> My question is based in combat but it could apply to any situation.
> Lets say we have three players facing off against a single powerful
> foe. Whats the best way to handle this in an extended contest
> allowing all 3 players to act independently? The obvious is to keep
> individual AP totals for all 4 combatants, but is it the best way?
One point to bear in mind is that a contest does not have to be an EXTENDED contest just because it is a combat. If a combat is unimportant, the Narrator can choose to resolve it using a simple contest, a simple ability test, or give an automatic success ('You make short work of the trollkin rabble outside, then enter the cave...'). However, you describe the foe as 'powerful', which suggests that the combat is the climax of an episode, in which case an extended contest is recommended. Indeed, in our group, we tend to have only one extended contest per playing session, so the climax is sometimes the ONLY extended contest.
Well, a 4 contestant extended contests is the only option the HW rules present for a 4 contestant extended contest (err..), so your question is in some ways a little odd. At a pinch you could pool the APs of the players together, making it no longer a GROUP contest, from the rules perspective. However, that option is best reserved for Narrators who have a faceless hoard of NPCs, rather than a group of PCs who should be making individual, different and interesting actions throughout the contest.
If your players are incapable of making individual, different and interesting descriptions of combat ('I chop at him with my sword.' 'I chop at him again with my sword' 'I chop at him again with my sword'... zzz), whatever you do, don't prolong the misery with an extended contest. If you have that problem because your players aren't interested in combat, don't make the climax of the episode a combat: choose or create episodes with a climax that is the kind of contest they are interested in. If you have that problem because your players can't make individual, different and interesting descriptions of ANY actions, you have a wider problem. You will need to work at encouraging them to be more colourful. Lead by example, by choosing different and interesting descriptions for the Narrator characters. Encourage the players by rewarding colourful play ('Your surprise manoeuvre catches him off guard...' rather than 'Well, throwing your shield in the air to chop at him two handed sounds really STOOPID, what with you loosing your shield and it not being significantly easier for you to attack two handed than one handed...').
That you ask the question suggests you think running the contest as a group extended contest is unsatisfactory in some way. What problems do you foresee?
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