Base Power Points: 4 or 6?

[Anonymous]

The Atlantean Edition reads on p.59: Base Power Points = 4 + Wisdom Modifier. But the famous wizards presented in Scrolls of Skelos all have 6 Base Power Points.
Comes this difference from an older rule (1st ed.)?

 

[Arthas the Lich King]

well, if you'll notice the scholar special abilities, you gain bonus power points as you level up. all those famous wizards are 20th level.

 

[Anonymous]

Yes, I know. Maybe with an example it will get clearer:

The entry for Thoth-Amon reads:
Base Power Points: 12 (base 6, +1 WIS, +5 Scholar)
I think, according to the Altantean Edition p.59 (I don't have the 1st ed.), it should read:
10 (base 4, +1 WIS, +5 Scholar)

Do I miss something or did Mongoose use an older Scholar rule version in Scroll of Skelos?

 

[Tristan]

Now I don't have the books in front of me but it seems they might have just used a feat slot for dabbler which gives you +2 Power points if you're a scholar already. I'll have to check however.

 

[argo]

They didn't get it through the dabler feat, the scholar class description states that if you already have PP from some source (ie: dabler) then instead of gaining 4+ Wis pp you gain a one time bonus of 2 pp. Meanwhile the dabler feat gives you 2+Wis pp if and only if you do not already have some pp. So a scholar with dabler will have the same base pp as a scholar without pp.


I would submit that the example scholars have successfully survived one or more Sorcerous Obsessions and gained a couple extra pp that way (very likely). Or else they gained a permanent pp bonus from some unique story-related hoodo (less likely). High level scholars are some of the most unique people in the setting after all and it is perfectly within the perogrative of both game designer and DM to give them a few extra bennies to make them as cool as they need to be.

 

[thulsa]

High level scholars are some of the most unique people in the setting after all and it is perfectly within the perogrative of both game designer and DM to give them a few extra bennies to make them as cool as they need to be.

While I do agree with you that both game designers and DMs should be able to break the rules if it seems suitable, the interesting question (for me, anyway) is whether the game designers made a conscious choice to break the rules (ie., to make an exception), or whether they just goofed up the stats.

Take a look at Natokh, who has the Loathsome Weapon feat. The feat is probably based on this REH character in the first place (from the ending of Black Colossus), but the character (in the Conan RPG) does not meet the prerequisites for the feat! (He doesn't have any ranks in Handle Animal.) Which makes one wonder, what's wrong, the feat description or the statblock? If the game designer had decided that Natokh didn't need this prerequisite, simply noting this after the statblock would have cleared up any confusion and at the same time reassured us that the game designers were aware of the feat's prereqs (ie., they didn't just goof).

The above example is minor, I know, but the Master of Yimsha is worse. The NPC lacks all four of the feats which are prereqs to the prestige class! Soooo... how did he qualify for 5 levels of the class? Again, if the prerequisites were only there to make it hard for PCs wishing to become the next Master, a small note explaining this in the NPC or class description would have cleared up any confusion. Without any such information, we are left to wonder if they goofed (again), if two different persons (who didn't read each other's material) wrote the prestige class and the NPC statblocks, or if the proofreaders failed to spot it.

I do think the Conan RPG is the best swords & sorcery RPG to date; it's just that it could have been a lot better (perfect?) if some basic quality control/proofreading went into these books before they were printed.

- thulsa

 

[Boreas]

Here here Thulsa!

I'm with you. The proof-reading from day one has been really bad - after
all...why else did they need an Atlantean version?

It would have made a game I bought, read & loved...then read some more,
and loved it slightly less, then read more closely & loved slightly less etc etc,
a much more enjoyable purchase.

Even though I still like the rules, I must admit to have had several bouts
of buyers remorse...usually after trying to read something & finding a
new mistake.