FinalHavenLarp.com

let me first state that I try not to abuse things that I like to think are over performing / broken. I didn't seriously play a rogue (as of this year and moving forward they seem fairly in line with other paths now) I didn't utilize the investment system for masses of wealth, and I didn't horde magic / power items (though even the attunement system has improved that a bit) nor was I ever out to change the in game world. I view it less like a sims where we are crafting the world and more like a table top were I'm there to interact with what the GM's throw at me (or choose not to as the case may be)

to the point.

I use shatter, frequently, but it is pretty broken.

if an NPC walks up to you with normal weapons you win, on multiple occasions I would shatter weapons and they would simply say "you kill it" and walk away, because there was nothing you could do. this leads to encounters set up to avoid shatter because of how one sided it is, if it works you win, if it does not you loose. so we have monsters with nothing but claws, or that can resist shatter.

this sounds familiar?

anyone remember pre nerf seer? when it had straight "sleep" as its master level ability? and it was so broken that half the town was seers so the NPC's had to start making wandering monster dogs that had 10 life and swung 1 have a reason to resist sleep along with everything else because it was so broken. but then everything started resisting sleep so the PC's got mad because EVERY darn thing had resist sleep.

yeah. same thing.

not only that its not fun or interactive to get hit with as a PC, nobody likes loosing there stuff. and I have talked with those on staff that have claimed to have called shatter numerous times during events. . .nothing on the PC side was broken, so either everyone has the means to resist shatter, or people are cheating, neither a good thing. the former because if everyone has to have a resist for it then clearly its too good, the latter is obvious

now as I'm never one to just criticize something without finding a good work around for it I do in fact think I have one!
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-make armor tag less and just granted as part of a path (like now different paths grant different armor.) this also prevents other exploits I wont list here (pm for details)
-make shatter like stagger and scorch and just drop armor to 0 but not destroy it.
-make it not effect weapons (we have disarm for weapons and shields)
-remove disarm from parry so that disarm is effective against the one class you need it to be effective against.
-grant bonuses for phys reping your armor (bonus armor, a resist shatter, costume bonus, etc.etc.)
-alter exotic armors to be their own item that grants the effect rather then the armor itself.

also instead of tagging weapons lets just use the phys reps? like as if they were all tagged, if your only carrying one sword you only have one, if you want to carry twenty then you can try I guess, if you get disarmed better find a weapon fast.

this would remove all base armor and weapon tags and make the game much more fluid both behind the scenes and on the field.

after a bit of deliberation talking with several people about this topic and reports that even NPC/GM monsters are calling blanket resist to shatter and disarm the majority of the time because they too don't like the skills or want to deal with them I have a further point to add on top of those listed above.

change disarm to be more like carps where you simply have to hold your weapons at your side for 10 seconds, if further downside is required take crush through the weapons as well.

this is because the whole "throw your weapon away" can cause a whole myriad of other issues, and when discussions about a physrep based system that was tagless was brought up we ran into issues because of disarm that stemmed from the core of how it works, these problems exist in the system as it is now as disarm works the same way within the systems (obviously )

-shatter is an un fun mechanic as it stands now
-disarm is an un fun mechanic as it stands now

I'm wondering if you saw this post..

GM-August wrote:It has been decided!

Shatter destroys all Weapons (except natural weapons like fists and claws). This includes Magic Weapons, Exotic Weapons and Special Weapons.
Shatter destroys all Shields. This includes Heavy, Medium, and Light shields. This includes Magic Shields, Exotic Shields and Special Shields.
Shatter destroys all non-real Armor. This includes Heavy, Medium, and Light armor. This includes Magic Armor, Exotic Armor and Special Armor.
Shatter drops all real Armor to zero. This includes Heavy, Medium, and Light armor. This includes Magic Armor, Exotic Armor and Special Armor.

(Real Armor is Armor where the phys-rep matches its mechanical description. Real Armor would be where Full Plate armor is a phys-rep for Heavy Armor. If Shattered, this armor cannot be destroyed, only dropped to zero. Non-real Armor would be where a silver leather coat is a phys-rep for Heavy Armor. If Shattered, this armor is destroyed.)

