Info and data for fans of the play-by-mail games Duel II, Forgotten Realms, and Hyborian War from Reality Simulations, Inc

The Perfect Scout

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     We all know them.  We all hate them.  What am I talking about?  Scum.  But there 
is nothing better than a scum to scout at your enemy's weak points.  You can see if 
they'll last long, what weapons they use, where they attack, their style, etc.  And 
you typically don't have to fear a loss.  Picture this.  You see a guy on the listing 
10-5-2.  Well, you don't want to send your best warrior with his perfect 5-0-1 because 
you want to keep winning.  So you send in your scout.  Now you know if you can beat 
him.  The scout will enable you to better pick and choose your fights.  Also if you 
feel like getting back at someone these scum are great.

How to design:

ST13+ can go as low as 11
CN17+
WT5-7 no more
WL17+
SP3 as low as possible
DF7 is perfect

     So a perfect set up would be 15-19-13-7-19-3-8 to start train CN till 21 then WL 
21 WT 8 DX 9 then whatever you want.  This guy is not for ADM he's just for regular DM 
and to be used to scout.  Don't worry about skills until you've 3 raises in everything 
then go to skills.  Oh yeah strategy.

1-1-1-1-1-1-1
1-1-1-1-1-1-1
1-1-1-1-1-1-1
HE---------HE
BD---------BD
Parry-------P

     Get rid of him when they get up high.  Then they've already scouted everything.

                                   Brought to you by Mr. Drake DM#5, Mgr. of Pirates

TP’s A to Z

307 views
Statistics 
Strength: 9 to 17 
Constitution: 11 to 21 
Size: varies 
Wit: 3 to 21 
Will: 17+ 
Speed: varies 
Deftness: 7 to 17 

Comments_advice: Total Parries A to Z 

When I started to write this article I first tried to put down the range of 
stat #'s that would work effectively for Total Parries and immediately 
realized that it was impossible to present this style without going into 2 
possibly even 3 specific and totally different designs. TP's are probably 
one of the most versatile styles in the game (other than PS). I've listed 
the stat ranges below that I initially came up with, as you can see they're 
extremely broad and need a lot more definition, which will will be covered 
in the following sections. 

ST 9+ 

CN Varies 

SZ Varies 

WT Varies 

WL 17+ 

SP Doesn't matter 

DF 7+ 

Part 1, The Scum 

ST 9+ 

CN 16+ 

SZ any 

WT 3+ 

WL 16+ 

SP 3+? 

DF 7+ 

This is a Style/Design that first looks to the physical side of Duelmaster's 
and then as an afterthought considers the skills aspect of the game. So 
let's take a look and see what's required and what we can do without. 

ST - 9 is the minimum I would ever go, better would be somewhere between 12 
and 17 preferably on the high end. Unlike most designs with high ST with this 
guy we're not going for damage dealing, we want the benefits that a high ST 
gives to encumbrance and endurance, good or better damage is a bonus for this guy. 

CN - I try to get to 16 then I start looking at the other stats, if I have 
some left over at the end I will usually dump them into ST or CN in that 
order. CN helps with carry, hitpoints and endurance, all 3 area's are 
critical to a scum 

SZ - Use what you get, small scum get extra skills but have less hitpoints, 
big scum have more hitpoints do more damage (if they swing) and are easier 
to hit. The benefits are there either way, so for this one size doesn't 
really matter , as long as the rest of the other stats fit. 

WT - As low as you can get it, DO NOT ADD POINTS! to this stat, it is a 
waste for this design! 

WL - 16+, I try to get CN and WL to 16 then take a good look at ST and DF. 
When I build a scum I try to hedge my bet's and design it with burning stats 
in mind. 

SP - Low is better, simply because the points can be used somewhere else to 
better effect. But don't rule out the style simply because your roll-up has 
a 13+ speed, 1 of my best Scum ever has an 18 for speed and is currently 16-4-0 

DF - you can get by with 7, but my favorite all time #'s are 10 or 11. When 
deciding if I want to go above 11 in DF, I always look to see what his rating 
in parry will look like, otherwise I'll go with 10 and burn it. 

