 August 25, 2011 - 4:40am | Never played it but I never got the reasoning behind the players having to use tomars horses instead of lopers they would have had prior experience with lopers while travelling with the ul-mor. Plus I thought that the conditions under which they would succeed were pretty liberal. So as to make it no real contest- they win by trying. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 August 25, 2011 - 5:14am | It does generate ideas for contest non-combative encounters that still require physical ability rolls. |
August 25, 2011 - 6:35am | It does generate ideas for contest non-combative encounters that still require physical ability rolls.
Sure, but you asked about experiences. I suppose I could go back and check the archive of the Black Hand gang and see how it played out in post but I remember noticing that some of the long standing players and NPCs had a level or two in loper riding.I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 August 25, 2011 - 2:26pm | It's been a long time since I've played the scenario but my recollection was that the PC's had to press hard (using two of their gallops) to keep up with the Ul'Mor if they were riding the horses since they move slower. That is assuming they are trying to actually win. If the only goal is to stay mounted, they can just race behind the Ul'Mor staying mostly out of their way. By the time the PCs are around the first stakes, the Ul'Mor will be one turn away from the ball. If they are on the lopers (or using gallops) they stay pretty close to the Ul'Mor and the natural bottlenecks in the field invariably mean they end up in melee with good chances of getting knocked off their mounts since they only get half their DEX or STR while the Ul'Mor have a 55% chance to succeed. Winning is very hard but if they are just playing to stay mounted and put in a good effort, it's not too difficult as their mounts will naturally lag the Ul'Mor and they won't actually be invovled in many melees. Ad Astra Per Ardua! My blog - Expanding Frontier Webmaster - The Star Frontiers Network & this site Founding Editor - The Frontier Explorer Magazine Managing Editor - The Star Frontiersman Magazine |
August 25, 2011 - 4:07pm | Thanks for the input, the way I read the text is it's geared towards the party working together. |
August 25, 2011 - 6:01pm | It is, but the players still usually want to actually win  not just stay mounted. Ad Astra Per Ardua! My blog - Expanding Frontier Webmaster - The Star Frontiers Network & this site Founding Editor - The Frontier Explorer Magazine Managing Editor - The Star Frontiersman Magazine |
August 25, 2011 - 7:14pm | Uhm... working together to win. Read between the lines.  |
August 25, 2011 - 7:30pm | But there can be only one winner. And usually everybody wants to be that guy. I'm just sayin'. Working as a team, it is only moderately difficult to give someone a good chance of actually winning. They just have to agree on who that will be so they don't work at cross purposes. Ad Astra Per Ardua! My blog - Expanding Frontier Webmaster - The Star Frontiers Network & this site Founding Editor - The Frontier Explorer Magazine Managing Editor - The Star Frontiersman Magazine |
August 25, 2011 - 8:33pm | The "one winner" should be the players in order to lead the Ul-Mor. One of the major differences between the Ul-Mor and the player characters is that the Ul-Mor are each out to win the Great Game individually while the player characters' only real goal is to have at least one of their side finish the game still mounted while having made a real attempt to win. Thus, the referee will often be playing Ul-Mor against other Ul-Mor. |
