Stupid Question

rockfistus · Post by **rockfistus** » Tue Sep 23, 2003 3:21 am

I'm very new to war-gaming but this game grabbed my attention and I'm slowly figuring it out........

I have what will probably be a dumb question: What the hell is a Skill Check? In the tutorial I stepped into the marsh approaching the enemy Titan that has no weapons and when I tried to crouch like it told me too I kept failing the "Skill Check" and breaking my Titans legs.....ugh

I have no idea what a skill check is, is my dude checking his skills? I'm guessing it's not nearly that simple

Silvermane · Post by **Silvermane** » Tue Sep 23, 2003 3:32 am

A "skill check" is an event where a random number is compared to your appropriate skill; for example, if you try to shoot something. If the number is lower or equal than your skill, you suceed, if it's higher, you fail. As simple as that.

What you were experiencing is the old "newbie jock stuck in a swamp and unable to get out"-syndrome. You need to pass a skill check to stand up, and if you fail you fall down, with rather deteriorating results to your titan's armor.

I suggest staying clear of swamps in the beginning. It helps.

-Silvermane

rosary · Post by **rosary** » Tue Sep 23, 2003 4:37 am

A skill check is similar to rolling dice in a Role-playing game. If you make it you succeed. If you don't then you fail.

Skill checks aren't necessarily bad. Experience is earned through them.

rockfistus · Post by **rockfistus** » Tue Sep 23, 2003 7:06 am

Thanks guys, I eventually figured out after playing the game once again that its comparing your skills+dice roll(As you said) to the event taking place hence "skill check" heh Feel stupid now

Firefly · Post by **Firefly** » Tue Sep 23, 2003 3:09 pm

Glad you worked it out

. As Rosary said it's more a term from role-playing games than wargames. One the nice things about TOS is the way it borrows ideas from both.

Voidhawk · Post by **Voidhawk** » Wed Sep 24, 2003 6:08 am

Ah yes, the good old saving throw.

Anyone else own a 100-sided die?

Coyote27 · Post by **Coyote27** » Wed Sep 24, 2003 7:04 am

Jesus saves. The rest of you take 5d6 damage. :p

Silvermane · Post by **Silvermane** » Wed Sep 24, 2003 7:14 am

Anyone else own a 100-sided die?

The infamous golfball design? Nah, I always found 2d10 to be much more practical.

Besides that, there's an old ammo box full of dice for every RPG known to man over here (and several that are pretty much unknown to man). You never know when you might need that nefarious d30...

-Silvermane.

Torturing player characters since 1987.

tarendelcymir · Post by **tarendelcymir** » Wed Sep 24, 2003 7:43 am

I've got a d100 somewhere. I think I used it maybe twice in 22 years of roleplaying. Last time I saw it, my 4 year old daughter was using it as a soccer ball for her dolls.

widowmaker · Post by **widowmaker** » Wed Sep 24, 2003 7:52 am

Silvermane wrote:You never know when you might need that nefarious d30...

Ah, yes... I still have mine.

And the obligatory score or so of d6's...

One can never have too many d6's...

widowmaker

LarkinVB · Post by **LarkinVB** » Wed Sep 24, 2003 10:09 am

Silvermane wrote: Torturing player characters since 1987.

First basic dungeon & dragons experience from 1979

. Can anybody beat this ?

LarkinVB · Post by **LarkinVB** » Wed Sep 24, 2003 10:10 am

widowmaker wrote:Ah, yes... I still have mine.

And the obligatory score or so of d6's...

One can never have too many d6's...

widowmaker

Thats very true when you play champions and have to deal out 18d6 damage.

widowmaker · Post by **widowmaker** » Wed Sep 24, 2003 11:51 am

LarkinVB wrote:First basic dungeon & dragons experience from 1979 . Can anybody beat this ?

Can I borrow from my brother? He played Chainmail when it first came out. I was... 2?

LarkinVB wrote:Thats very true when you play champions and have to deal out 18d6 damage.