Items cannot be Shattered. This includes Magic Items, Exotic Items and Special Items.
In very special situations at GM discretion and with GM permission only, an item may be shatterable.

So, now there is more of a benefit to using "real" armor. .. as for weapons, I'd like something to complement that, but of course, using "real" weapons is out of the question.

As for the NPC side of things, here's where I stand.

I've been NPCing at WH since it's beginning. Claws are easy. They are easy to tuck in your belt as you're doing other stuff and can go off into the woods for a minute and come back as a monster. Or, if you're the only one running a plot with a group of PCs, claws are a good "generic" weapon for whatever monster they may run into. Now, I consider myself a wuss. I really don't care for how big/heavy/cluncky many of the NPC weapons are. The claw phys-reps are usually lighter and more stream lined. Sorry, that's it. I'm generally not thinking, "Oh, I'm going to grab claws because I don't want my weapon to be shattered or disarmed." Honestly, I want a weapon that's comfortable for me to swing - which are usually claws. There are times I know I'm going in to do something as a humanoid and grab a sword or staff - oddly, I don't think anyone has ever bothered shattering those weapons.
**Suggestion to PCs - make some nice, light weapon phys-reps to donate and maybe, just maybe, your NPCs will use them more (oh, you'll probably get some reward points too).

Shatter doesn't only work on NPC weapons - SERIOUSLY!!! Shatter works on NPC armor too! I promise!! I admit, it's hard to phys-rep someone using armor, when we either just don't have any phys-reps to use, or the little we do have doesn't fit my uhh.. voluptuous..ness. So, what do we do? We play giant beetle like things with shells that shatter can crack, or Ent-like creatures that shatter will do something like 5-vorpal, or a hovering orb that if hit with shatter, instantly dies.

As for NPCs calling a blanket resist to shatter and disarm - I have a VERY hard time swallowing that. Do you have any evidence to back that up?

hmmm, I know there have always been benefits in some form or another for actually phys-reping your armor, I was simply pointing to the fact that I had thought about this and included it in my calculations ^_^

I also don't have a problem with NPC's using claws, after all we fight a lot of monsters that would indeed have natural weapons.

I do know however that there is a problem on the paperwork side in that PC's are greedy, when we fight someone with a sword or armor, we want the tags and the items, we pick things clean. when you play some random monster it does not have to have anything at all, maybe a food or a hide. when we fight people we expect to walk away with the weapons they fought us with and the armor they tried to defend themselves with. when they have "nothing" because of not wanting to add more base items to the PC side (its an economic thing) it does break scene and I have seen players get out of game and openly irritated towards NPC's. also I don't expect NPC's to phys rep their armor either, that's why there are bonuses but its not required. I personally NEVER phys rep my armor and take the hit along with the majority of the people I play with, we dress to suit a variety of needs including but not limited to: appearance, noise, mobility, temperature, etc.

that said, a pair of claws are very easy and convenient as they cover so much monster ground, that and it depends on our baddie for the event.

as for shatter on armor, if its wearing armor it prolly has a weapon too and as a group that has used shatter quite a bit, all we care about is the weapon, shattering armor has a NON-READABLE (caps for accentuation not angry, this is important) effect on monsters, just like stagger and scorch, and to an extent poison and disease. this is why a lot of players don't use them on encounters, we have to assume they work or did something, we don't get to see the results of our actions. and as for poison this is VERY tricky, as only assassins can do it, so you openly flaunt your discipline that is designed for PvP, thus its in your best interest to NOT use some of your skills.

as someone who both has shatter and is in a group with many other people that have shatter, we use it for weapons, and for the most part it is an instant kill ability against NPC's that take the effect. I have been fighting NPC's who when there weapon is shattered simply say "you kill it" and walk off to repop. that's understandable though and I don't fault them for it, its not a fun thing to get hit with.

as for the last part, ill say yes and leave it at that, GM's are aware of the issue and I don't plan on going further on the forums. but I will say PC's are guilty too, neither side likes those calls for reasons I listed above.

and I have dealt with nearly every problem and come up with ways to not only remove the problems but make the game much more easy on everyone. now I just sit back and wait ^_^