Yet another aging suggestion - Attrition-based

[High & Mighty]

The benefit of an aging system based on attrition is that everything happens on the field. It also means you don't live in fear of something that should be a good thing, like rolling for your skill at the end of the game.

The drawbacks are that when everyone on a team starts getting easier to kill, you have a real chance that low AV teams are going to get hurt harder. Plus you start having to worry about even more modifiers on each and every block depending on diverse AV/niggles/etc on every team. And in general, it still requires some sort of rolling after the game to lose that AV or gain the niggles.

But there is one attrition mechanic which is used by and large at the same rate on every team. And not only that, its probably one of the few rolls in BB that has yet to have any modifers associated with it. So I would like to propose...

Apothecary-based aging

Except for those very lucky days, almost no one gets through a game without having to use their apothecary. And when it does, no matter what, it's always just 2+ and whoever it was is suddenly healed and all better. But what if the needed roll got progressively higher based upon the skill of the player? I'm not sure how severe it should be. Maybe -1 for every 10/20/25 SPPs the player has, so a higher skilled player has less of a chance of being saved by the apothecary.

Maybe something like the apothecary heals on a modified or unmodified 2+, where you get +1 for attempting the heal and -1 for each 20 SPPs the player has, so:

SPPs Apoth roll
0-19 2+
20-39 2+
40-59 3+
60-79 4+
80-99 5+
100+ 6+

Do I have a good fluff reason for why this should happen. Nope. Maybe the skilled players are targetted so people just tend to hit them harder. Maybe they've been in the game for a while so things were already a little loose in there. Maybe they think they're too good for the team doctor and demand to be treated only by their personal physician. Maybe the gods of intercepting would-be fumbles wanted to have another laugh...

The point is, it doesn't require rolling for anything after the game. It doesn't require accounting for numerous AV modifiers and differences for each and every block during the game. It won’t leave you worrying whether 4 players are going to fail their EXP rolls for your next game or why your Saurus and Longbeards are aging just as fast as a Wardancer when he's got 4 skills in the time it took you to get your first casualty. It doesn't require adding any new columns to team sheets. Skill rolls are only pleasant rolls with only positive consequences and things that should be scary, like casualties, encompass the scary part of the game. And the apothecary only ever heals one person in any game so the maximum impact this could have after a game is one person.

I'm sure there are plenty of issues with this. One of course is the fact that Undead/Khemri/Rotters don't have apothecaries. (But hey. Wouldn't it be nice not to have three discussions a day about how someone's Mummy isn't aging, he's just wearing and tearing?) Without any apoth and just a 50% chance of recovering from any injury (for those players who have Regen), those teams probably already have a natural soft cap built in (and if you tweak the winnings table to make it more responsive to TR, an even better cap).

I'm not sure what a good SPP scale would be or whether people think this would be too severe. What if teams could hire 2 or 3 apoths (this would mean younger players and teams have a good chance of staying healthy while still not changing the fact that older players will die off)? Or maybe even simpler, the apoth is allowed to attempt to heal any injury, but once he succeeds, he cannot heal anyone else that day (had to give a story to the press, had to fill out paperwork, took his pay and went home, I dunno). Then you wouldn't have the dilemma of trying to heal a 4-skilled player on a 4+ or saving the apoth for the 2+ 3-skilled player. Maybe instead of cut and dry success/failure, there's a chance the apothecary only manages to reduce the effects by one level (Dead-->SI--->BH)...call it an inaccurate heal. Maybe it could be only on modified rolls so there is no chance of healing someone over 100 SPPs, but 19 SPPs is healed automatically.

Like I said, maybe there are issues with this, but it would seem to be less intrusive in the game, target the problem players, and leave the fun parts of the game fun and the scary parts scary.

[Zombie]

I think the scary part would then be too scary. I also think that this would affect low AV teams too much, while dwarves for example hardly ever suffer a single CAS.

For these two reasons, i don't like it.

[Grumbledook]

yer nice idea but as a mechanic i don't think it will work too well

like you mentioned some teams don't have an apothcary so they won't be affected and it might be a bit too harsh, the better players usually get targetted a lot and the survival rate might mean that no teams can manage to get good players

I think that they should be able to build the players really well, kepp them for a while but the longer they play the more likly they are going to a point to retire

[sean newboy]

Like Zombie says this system targets lower av teams. I have seen wood elf teams get some very hi spp players in one season, such a team probably would not last the finals if they had to go against 1 or more star players on strong high av teams.

[Sixpack595]

I think it beats Ageing. Will it work? Dunno, looks like its worth a try. Maybe even put it in along with another system if you are worried about it not affecting high AV teams. I do know it pisses me off to no end when you finaly smash that 1 turner only to have him Apo'ed.

As for fluff, the guys been in the league for a long time, takes longer to heal, not as resiliant as he used to be.

[Agentrock]

I have seen wood elf teams get some very hi spp players in one season

The teams with the highest star players in our league right now are on Wood Elf teams.

I agree...it looks AV biased to me too.

[High & Mighty]

I also think that this would affect low AV teams too much, while dwarves for example hardly ever suffer a single CAS.

If it were affecting every armor and/or injury roll, I would agree, but if it is only affecting an apothecary roll, which can only be used once a game, then as long as teams tend to use their apothecary in every game (or use it at the same rate), it's impact is unbiased AVially.

In your experience, do Dwarves really tend to have games in which they "hardly ever suffer a single CAS," as they would most definitely be at the toughest end of the spectrum.

I have seen wood elf teams get some very hi spp players in one season, such a team probably would not last the finals if they had to go against 1 or more star players on strong high av teams.

But if an aging system is supposed to affect those players who have alot of skills, then a high SPP player is exactly the one you are trying to target. It's just a question of how high the SPPs should be before the hammer strikes.

If a player with 3 skills is ok, 4 skills borderline and 5+ skills an issue, then it could be designed so that the apoth is normal through 3 skills, 3+ for 4 skills, and 4+ beyond.

[Dark Lord (retired)]

Yeah, what he said!

Aren't the hi spp players the ones who should be targeted?

Why are we scared of linemen all of a sudden.

[Zombie]

In your experience, do Dwarves really tend to have games in which they "hardly ever suffer a single CAS," as they would most definitely be at the toughest end of the spectrum.

Yes, they do. And my chaos dwarves rarely use their apoth either. I think in all the games they've played, they've used their apoth more often on the opponent than on themselves. Same for the other chaos dwarf team in my league. That's why your system would be very unfair.

[Mirascael]

Does anybody else detest H&M's avatar as I do?

[Snew]

Nope. I like it. It's actually yours that bothers me the most.

[Agentrock]

I like Calvin...don't like seeing him get beaten up (or wetting himself) though...but I'm sure Hobbe's will give him an idea on how to get his revenge!

[Dark Lord (retired)]

I agree with the running pickle...cactus...cucumber...thing.

[Skummy]

Pickle! He's a cactaur! Woe unto he who does not know their Final Fantasy bestiary!

EDIT: OMG, that has to be the geekiest thing I've ever typed. I blame it on the cough medicine, and I'm sticking to that story.