Right, now I thought the sneak would be an augment to the bow for the simple contest but I suppose there could be two contests, getting in position and then plugging the guy.
> The bad guy's best defence is probably a chance to
> spot someone sneaking into a position to plug him. maybe his
> comrades might have a chance too?
So a simple contest with the thugs which decides on whether they get to defend with dodge or the base 6??
> Hero points are cheap - you get a handful every game session
> - so if the player wants to use them, it's his/her right to do so.
Absolutely! It just seemed a waste to use them for this purpose - he was unhappy at having to do so, as was I. It seemed to indicate the task was more difficult than it should have been.
> Finally, I'm not sure it's up to you whether this sort of
> behaviour should or shouldn't occur in your game. Surely the
> players have a say in this too?
Which is why I was happy to allow the activity. I just didn't want to encourage it by letting it happen off-screen. I wanted to make it part of the game, the unsatisfying part was that it was so difficult for him to do this without spending a hero point.
> Rather than beating them into submission with the game system, why not
> discuss it with the player out of game?
My intention was to use the system to ensure it was part of the game. The system just turned round and bit us both. The system asks you to narrate the use of hero points - significant pieces of action - but we didn't feel this particular action warranted their use.
I've read all of the recent bow and arrow debates. It just seemed that you would need a significant skill advantage to do a simple contest and kill someone (or even majorly hurt them) from ambush.
The two simple contests should sort this out though. If you can reduce your opponent to skill 6 then augment the 1W to about 4W you should be able to at least injure your opponent pretty regularly without the use of a hero point.
Wulf said:
> If it was IMPORTANT (and if he was a Heortling then secret murder is
> pretty important...), make it an Extended Contest. Not Archery vs.
> Dodge, but Ambush vs Sense Ambush (or whatever), then a Final Action,
> or even Coup de Gras, of Archery once the opposition is already below
> 0 AP. Apply lots of modifiers/augments for sneak, alert, etc.
Hmm. Plot wise it was pretty unimportant but I see the point. It would have been a good time to impress Heortling customs (none of the group are Glorantha knowledgeable). It is less important as the opponents were not Heortlings (Lunar settlers from the grantlands) but the opportunity was there all the same.
Cheers
Stephen
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