Here are a few examples what I run for Scum 

1 - 16-20-8-5-20-5-10, notice how the stats are positioned to burn. This 
guy TV'ed the novices at the last face and then TV'ed in the last mail-in 
and currently looks like this 17-21-8-5-21-5-11, and has an expert in parry. 

2 - 17-21-3-3-17-12-11, TV'ed the rooks at the last face and is currently 
3-0-0 in arena play. I feel that he could have another TV in his future in 
MN. I could have positioned him to burn but I this was one of the sheets that 
I bought at the face and I tried to maximize him for the rooks tournie, I 
trained skills and he received his expert in parry on round 10. Which brings 
up an important point it's better to train skills in tournies, this guy 
averaged 1 skill per fight in tournie, but may have only gotten 1 or 2 
possibly 3 stat trains, do your stat training in the arena not in tournie's, 
it's more efficient!!! 3 - 16-16-6-6-16-16-8, this is the guy that is 
16-4-0, he's currently   18-18-6-7-18-18-9 and I plan on seeing what he 
can do with a BA in his hands in min 3 or 4 just for the fun of it 

Running them is easy, 1-1-1 parry works while you're learning about them. But 
experiment with them and your other warriors, this is crucial to becoming a 
great manager and not just a good one. 

Part 2, The Offensive 

ST 9 to 13 

CN 9 to 13 

SZ 3+ 

WT 17 or 21 

WL 17 or 21 

SP 3+ 

DF 11+ 

This type of TP needs a depends on it's initial skill's and it's ability to 
learn and develope. Generally speaking a warrior that would make a good 
offensive TP will end up as one of the power designs instead. I strongly 
encourage everyone to design and run at least 1 offensive TP, they're a lot 
of fun and can be devastating at the right levels of the game. 

ST - 9 will give you the SC, I would prefer an 11 (larger weapon range and 
helps with physicals) and 13 will help out even more on the physicals. If I 
went with 9 I would be planning on training to 11 in the very near future!!! 

CN - 9 is the definite low end and you better have some kinda offset in the 
other stat's, 11 is better and I would only use 13 if I had a few point 
left over at the end. If you go with 9 expect a couple of extra loss's over 
the course of his career in regular DM and maybe early ADM. 

SZ - Lower is better, 3 or 4 is perfect no more than 9. The lower #'s will 
give you extra skills, the higher #'s will remove vital skill's 

WT - 17 or 21, I would prefer 21. 

WL - 17 or 21, I would prefer 21 WT WL combination but what are the chances. 
I personally feel that a 21/17 is better for this design than a 17/21 because 
I want the skills as fast I possible and a 21/17 gives it to me I will not 
make a 17/17 offensive unless I get lucky and also have a 17 in DF then I 
might think about it. 

SP - Any, most people say that lower is better, but I have mixed feelings 
on the subject and go with my gut in this area and consider the whole 
picture on this design. 

DF - 11 is my break point on most designs/styles the skills you get are 
awesome. I will try to get one of the follow #'s for my OTP's 11, 13, 15 
or 17, but remember to pay attention to the other #'s when adding top this one. 

Normally you would put these guys in ASM/H or higher initially and then 
scale down the armor to ASM or ARM as they learn and develop. Weapons would 
be dependent on stat's but usually SC or BS with an offhand ME and the 
appropriate backup. I tend to run then faster than a scum say 4-5-4 or 
3-4-3 for min's 1 and 2 maybe even min 3 then kick it up another notch 
for the next min, taper it down after that so they can last thru min 7 or 
8 with out passing out. The big thing is to experiment with these guy's, 
every manager I talk to run's their OTP's differently. 

Part 3, The Hybrid 

ST 9+ 

CN 15+ 

SZ Varies 

WT 15+ 

WL 17+ 

SP Varies 

DF 11+ 

This Design relies on the combination of Physical and Skills, it will win 
early in it's career because of it's superior physicals, will learn faster 
than scum, with better overall development 

ST - Once again you can go with a 9, but we're looking for some physical's 
on this guy, not as much as the Scum but some 

CN - 15+ WL works just fine, if you can go higher that's great but don't 
sweat it. Try to balance ST and CN on this guy a 15/15 would be real Kool, 
17/17 would be the ultimate!!! 

SZ - Varies, you're stuck with what you get 

WT - You can go as low as 13 but?, I personally prefer 15, 17 or 21 for 
this design. 

