Re: OLYMPIA: Stacking Reform Concepts (was Re: Olympia Stacking 'Gotcha')

From: morrow@romulus.rutgers.edu (John Morrow)

Date: Fri, 12 Jun 1992 22:25:07 +0000

cedman@714-725-3177.nts.uci.edu (Carl Edman) writes:

>John Morrow writes
>[different suggestion for treachery in a stack under my proposed rule]

>Well, your first scenario wouldn't work. A disloyal apprentice would
>not be able to bring in a large army unit into the tower unless it had
>been declared cooperative before something which is rather unlikely to
>happen.

In my example, the large army isn't brought into the castle.
Individual men are transferred between the two units but no actual
restacking occurs.  For example:

Unit A, individual, in tower, Combat 5
Unit B, number: 20, outside of tower, Combat 5

Unit B> transfer <Unit A> 19

Unit A, number: 20, in tower, Combat 5
Unit B, individual, outside of tower, Combat 5

Is there a way to prevent this?  Is this a feature or a bug?  You tell
me... :-)   I'm sorry if this wan't clear in the example.

>But the other possibility which you suggested is very real - he
>might learn combat to a high skill level and start slaughtering his
>overly cerebral co-apprentices.

But the example above is the real problem the way I see it... :-)

>The question is, is this a feature or a bug ? I'm not quite certain,
>but feel that at least as strong a case can be made that this is a
>feature as that this is a bug. After all how would the tower be
>organized ? Somewhere the master would have his rooms outside of which
>his bodyguards would be standing and in another part of the tower the
>apprentices would have their rooms. Would a single murderous apprentice
>not be able to walk in on another and kill him before any of the others
>had a chance to come to his defense. I should think so.

Yes.  On the other hand, if you look at the fact that combat takes 1
DAY in Olympia time, I think one screaming apprentice might bring all
of the other people in to help.  Besides, shouldn't a good sorcerer
know where all his apprentices are at all times?  :-)

Now, your example assumes no one notices the attack.  I think this is
a function of the stealth skill and not attack, per se.  Assume you
did hear the apprentice screaming for help?  Would you let the two
duke it out or would you have all the forces in the tower quell the
attacker?  In my opinion, your way of processing attacks promotes the
former view while I think there are strong reasons to want the later
at times.  Yes, there are cases for both.  Is there a way to GET both?

John Morrow - Varian [856]

References

Re: OLYMPIA: Stacking Reform Concepts (was Re: Olympia Stacking 'Gotcha')
cedman@714-725-3177.nts.uci.edu (Carl Edman)
Fri, 12 Jun 1992 15:30:57 +0000
Re: OLYMPIA: Stacking Reform Concepts (was Re: Olympia Stacking 'Gotcha')
morrow@foghat.rutgers.edu (John Morrow)
Thu, 11 Jun 1992 20:16:55 +0000