Reduced Starting Weapons

[Gold Bearer]

I'm thinking I should have tried starting the Heroes off with all daggers except for the Barbarian. Give him a Shortsword to maintain his edge. Starting at the Maze would be a must for this method. Then the Heroes (or at least one) may have a chance to upgrade their dagger to a Shortsword.

I think the way to give the Barbarian his edge and for him to actually KEEP it, is to give each hero a dagger (1 AD), but the Barbarian gets a +1 bonus for his attack (with all weapons he's allowed to use except the crossbow). That's how I've been handling it. It's the only way for him to actually remain the better fighter than Elf and Dwarf, which he's supposed to be.

I think that would make the barbarian far too overpowered compared to the others. The dwarf for example will have have one less BP (MP isn't worth as much) and one less attack dice on any melee weapon with just the ability to disarm traps to compensate.

[knightkrawler]

I'm thinking I should have tried starting the Heroes off with all daggers except for the Barbarian. Give him a Shortsword to maintain his edge. Starting at the Maze would be a must for this method. Then the Heroes (or at least one) may have a chance to upgrade their dagger to a Shortsword.

I think the way to give the Barbarian his edge and for him to actually KEEP it, is to give each hero a dagger (1 AD), but the Barbarian gets a +1 bonus for his attack (with all weapons he's allowed to use except the crossbow). That's how I've been handling it. It's the only way for him to actually remain the better fighter than Elf and Dwarf, which he's supposed to be.

I think that would make the barbarian far too overpowered compared to the others. The dwarf for example will have have one less BP (MP isn't worth as much) and one less attack dice on any melee weapon with just the ability to disarm traps to compensate.

There are more differences in my houserules. The barbarian may not use the crossbow, for example.

Here's what I did: http://forum.yeoldeinn.com/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=1548&hilit=combat+stats

[Daedalus]

With my last (present) group, I used the Tier System and started their Heroes in The Maze with Daggers and a Shortsword for the Barbarian. I skipped The Trial and played it later on and instead moved onto Rescue of Sir Ragnar after The Maze. (Played The Trial about 2/3 of the way through the main book) The players gifted funds to each other to purchase more shortswords (and did the same later on for other items as well).

If I have the opportunity to play through with another group, I will stick to the Tier System and lower starting weapons again. I will likely create another easier quest to place between The Maze and Rescue of Sir Ragnar just to allow them to gather a bit more gold from the treasure deck to buy another shortsword before Lair of the Orc Warlord. The Trial will again be played around Quest 9.

I also would like to start out with less gear and easier monsters for some preliminary Quests, as many as three. Sjeng has already done something a bit like this in The Chronicles of Sir Ragnar. I'd even go so far as to lower stats and reduce spells. That way, along with equipment upgrades, Heroes would also enjoy intrinsic ability increases that aren't seen again until The Frozen Horror (okay, the Wizard gets some casting perks ealier). Right now, making these Quests is on the back burner, but the starting rules mods are pretty easy.

I don't see the community as a whole being interested is this kind of play, but adding a single Quest for a transition from The Maze and in place of The Trial (as drathe is considering) sounds more universal. I'd like to see that Quest available. Maybe it could work as a contest. Otherwise, I hope somebody creates it.