jstomel wrote:
I've been trying to use swarms in my games lately and have run into some problems with conditions and other rules that either don't really work or work, but don't make sense.
Andrew is the best one to chime in on this, but for my money - and correct if I'm wrong here, anyone, this is what I say....
jstomel wrote:
Example: the dwellers are facing a swarm of 10 bandits
Okay. Cool. 10 Bandits. Classic.
jstomel wrote:
...when the Galdr drops a Beckon Ygdrisll alka on them. Does each member of the swarm proc a separate aura and they all hit each other and die a horrible, verdant death?
If you're talking about 10 Bandits, so your Aura condition would need to be 6 (as in, one greater than half their number) in order to affect the Swarm. When that happens - yes, horrible, horrible death. Aura is a nightmare.
The point of the Swarm rules is to make book keeping in your part, as the Norn, a lot easier. You're just knocking off a Swarm member every X number of damage, and keeping in mind that any Condition worth factoring into the Swarm has to have an intensity of one greater than half its number.
jstomel wrote:
Or does the swarm as an entity proc a single aura?
Yeah you're basically treating a Swarm as one big character, but it shrinks and becomes weaker whenever you knock off the number of its health.
jstomel wrote:
Bob Ross the Berserker (see other post) has a ton of multi tags he can use (because almost all his runes are mental). How does that affect the swarm? Does he hit the swarm three times or once?
That's interesting. Sounds like an effective strategy to me, with Multi affecting +2 targets on the battlefield.
I'd also consider pulling the crunch-lens back a bit and ask: what's going on? if they're ambushed by 10 bandits in a tight corridor then maybe there isn't enough room to have viable targets and each Multi-tag is only going to hit +1 enemy. Or, if you've been dropped in the middle of the 10 Bandits from crashing through a hole in the thatch roof then yes - swing. Swing and swing.
Bob Ross should be able to use what they've spec'd their character for to the fullest. If they have a lot of Multi, they can be the "swarm killer". But keep in mind a solution to one thing is not a solution to everything.
Maybe there's a Swarm of 10 banits below, but also 5 archers on the roofs above, sniping. Maybe there's a boss who tackles the swarm-killer specifically, and wrestles with him. There's lots of work-arounds to keep the game challenging for characters who seemingly have one situation on lock-down.
jstomel wrote:
How does degeneration affect a swarm?
Get the Degeneration intensity up to one more than half its number. Then Degeneration goes into effect. How that manifests narraitvely is up to the Norn.
jstomel wrote:
What level is a swarm?
Any level you want its members to be? You just have to make them all the same level. Unless you have to factor in a Base Level (for things like Flight, quadroped, etc.) then really what matters is the health of the swarm (the marker for one of them dropping) and their individual Destiny.
jstomel wrote:
It says that "When you play a rune for an action or power, you must assign actions to one member of the swarm...
Yes. So if you have 10 Bandits, they can each use as many as their Destiny in runes in a round. So, better make sure that Bob Ross brings the hurt in that first round or they're going to dogpile him. (If there are any left that is.) Let's run this through with an example.
* Let's say the 10 Bandits each have 3 health and 2 Destiny.
* So we've got a pile of 30 runes - you don't care which runes are which; they may as well be coloured stones, since Powers activate on colour for Denizens. (Boy do I love that rule.)
* Your Galdr drops Beckon Yggdrasil to put the Aura on the Swarm, but the intensity is only at 1, so it does nothing. It needs to be 6. (Does NOTHING? That seems unfair! Well, it sucks to be ganged up on, there's only so much the Norn is going to want to track, so let's keep going with your 2 PCs on 10 NPCs battle.)
* Remember that every time your swarm of 30 runes takes 3 damage, that's one Bandit dead.
* Let's say Bob Ross swings a good swing and taps Multi twice, so he's doing (for the sake of argument) 3 damage with his axe to 5 people. (One for the regular hit, then +2 targets and +2 targets.)
* That reduces the Swarm to only 5 members.
* Now the Galdr would need an intensity of 4 on Aura to affect the Swarm. (Half of 5 rounded up is 3, one more is 4.)
* Remaining 5 Bandits then all get a shot off on Bob Ross. Each bandit has 2 runes to act, so, let's hope Bob Ross has some Contingency or a great Protection Factor.
That assumes the Bandits don't have any armour and didn't spend any of their runes defensively when Bob Ross attacked. They could have. Let's say they had Swords, which give a +2 parry. Then each of those 5 would only have needed to pay one rune of the two they have and defend Bob Ross' attack. Then all 10 would be able to attack Bob Ross. Suddenly he's not so invincible.
jstomel wrote:
Swarm members must remain adjacent to one another when possible." RAW that means that swarms can't really move.
Not really? If you're using Theatre of the Mind then it does not matter. If you're talking miniatures, just keep in mind that they're all part of the Swarm. If someone gets separated you can always knock them off, so long as players don't abuse that. I've had Swarms advance, spread out, cluster, and even separate into two smaller Swarms - it's not like the calculations are too complex.
jstomel wrote:
Does a swarm resist its own beneficial conditions, and do they apply to the entire swarm?
Yeah. Unless the intensity gets up there. And yes they'd apply to the entire Swarm. Does that suck for the Swarm? Kind of. If you really want the Swarm to have a beneficial condition, just give them all an Active Power that would bestow it, and on their turns make sure enough of them activate it to put the condition into play.
The point is not having to keep track of 10 different characters at once.
jstomel wrote:
Can a swarm be possessed? How would that work?
RAW the Possessed would just have to to have an intensity of one more than half their number, then they would be Possessed. I must have the Seithkona (or whomever) pay a concentration tax in runes to try and maintain it and pass out when she fails, because that sounds very taxing.
Swarms are a lot easier than I think you were thinking. They're meant as a simplification tool. I will never go back to running 10 Bandits separately again. Let Swarms be your friend!
//Panjumanju