On the other hand (at least around my house and the country I normally walk in...) my house has a flat floor, a steady climate - not too hot, not too cold, nice even stairs instead of crumbly or muddy hillsides, no gullies to cross over, no long grass catching at your legs, no cow sh*t to watch out for, no low branches to duck under, no rivers to cross, no cows looking at you like they're gonna stomp you into the ground, no cliff faces to scale. If I wanted to walk to town, those would be the obstacles I face (It's a lot shorter than going by the road, and even then I have all the cow-related obstacles, plus cars and trucks).
> > and only slightly "put one foot in front of the other".
>
> ... but disagree with this. I have found that it's VERY MUCH
> keeping on putting one foot in front of the other ...
Note that "keeping on" - that's the dicipline part. The mechanics of putting one foot in front of the other is pretty basic. :-)
> Anyways, I personally think that Walk would resemble Run,
> in that you can have separate Walk, Walk Fast, Walk Long-Distance,
> Walk Like An Egyptian, Walking On The Moon, etc etc
I partly agree; where I disagree is that I don't think you need a "Basic Walk" ability. That one's a freebie under "no self respecting hero".
> Supposing I *did* once have a generic Walk skill at 0w2,
> and suddenly needed to do a Long-Distance Walk, what TN
> would I have, given my natural ability to walk ?
The first time? 6 - you know how to put one foot in front of the other, but you don't have the discipline to continue, the knowledge to take proper rest breaks, etc. You pack in the wrong stuff and forget your water.
If you were in a Long Distance race agaisnt a person with "LD Walking 12", then your 6 vrs his 12.
If you were in a LD race against those Land-Walking Piranhas* (LWP) with "Fin along Ground 12", you'd get the benefit of "Can't Fail", changing the contest from "Default Walk 6 vrs Fin 12" into "Can't Fail Walk 1w2 vrs Fin 12". (Note that your default walk 6 augments your Can't Fail for +1).
*Land Walking Piranhas are magically able to breathe out of water, and can fin themselves along the ground, but are much better in the water than out.
> Let's say I succeeded, enjoyed the experience, and spent my HP
> on a non-generic Walk Long-Distance ability, what starting
> TN would I have ? 12 ? Would seem a bit miserly IMO.
Look, the 0w2 "can't fail" rating should only be used when you are in a contest of a "can't fail" ability against a creature/monster/villain that has some way to emulate that ability (via magic or skill). So in a LWP vrs Human walking contest the human should get the benefit of "Walk: Can't Fail". If the human is stupid enough to dive into a river to get away from the LWP, then the advantage goes to the Piranha, and *it* gets the benefit of "Swim: Can't fail". If they both take to the air with flight magic, then neither gets the benefit (and the Giant Eagle has a Sushi and Long Pork buffet).
> I think that abilities like that should be at a standard 1w2,
> despite the cuteness of the 0w2 proposal, simply to avoid
> all the special cases the rule would appear to require ...
The whole idea of 0w2 is that it applies to "abilities" that should not be rolled *except* in special cases. Walk. Breathe. Eat. See thing right in front of you. Hear a loud noise. Remember your Name & Birthday (not necessarily your age - I always have to subtract to get my age...). And it is only needed when a hero *with* one of those is facing an opponent *without* it. (yes, I know that there are people that have trouble with one or more of the listed "can't fail" abilities, but most people have no problem with 'em.)
In a smelling contest between a dog and a man, I'd give the dog the benefit of "Can't Fail". (Of the 5 dogs in AR, only 2 have any "Scent" ability, but all dogs have better sense of smell than humans). In a contest between dogs, neither would get the "Can't Fail" bonus.
> > Walking around the
> > house, on the other hand, *is* something that we take for granted
> > (except when I have my -35 penalty for gout - I can get around, but it
> > hurts like blazes, and it takes a *lot* longer - especially if I have
> > to go up or down stairs...)
>
> I just think everyone gets at least a -15 because of all
> the furniture etc.
Not unless the room is *very* cluttered. Walking around the house is different than LD walking - you don't need the endurance or discipline to get from the bedroom to the bathroom (a different *sort* of discipline & endurance maybe...).
The "Can't Fail" 0w2 shouldn't need to be written down, because if you did
then all sorts of wierd stuff would be on your character sheet. Instead,
when someone wants to use an ability not listed on the sheet, he or the
narrator should follow the decision tree:
A) Does this fall under the "No self-respecting Hero" rule? Then Instant
Success. Or, if up against someone without the native ability at all,
0w2+augments
B) If not, is this something anyone can do even if they are untrained?
Default 6
C) If not, then default 0 (things like flying or breathing underwater).
Some other examples (to get away from walking...)
Picking up a coin: Human gets the Can't Fail Bonus (CFB) against a Morokanth Flying: A bird gets the CFB against a Human with magic Walking through a Fire: A Fire Elemental gets the CFB vrs a Human
The being getting the CFB does *not* normally need to roll to do the action - a man doesn't need to roll to see if he can pick up a coin, he just does it. But if there is some reason that a Coin-picking-up contest were to take place between a Human and a Morokanth, and you absolutely *had* to make them roll (the Morokanth is a player hero, frex), then the human would get the benefit of the CFB. It just doesn't make sense to pit the player's "Fine Manipulatioin even without thumbs 17" vrs a human's default "pick up stuff 6".
RR
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