A few beginner questions

[Daegurth]

Hi, i periodically read this forum to solve mechanic doubts of this game.

I've been GM of a mini campaign on a home made setting, and run out a couple of one shots, and now im playing as a player, but no one of us understand totally the game yet.

I got a Lancer, and like all Lancers we got free the Animal Partner feat to get a mount. I pick a War Horse. I'm level 3, but we dont get how mounted combat works.

Lets suppose im mounted. My move actions count as if my War Horse move by himself? So its like my move speed increased as if i got the War Horse move speed? If this is correct, then i can move 50ft and make one attack with my spear?

And what if i want to attack with my mount too? That would consume one half action of mine?

And i've seen the War Horse has too little Health and Defense. Def 12 total, 15 Vitality. I'm lvl 3 as i said, and im the "tank" of the group. Yesterday we'v got attacked by 4 Standar Characters, and one of them attack my horse, not me, cause its lot of easier. He make two attacks, both hit, and made 12 damage. Its crazy that my horse cant stand 2 consecutive rounds fighting. We are missing something, i'm doing something wrong or what?

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Another question. Same party, we got a mage lv 3 who learned Magic Missile. He shoot 3 attacks that make 1d6 force damage. So we believe that he can choose until 3 differents targets. But if counts like 3 differents ATTACKS:

-Each missile alone is affected by Damage Reduction.
-If, lets say, pick one Standar Character with 2 ranks of Tough, if the npc its unlucky he could die in that single spell.

So i recommended the GM that for that sesion make Magic Missile Spell, for instance, count as 3 attacks on effect to Damage Reduction, but as ONE attack to Damage Saves, cause if not could be too much powerfull for a lvl 1 spell.

What you say in this two questions?

PS: Sorry my bad english .

[ludomastro]

Welcome to the boards!  I'm sure we can help you.  I'm away from my books at the moment so I will defer to those who have theirs at hand.

Basically, when using a mount, the rider and the mount are considered to be merged into a collective mounted character.  Certain stats use the higher totals, while others use the lower.  I remember for a fact that strikes on a mounted character are applied per the player's choice, unless the attacker spends an action die to declare otherwise.  Therefore, unless the GM was spending action dice to attack the horse, you, as the player should be able to decide where the damage is applied.

[Coyote0273]

Another question. Same party, we got a mage lv 3 who learned Magic Missile. He shoot 3 attacks that make 1d6 force damage. So we believe that he can choose until 3 differents targets. But if counts like 3 differents ATTACKS:

-Each missile alone is affected by Damage Reduction.
-If, lets say, pick one Standar Character with 2 ranks of Tough, if the npc its unlucky he could die in that single spell.

So i recommended the GM that for that sesion make Magic Missile Spell, for instance, count as 3 attacks on effect to Damage Reduction, but as ONE attack to Damage Saves, cause if not could be too much powerfull for a lvl 1 spell.

Magic Missile has the potential to be an awesome spell on paper. 3 hits, 3 saves, OMG, I can potenially kill every NPC per battle.

In matter of fact, it's much much much less useful than it seems. Many people will have at least hardened leather, if not heavier armor, especially if they're into melee, and the spell check can be easily nullified for people worried about ACP negatives. It's got Dr 3. That means, per missile, you've only got a 50/50 chance of even damaging someone to begin with. A soldier at 3rd level will make that Dr4, and now you're down to a 1/3rd chance of even doing 1 point of damage. At my tables this quickly makes Magic Missile not quite as dangerous as the players like, *especially* against armored foes.

[Big_Jim]

Hi, i periodically read this forum to solve mechanic doubts of this game.

That's what it's  here for. Good on you!

I've been GM of a mini campaign on a home made setting, and run out a couple of one shots, and now im playing as a player, but no one of us understand totally the game yet.

I have a friend who goes through the same kind of problem. He's so busy trying to find the 'changes from D&D 3.X' that he keeps coming up with questions about mechanics that I have to explain are the same as the ol' D20 system he's familiar with. It's a little weird sometimes...

I got a Lancer, and like all Lancers we got free the Animal Partner feat to get a mount. I pick a War Horse. I'm level 3, but we dont get how mounted combat works.

The basics of mounted combat is actually quite simple, as covered on page 215 of Fantasy Craft. The devil is in the details, so to speak.

Basically, getting on your horse (by rules mechanics) changes you from Daegurth and Horse to Daegurth-Horse. Daegurth-Horse uses the larger size of the two of you (Horse, most likely), Uses the mount's speed and movement (Once again, Horse), The lower of Defense, Initiative, and Saving Throw bonuses between you (Toss up there.. mostly the Horse, though) and the higher of Damage Reduction and Resistances for both of you (Armor up just one of you!). Attack and skill bonuses are determined by which half of Daegurth-Horse does the deed. If Daegurth-Horse swings a sword, Daegurth is the one doing it and you use Daegurth's attack bonus/strength/etc. The size is by Daegurth-Horse, though. Enjoy flattening footmen with a Massive-quality weapon while on horseback!

Lets suppose im mounted. My move actions count as if my War Horse move by himself? So its like my move speed increased as if i got the War Horse move speed? If this is correct, then i can move 50ft and make one attack with my spear?

