickory Branch in the PnP module, yet we have it in the CRPG. But on the other hand we don't consider ourselves at liberty to apply any house rules (which is a good thing, imo). I suppose armor stats fall somewhere in between, so ... I'll just try to handle it all as delicately as possible. Hopefully the results will be very limited and mostly transparent.