>I really think this comes down to the issue that has been discussed
>here before. Are all those names just pompousness, and really the
>abilities are jump, run, etc, or should those names be used to make
>fancier sounding abilities better at some things and worse at
>others? I'm firmly in the latter camp. To me, leap, cat's leap,
>leap over obstacle, and leap over tree to me are completely different
>abilities (sorted from the most general to the most specific), that
>would come into play in quite different cases.
You're buidling a straw man. I'd no more allow leap over tree to leap over a wall than I would allow Run fast to substitute for run far. You're taking my argument to some extreme that nobody would agree with. I'm not saying that the abilities aren't differentiated. Just that how they're differentiated shouldn't be determined by the GM just looking at some Oxford English dictionary definition of a particular word to find the limits.
That is, I agree it's about allegory. The Myth that the Mile Long Throw is about is about some guy throwing a Javelin an inhumanly long way. So that's what the ability will be about, no penalty for throwing less than precisely a mile (is that even an actual Gloranthan unit of measure?). Sure, I'll penalize or dissallow it's use for precision throwing, because that's not what the myth is likely about -though if a player related a myth that had that idea in it I might allow it. Once the ability is set, like any other ability it isn't subject to reinterpretation (without, potentially, some really interesting in-game reason like a HeroQuest or somthing).
So it's not about eliminating limitations of this sort. It's about allowing the meanings to be derived in play and by the methods that you talk about. Instead of refering to the dictionary as a source of limitation. The reason I object is that the people "going to the dictionary" seem to me to be doing so because they find that left to their own devices that players will somehow break the system. By usig arbitrary and legalistic limits they can prevent that breakdown.
I just think that there's no problem that needs fixing to begin with.
Mike
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