WL - 17+ is a must, you might be able to scrape by with 16 in a pinch 

SP - Any, lower is better on all 3 designs, but don't discount the style 
just because of a higher than norm speed. 

DF - 11 or higher is best, 9 will work in a pinch. Read the DF sections 
under Scum and Offensive's for more info. 

Examples: 

13-16-7-14-16-5-13, 1 TV, Learned over 90 skills in regular, he was 
patterned after a extremely successful tp in 52 named Digger Revell 
(doubt anyone remember's him) 

11-16-11-14-16-5-11, 2 TV's, is now at the low end of the champ's tourney. 
His first TV was co-runner-up with Rascally Rabbit my striker in the 
init's (I foolishly threw the fight to the Rabbit) 

11-17-14-15-17-3-11, 2 TV's, has some burned stat's, this one had a favorite 
learn of ATT, and I lucked into her favorite weapon and #'s early on (QS 
and low/mod). I've never seen a more offensive TP. 

These guys can be run like Scum and/or Offensives depending on the situation, 
which makes them extremely dangerous for your opponents. 

Hopefully I covered everything necessary for you'all to be successful 
manager's of TP's. As you can now see no generic article of the style could 
cover everything and even this one doesn't do it all. The biggest thing I 
want to stress is that you experiment with all styles, some of my most 
effective strat's and design's have come from experiment's. Have fun, see 
you on the sands. Rascally Rabbit, AKA That Animated Obnoxious Rabbit 

Steve Heidloff AKA Rascally Rabbit 

steve.heidloff@worldspan.com 

The Swift Scum

256 views

Statistics
Strength: 9-13
Constituion: 17-21
Size: 9-13
Wit: 9-13
Will: 17 or 21
Speed: 3-5
Deftness: 9-11

Comments_advice:

This guy isn’t gonna be pretty or have the slightest finesse in him. This
is scum pure unadulterated scum. This guy will have tons of endurance and
damage capacity thats all.

St: 9-13–9 is all you need for the Medium Sheild, anything more will just
be there to help him get more damage giving ability.

Cn: 17-21– This is scum it NEEDS this high constitution to take the damage.
This will also help his endurance which is as important if not more important.

Sz: 9-13–This helps endurance and damage capacity,I think, but you really
can have any size you want.

Wt: 9-13–This is SCUM! No wit necessary. I still wouldn’t go below 9 though.

Wl: 17 or 21– Scum need that great or awesome endurance. If he doesn’t get
it DA him.

Sp: 3-5–Absolutely no need for speed.

Df: 9-11–That should do.

Run him 2-2-2 Parry or no tactic at all.

