http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/HeroQuest-rules/message/8334
In brief, do away with equipment augments entirely unless one person has clearly superior or vastly superior equipment (worth +1 and +2, respectively). You can factor as much grittiness as you prefer into this: chainmail armor is superior to cuirboulli and vastly superior to leather; iron weapons are superior to rune-metal ones and vastly superior to bronze ones; being mounted on a warhorse in combat is superior to being mounted on a normal horse and vastly superior to being on foot.
It worked better with edges, as the method nicely modeled the "wellequipped nobleman vs. Harrek" contest, where all the fancy stuff in the world won't much improve the nobleman's odds of winning, but it helps him get a good lick in if he does win an exchange, and forces Harrek to take greater risks (i.e., bid higher) to achieve the same effect. It still works somewhat well with augments, though it is not quite so elegant. :)
-- Michael Schwartz raconteurx_at_...
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