Date: Tue, 09 Dec 2003 14:04:33 -0600 From: "Mike Holmes" <homeydont_at_...> Subject: RE: Re: The Opposite of Wounding: Building
>I agree completely. I don't want my carpenter to build a house with a target
>of 5w, and end up with a legendary 20w4 house on a Complete success. Not
>without a lot of help or planning.
Can I throw another idea into the mix here - the fact of building a house and the qualities that house have are slightly separate issues. Just as the fact that a combatant wins a combat and the level of injury he inflicts on the loser are slightly separate (but still related) issues.
So lets say for example that the narrator dedides that building a longhouse is a moderately complex and difficult task with a resistance of 5w - in order to build the house the carpenter must win a contest against that resistance. If this is run as an extended contest that means reducing it to 0 AP before you have a house that will remain standing for any length of time. Beyond this the AP you drive it below zero then can be used to measure additional qualities of the defeat, not wounds in this case but a measure of how beautiful/well-built/homely the house will be. I would simply grant the house an appropriate ability at the surplus AP level which is then added to the house as an additional ability.
So by winning the contest you get to create a Longhouse. If you complete the contest with the longhouse on 0 AP then you have built an adequate but unremarkable longhouse. This longhouse has all the inherent abilities of a longhouse, which the narrator may rule includes Accommodating 5w or somesuch.
By driving it to -22AP in the process you may get to give it a Homely 2w ability, which can be used in many ways - including augmenting your Placate Nagging Wife ability.
Back to the wounding suggestions, the carpenter could take an action to create Well Carved Lintels which would hinder the resistance of the house to further building (after all well carved lintels should be easier to put into place as well as looking nicer) and would create a lasting additional feature should the carpenter complete the house. In this way the carpenter could build a house with multiple additional abilities but only by diverting himself from the main task somewhat and therefore risking the whole edifice falling down or not being completed before Valind strikes.
The carpenter could probably build a far more homely hut than he could a longhouse but unless his wife is happy living as a Cottar any Homely ability it had would take such a severe improvisation modifier as to be useless.
Building a hut would probably be a simple contest for any carpenter up to the job of building a longhouse. In which I would take the contest consequences as a guideline for deciding if the hut has any significant additional ability.
On a marginal victory it has no significant additional ability. On a minor victory it may have one of 1/10 the craft ability used On a major victory it may have one of 1/2 the craft ability used On a complete victory it may have one equal to the craft ability used.
If the resulting additional ability is below the default level of 6 I would not bother recording it.
I think it is less likely for the carpenter to create masterworks by the simple contest rules but narratively I would be content with this - if it is not significant enough to the story to merit an extended contest then the result should be unlikely to be of great consequence to the story.
-- Nic ************************************************************************ This e-mail and any attachments are strictly confidential and intended solely for the addressee. They may contain information which is covered by legal, professional or other privilege. If you are not the intended addressee, you must not copy the e-mail or the attachments, or use them for any purpose or disclose their contents to any other person. To do so may be unlawful. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify us as soon as possible and delete the message and attachments from all places in your computer where they are stored. Although we have scanned this e-mail and any attachments for viruses, it is your responsibility to ensure that they are actually virus free.
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