As Daegurth-Horse, you get one full action or two half actions, just like you'd get as just Daegurth or just Horse. So effectively, you give up one whole character's actions for the benefit of being a mounted pair. So yes, your first half action as Daegurth-Horse is to move (50 ft, because that's the mount's movement) and then one half action to attack with the spear Using Daegurth's attack bonuses, etc).

And what if i want to attack with my mount too? That would consume one half action of mine?

Yep. Daegurth-Horse gets one character's worth of actions, not two character's worth. If you want two character's worth of actions, get off the horse and have two characters.

And i've seen the War Horse has too little Health and Defense. Def 12 total, 15 Vitality. I'm lvl 3 as i said, and im the "tank" of the group. Yesterday we'v got attacked by 4 Standar Characters, and one of them attack my horse, not me, cause its lot of easier. He make two attacks, both hit, and made 12 damage. Its crazy that my horse cant stand 2 consecutive rounds fighting. We are missing something, i'm doing something wrong or what?

You're kinda doing it wrong. Daegurth-Horse is a composite character. Those guys didn't attack the horse, they attacked Daegurth-Horse, which using the lower of Daegurth or the Horse's defense is easy to hit. However, you get to decide where the damage goes. and your best DR/Resistances  are used against that damage no matter where it goes. If the GM (or anybody) wants to send the damage against Daegurth specifically, then that opponent has the spend 2 action dice to do that. If the GM didn't do that, then you get to decide where the damage goes. It does go in one big total, though. To split the damage (12 damage after armor? 6 to Daegurth, and 6 to Horse) Look at the Combat Rider feat in the Adventurer's Companion.

For mounted combat tweaks and whatnot, check out this thread where I asked some on the weirder aspects of the rider-mount composite character.

http://www.crafty-games.com/forum/index.php?topic=4074.0

Another question. Same party, we got a mage lv 3 who learned Magic Missile. He shoot 3 attacks that make 1d6 force damage. So we believe that he can choose until 3 differents targets. But if counts like 3 differents ATTACKS:

-Each missile alone is affected by Damage Reduction.
-If, lets say, pick one Standar Character with 2 ranks of Tough, if the npc its unlucky he could die in that single spell.

So i recommended the GM that for that sesion make Magic Missile Spell, for instance, count as 3 attacks on effect to Damage Reduction, but as ONE attack to Damage Saves, cause if not could be too much powerfull for a lvl 1 spell.

What you say in this two questions?

PS: Sorry my bad english .

Magic Missile is three autohitting attacks, that each prompt a separate damage save. Before you get worked up about how powerful you think that is, remember that the spell is making 3 1d6 non-AP attacks. They just bounce off most serious targets. Unarmored targets should be wounded/killed by Magic Missile. Even lightly armored targets look on in amazement at the Magic Missile spewing mage. "What's with this light show. Ow! That one stung a little. Kill that guy before he starts using useful combat spells, like that level 0 Frost Ray I!"

[pawsplay]

The best use of magic missile is to ping three standard characters who have already been wounded. Blasting some foes with Polar Ray I in round one, then following up with magic missile in round two is a great way to force repeated damage saves. However, only against unarmored or lightly armored foes.

[Krensky]

Also, I wouldn't consider a horse mounted knight a 'tank' in the game sense. I would do whatever I could as a horse mounted lancer to exploit 'Knight Shock' by abusing the Charge chain and the Spear chain and Intimidating anything your lance can't reach.

If I wanted a 'tank', I'd probably go with a different mount. Less speed, more Defense, DR, and vitality.

[Daegurth]

Thanks all of you! Solve a lot of doubts we (and specially i) got.

Yea, i mean "tank" cause i got by far most Vitality and DR to endure more than one or two rounds.

So if i pick the lowest DEF, INI and Saves (i think i'll ask the GM that count the lesser Reflex but the highest Fort and Will) but i choose to whose character is going to take the damage, make some more durable.

For the Magic Missile yea, we know that only works fine for unarmoured foes, but well, to me it saw like too much "power" to one lv 1 spell, but if work this way then we will use like that.

Another noob question: The Lancer has the quality to, if fail intimidate or mount check, take 20+Class lvl to replace the result. That means if i threaten anyone i always gonna get at least 20+Class lv in the DC?

[Bill Whitmore]

Another noob question: The Lancer has the quality to, if fail intimidate or mount check, take 20+Class lvl to replace the result. That means if i threaten anyone i always gonna get at least 20+Class lv in the DC?

Sort of.  The wording is basically that you will succeed with the minimal success if the DC is less than or equal to a DC of 20 + Class Level.  Usually that is sufficient, but it will never trigger anything beyond the basic success.  It could never trigger any effects that say something along the lines of "If you beat your DC by X or more than Y triggers".

Also, the ability doesn't work if you roll an error.  Bear in mind all negative results are also treated as errors.  If you try to Intimidate/Coerce someone with Deadly Apparent Risk (-10) and No Incentive (-4), and the check result is -1 or lower, the intimidate effect isn't going to help.

Other than those few corner cases, you can get a lot done with those "Perfect" skill abilities, as they are often called.

[Big_Jim]

So if i pick the lowest DEF, INI and Saves (i think i'll ask the GM that count the lesser Reflex but the highest Fort and Will) but i choose to whose character is going to take the damage, make some more durable.

Well, it's done by individual save, so the lowest of each category between the the two characters - lowest Reflex save, lowest Fortitude save and the lowest Will save.

[Daegurth]

Ok, thanks you all!

If we got more questions i'll surelly come back here .