From: johnjohn@cco.caltech.edu (John White)
Newsgroups: rec.games.pbm
Subject: Re: DM beginner questions
Date: 6 Jan 1993 08:41:11 GMT
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: milhouse.caltech.edu
Originator: johnjohn@milhouse

In article <184792@pyramid.pyramid.com> khearn@pyrps5.eng.pyramid.com (Keith  
Hearn) writes:

>   I've just gotten started in Duelmasters and I have a few basic
>questions. I just got my first turn of results back. It wasn't real
>pretty, my fighters went 0-5-0, but at least no one died. I wasn't
>really expecting to do much winning my first time out, so I'm not too
>disappointed.

Join the ever-growing club of DM on-line!  Don't be discouraged, as you'll  
have the ready resourse of the net to learn from.  Ask away!

>   I've heard it mentioned that each fighter will have a favorite
>weapon. I realize that I have to have each fighter try a variety of
>weapons to find their favorite, but how will I recognize when they
>have? Will it be mentioned in the pre-fight descriptions (where it
>says whether he/she is well suited for the weapon in use), or will
>something be said during the fight, or is there some other way to
>know?

I'll post the DM FAQ after this.  It's about time...

You'll be able to tell from the number of "critical attacks," the _really_  
flashy ones, that a warrior throws.  A warrior with his favorite weapon  
tends to throw a high percentage of crits.

>   I'm also curious about the Dark Arena. I know that it's a place to
>dispose of unwanted fighters, but are there any requirements as to
>when I can send someone there? Suppose I have a roll-up that really
>sucks, can I DA it on it's first fight?

YES!  But what's the rollup?  As a matter of fact, what does your team look  
like?  Seeing any mistakes that you made, or just a general comment on them  
would be an excellent place to start learning.

>I have a Parry-Riposte that I
>made up before I knew anything, and now that I've got the Red Book, I
>realize that his stats are quite unsuited for a PR, at least according
>to the info about PRs in the Red Book. Should/can I DA him right away
>and avoid wasting time and money fighting a warrior who is likely to
>have little chance of developing into anything of value?

Depends on the stats.  What are they?

>   Also, One of my fighters turned out to not have enough wit or
>deftness to use the longsword I'd given him very effectively in his 
>fight. Needless to say, he didn't do very well. I've seen a faq that 
>mentioned a chart showing weapons and some info about them, does 
>anyone have a copy of this chart that they'd be willing to let me have?

I'll post it right after the FAQ, but if you don't see it, I'll send you a  
personal copy.

>   When I'm doing my strategy sheets, is there any advantage that I get
>by challenging, other than having a better idea of who I'll end up
>fighting?

This isn't a small advantage.  If you know the style that you're fighting,  
the typical armor and weapons used by that fighter, you can tailor your  
strategy to be effective vs. what you're going to be facing (or what you  
_think_ you'll be facing).

> Specificly, does one gain more recognition by challenging
>people rather than letting RSI pick the fights?

Oh.  If you fight better warriors, you tend to get more recognition.  I'm  
unsure whether this is "bumped" up by challenging, but if it is, I haven't  
noticed.

>   Any other general advice anyone out there would like to give to a
>newbie?

Anything you want to ask?  :-)

Drop me a line if you have anything else, or better yet, post!

John White