Re: Dropping Action Points

From: David Stephen Bell <davebell_at_...>
Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2000 14:53:01 -0000


I'm sorry but am I missing something?

There appears to be a headlong rush to design RQ5 and HW isn't even out yet (is this a lesson for those who want to support players by publishing previews on the web?).

God (Gods?) knows, as someone trying to run HW from the Synopsis and Sample, the system takes some figuring out but the problems tend to be in the info I haven't access to yet (COME ON MAY!). The AP system isn't (for us) a problem.

It's taking a little getting used to but I describe it to players as being like the ebb and flow in a football game - that's soccer for you colonials :). It reflects the flow of momentum in a contest. The AP balance tells me who is gaining momentum or being forced back.

The difficult part is understanding that anything that can happen in a fight can happen during that flow of momentum. For players this is a break with tradition; someone falling and standing up, dropping and regaining a weapon, struggling hilt-to-hilt at the brink of a precipcice before pushing forward, throwing sand in an opponents eyes, in the past these were all handled by seperate mechanics. With the AP system they are instead part of the process of the players describing in detail their action and the narrator describing the results.

Who in RQ would rather use their 55% Kick attack rather than their 95% Sword. Combat largely became a procession of blows unless someone was knocked down or fumbled. Compare this with the fight scenes in Richard Lester's 70s Three Musketeers movies - beautifully choreographed mixtures of fencing, brawling and mayhem. IMO this is what HW allows us to do. I agree that the system will need tweaking (show me one that doesn't) but don't defenestrate the baby with the bathwater.

Sorry for the rant

Dave Bell

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