Swifty McSwift

Stimpy’s Thoughts on Total Parries

198 views
                                      part II

     Well, when we last spoke I gave you a rundown on I feel TPs should be designed.  
Now I will give you my ideas on how to run them.
     First, you need to consider what type of warrior you now have.  A total parry is 
what its name suggests.  Total defense.  The idea around a TP is to concentrate on 
defense first and utmost.  Only when the situation arises will the TP decide to 
attack.  With this in mind NEVER run a TP with an offensive effort (OE) above 5.  In 
doing so you have just told your TP to do what they weren't designed to do.  Go 
offensive.  If you want to run your TP above 5, you should have made an offensive 
styled warrior, NOT a TP.  By using a high OE, you cause your TP to ignore defense and 
go offense.  This results in numerous "flailing" and "wild" attacks.  So don't do it.
     While running your TP, you may find that he tends to really turn on the offense 
often.  That is typical, typical of a warrior who favors initiative skills.  This does 
not mean that you should boost your OE.  What is happening is that one of your 
warrior's favorite learns is initiative.  So he/she will be naturally adept in 
initiative.  And remember that initiative is the skill that allows you to continuously 
make attacks on your opponent.  Since your TP decided to attack, your opponent should 
be relatively worn down.  So it will be hard for your opponent to steal that 
initiative back from you.  Hence the reason that your TP looks like an offensive 
killer.  But that's good.  It means that you have a very dangerous warrior on your 
hands.  High endurance burning styles, look out!
     I know, I know!!!  There are managers out there still that believe in the 
offensive TP and suggest using higher OE.  That's all fine and dandy.  Let those 
managers do just that.  I personally guarantee that if you run your TP with a low OE 
like the style was designed to do, you'll win fights.  Experiment with unorthodox 
strategies when you get a better hang of the game.
     Activity level (AL) is the variable in TP strategies.  I would definitely begin 
running a TP with a moderate/low AL.  Try a 3 at first.  After a few fights you'll see 
if your TP likes to dodge more or parry more.  It should be quite obvious; your TP 
will learn more skills in his "favorite" area.  Chances are, though, if your TP has 
received the statement: "avoiding rather than trading blows," or "relying on his speed 
to stay out of danger," your TP would rather dodge than parry.  And that's just fine.  
Boost your AL to about a 4 or 5.  If you choose to use the dodge tactic in defense, 
use AL up to 7.  Beyond that tends to hurt your warrior more than it helps.
     So why not go with an AL of 7 all the time if your TP likes to dodge more than 
parry, you might ask?  That's simple; your TP may like to dodge more, BUT HE STILL 
PARRIES.  So you'll need to be less active to allow your TP that choice.  With an AL 
of 4-5, your warrior will dodge when it is more advantageous, parry when it isn't.
     Kill desire varies greatly from warrior to warrior.  To be on the safe side, I 
always go low KD with my TPs, until they gain expert in attack.  After that point, I 
may begin to experiment, seeing how my warrior reacts to various KDs.  Generally, if 
your warrior learns attack skills relatively well, then a higher KD won't inhibit them 
at all.  If this is the case, I believe that your warrior is not looking for landing 
several blows to win the match (favoring initiative skills), but is instead looking to 
land a few good blows (favoring attack skills).  In the latter case, a moderate to 
high KD may help.  Keep in mind though that your TP is still defensively oriented.  An 
extremely high KD will cause any warrior to behave like a berserker, and may cause 
your TP to make lots of bad attacks.  With this in mind, stay below 7.
     Now to place it all together...

Minute         1    2    3    4    5    6on  Desp
OE             2 ------------------------ >  varies
AL             2 ------------------------ >    "
KD             2 ------------------------ >    "

or

Minute         1    2    3    4    5    6on  Desp
OE             2 ------------------------ >  varies
AL             4 ------------------------ >    "
KD             2 ------------------------ >    "

     These show my general strategies for parry and dodging oriented warriors, 
respectively.  Seldom do I use any tactics, unless I am making a challenge and wish my 
warrior to behave differently to that challenge (i.e., using the dodge tactic against 
a lunger).  At that point I would refer to the paragraphs in the beginning to 
customize that particular minute to fit the tactic.
     Attack and protect locations are totally up to you.  I like to protect the head 
and body, while attacking the head, arms, and legs.  This protects my vitals, yet can 
allow my warrior to land blows on parts of the body that can cause a warrior to lose a 
fight with the minimum number of hits.
     Desperation is my opposite area.  If I was relying on a low AL in the regular 
minutes, I will boost it in desperation.  While going vice versa if I had a high AL in 
regular minutes.
     Now the one tactic I haven't touched on is the riposte tactic.  Occasionally your 
TP will favor this tactic.  When he does, I like to raise my OE to 3, sometimes 4, and 
the AL to 4.  If I use the riposte tactic, I will use 4-5 OE and a 3-5 AL.  When these 
numbers are any lower, your TP may refrain from attacking in a riposte situation in 
favor of more defense.
     I have found that these strategies work well whether your warrior fights as a 
SCUM or skilled TP.  If you remember from my last article, the difference between the 
schools of thought are the amount of damage the warrior is willing/able to take.
     Well, I hope that this has been informative for the newer players, and the older 
ones, too.  Good luck and see you on the sands.

                                                                 Stimpy

THE UN-SCUM

391 views
     The type of TP I make will often win fights without ever getting hit!  The fights 
are exciting to read, full of dodges and ripostes, and if you've never seen a TP 
outjump a Basher, make an offensive TP.

ST: 7-13   All you really need is normal damage!  11 is perfect, for carrying capacity 
and weapon selection.  Good damage is nice to have, but if it looks like your rollup 
will get good or great, he's probably better off as a WS, LU or BA.

