Re: Target numbers and targetting by <otherworldly> sight?

From: bethexton_at_...
Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2004 21:00:57 -0000

• In HeroQuest-rules_at_yahoogroups.com, "Mike Holmes" <homeydont_at_h...> wrote:
  > >From: bethexton_at_y...
  >
  > >I guess what I was looking for was essentially are these abilities
  > >precise, like human vision or bat sonar, or more directional but
  > >imprecise, like human hearing, or very vague, like human smell?
  >
  > Ah, my mistake. Again to go with the Hero System analysis, you're
  asking if
  > the abilities in question are "discriminatory" and/or "targeting".
  

*laughing* You are right. In fact that was _precisely_ what I was asking, with those exact terms in mind, but I didn't figure that I could assume everyone was familiar with the old hero system.

> I'm inclined to allow these. Basically I guess I'd allow it to be
the most
> powerful that it might reasonably be baring something saying
otherwise. It
> makes the characters in question more interesting, IMO. OTOH,
again, it
> would be coolest to have many variations on these things, but I'm
not sure
> how to do it except case by case.

I agree. It also seems that somehow BIG magic should be more obvious and easier to "sight" by, whereas some small magics might even be hard to detect. I suppose one way to do it would be to make the degree of information vary significantly based on success level....but what is the target number? Maybe augment the viewer by the strength of the magic?

If you've read Dave Duncan's "King's Blades" books, I'm a little inspired here by the White Sisters (magic "sniffers") (sadly the White Sisters feature most prominently in the weakest of the books. FWIW I recommend heartily the trilogy of "The Gilded Chain," "Lord of the Fire Lands" and "Sky of Swords" as some rather fine swords and sorcery done with wit and creativity. The other books he's set in this world are OK reads, but not generally on the same level).

I guess what I'm getting at is why someone would raise their soul sight, and what the effects/benefits of truly exceptional levels in it would be.

One thing I would want to avoid is: almost everything important is magic, so you can use this and function effectively in the dark in any dramatic situation. That would take away from heroes who can actually see in the dark. However I can see stumbling mightily on narrating it consistently, which was why I was looking for others examples.

>
> I think the best option might be to ask the player to describe how
it is for
> his religion, defaulting to most powerful, and letting the player's
> descriptiption limit it. You'd be surprised how in making it cool,
the
> player will intentionally limit their own ablities. This can even
be
> determined in play.
>

Good points. This is probably the best way, find a POV that is held in common, then they do much of the work. Thanks!

--Bryan