Or when a high level mage (AD&Dv1.0) casts a fireball.
Or if you played Shadowrun at all. We always had to scrounge for d6's in Shadowrun.

widowmaker

rosary · Post by **rosary** » Wed Sep 24, 2003 8:36 pm

LarkinVB wrote:First basic dungeon & dragons experience from 1979 . Can anybody beat this ?

Yes, My brother brought home the very first release of it. I'm guessing 1974. Then we created American Gothic and then the Call of Cthulhu RPG released through Chaosium that is still around. They had copies at EB last time I checked. I'm still listed as a playtester. Demoted from the Very Special Thanks section. Oh well.

Firefly · Post by **Firefly** » Thu Sep 25, 2003 1:36 am

LarkinVB wrote:First basic dungeon & dragons experience from 1979 . Can anybody beat this ?

Does a copy of Donald Featherstone's Wargaming and a few boxes of plastic Airfix minis in 1966 count?

Marga · Post by **Marga** » Thu Sep 25, 2003 4:56 pm

LarkinVB wrote:First basic dungeon & dragons experience from 1979 . Can anybody beat this ?

:p Yes, I played it 1978 with a good old friend, who brought it to germany after a visit to England :rolleyes: (You know him, Larkin...)

smc415 · Post by **smc415** » Sat Sep 27, 2003 7:32 am

LarkinVB wrote:First basic dungeon & dragons experience from 1979 . Can anybody beat this ?

I first threw dice in anger the summer of 77.

Regarding lots of D6. Shadowrun was a huge dice game, but NOTHING beat Champions. One local guy had a hero, originally named somehing like Bullet Man. This guy could fly, extremely fast, wore a metallic helmet. He couldn't control his flight very much at all, but when he actually hit someone he had to roll and count up Handfulls for Dice. It was quite impressive. In many cases we didn't even add them up. If he hit something, he took it out. He was also a single shot kind of hero. He wasn't conscious at the end very many play sessions.

Sleeping_Dragon · Post by **Sleeping_Dragon** » Sat Sep 27, 2003 8:39 am

I think is was '79 for me, somewhere close around there.. with the little red(?) booklets that came with the 1st basic D&D box set. Basic D&D didn't last long, within a year it was AD&D. Did a little Champions, Gamma World(?), Battletech, Rifts, Star Trek, Star Frontiers.. probably some other. But AD&D lasted the longest, and was by FAR the most prevelent (still have a CLOSET-FULL of AD&D stuff to prove it). In college had campains that lasted over 2 years playing 24 hours every other Saturday, some high level characheters, done the hard way! AD&D finally gave way to Magic:The Gathering... Finally had to give up M:TG cause I didn't have the time to play competievely anymore and the newest set at the time was unbalanced leading to dissapointment

When I cut my teeth on Type I tournements and thought the newest set was unbalancing I knew it was getting time to call it quits; but I did get a huge wad of cash when I sold all my cards

Now it's mostly comp games, mainly TBS with a fair amount of Playstation when I have/make the time....

but I miss the "good-'ol-days"....

Maybe when I retire or end up in the 'old folks home' it will have the time to once agian don the armor, unsheath the long sword, and crawl back into a dungeon reeking of evil.... god knows there are a lot of gamers starting to get recedeing hairlines and the small patches of grey, there will bound to be a few 'lost-boys' that never grew up willing to answer the call and once agian take up wands, swords, and maces when the golden years come-a-calling.

widowmaker · Post by **widowmaker** » Sat Sep 27, 2003 10:26 am

Sleeping_Dragon wrote:there will bound to be a few 'lost-boys' that never grew up willing to answer the call and once agian take up wands, swords, and maces when the golden years come-a-calling.

Yeah, and show those young whipper-snappers how a real gamer games.

widowmaker

rosary · Post by **rosary** » Sat Sep 27, 2003 8:19 pm

Yeah, I remember being DM for a few newer players once and right before an ominous door that reeked of evil, They asked 'Can we save the game here?' No comment.