CN: 9-16   Again, all you need is normal.  We're making a finesse substyle, and the 
points are badly needed on WT, WL and DF.  Just make sure he can take a hit or two.  
Don't add any points here on the rollup, but go ahead and raise it later if you think 
he needs it.  Endurance is not a priority.

SZ: 3-9    A single digit is important for dodging and activity levels.  I will go as 
high as 10, but any bigger and you can't dodge well enough.  Small size also helps 
parry and defense, as well as getting a good activity and elusive statement on the 
overview.  Plus, you need the points below.

WT: 15, 17 or 21 only!  This is the biggie, he'll learn like crazy!  I know what 
you're saying, "my 11 WT SCUM learns 3 skills a fight!"  Yeah, but your SCUM's skill 
base will be so low, when he's maxxed out in skills, my off. TP will be at the same 
level of expertise by his 10th fight!  For any style, 90% of the skills are in WT, WL 
and DF, and that's where the 14 points must go.

WL: 13-21  As with any fighter, more is better.  However, you can get by with normal 
endurance, believe it or not!  This TP will wear moderate armor, and can run active 
for 6-7 minutes with normal endurance.  That's long enough for all but a few 
opponents.  Raise WL on the rollup to 17 or 21 if you can, but if 13 or 15 is all he 
can have, he'll be okay.

SP: 5-9    This is a touchy area, and can make or break your TP.  I like to use 7, 8 
or 9.  If you use 5 or 6, he'd better be small, and have a 17 or 21 WT.  OR, a CN that 
will allow him to take a lot of damage.  If he's too big, dumb and slow then he'll get 
"slow and inactive" on the overview, and that is too scummy for my TP.  You MUST have 
normal or better activity.  SP also helps with your riposte, crucial to the off. TP.

DF: 11-17  Second in importance, behind WT.  Parry, Riposte, Defense and Attack are 
your mainstays, and they're all enhanced by a high DF.  Try to get normal coordination 
(SP+DF=21) if possible.

     Here are some examples of good off. TPs, all are real fighters;

     11        10         8        11         7        11        10
     14        12        15         9        15        13        12
      7         4         7         6         8         7        10
     17        15        15        17        21        17        17
     17        21        17        21        13        17        13
      5         7         9         9         7         8         8
     13        15        13        11        13        11        13

     Now, how to fight them, you ask?  Every one of them seems to like to run 
differently, I've seen some tee off at 2-7-5, some do better at 4-4-5, some 2-3-2, 
even those who go 3-3-5 first min, then go ballistic in the second (10-10-6).  Also, 
some run 7-7-7!  You just have to play around with the numbers, 'til you find what 
works best.  Here's a general strategy I usually start with:

     4    5    6    7    4    3    10   Armor: I use ARM/H most of the time,
     7    6    5    4    4    2    10   but guys like examples #1 and 2 
     5    5    5    5    5    5     6   would be better off in ACM/F.  If
                                        facing a LU or SL, you can wear 
     RA ------------------------>  HE   APA/F (yes, even with normal endur-
     AM ------------------------>  HE   ance!), 'cause the LU or SL is going
     -    -    -    -    -    -     -   to drop in min. 2, more than likely.
     S    S    -    -    -    -     D

Weapons:  Any sword and shield you're suited to, as well as the Quarterstaff and the 
Longspear.  Vs. heavy armor, use a BS two-handed.

Tactics:  Parry, dodge, and especially vs. strikers, responsiveness!  Resp. will drive 
other managers nuts, prompting them to say, "How'd you do that?"  My favorite tactic 
for the Un-Scum.

Matchups:  Every striker in the arena should be on your hit-list.  Other good 
challenges are PS, WS, PR, BA.  Avoid lungers and ABs like the plague!

     So, there you have it.  If you'd rather have a TP who's as elusive as a La-Z-Boy 
than one who sidesteps more blows than he parries, then don't follow my advice.  But, 
if you're ready to have fun fights with TPs, and watch their popularity rise (except 
vs. scum) every match, then that's what I offer you.
     Brought to you by Buri of the G.A.P.P.D.A., MGR. Aesier (3, 104), Swords of 
Sergio (4, 104), S.O.S. (59), and way too many others.  Fell free to diplo me, for 
praise, ridicule, or just for the halibut.