RE: Re: Expierence presenting Heroquest to newb ies.

From: Silburn, Luke <luke.silburn_at_...>
Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 20:52:30 -0000

>>From: charlesmacateer [mailto:dcboat_at_...]
>>
>>Victor Lane:
>>>Something I learned the hard way is how to describe the contests. The
>>>first couple times I used simple contests for fights, I described the
>>>action like "He stabs at you, you block, attack back. Now roll
>>>a.simple contest." It was far to short and had the loser going down
>>>after only one hit. This didn't work to well, for me or the players.
>>
>>Normally I run with extended contests for fights, as that was the
>>preference of my old group, but there was no time contraints. My
>>intent at the demo is to run Orane's Spindle, because it gives a
>>broad idea of what Heroquest is about, but I don't think I am going
>>to have time to squeeze everything in.
>>

[late to the party on this one, but there was a lot of activity last weekend and I'm only just caught up on the backlog]

One useful technique for getting players who are more familiar with the traditional "I move up to flank him and swing with my axe" round-by-round style of play to be more comfortable with the resolve-in-one-roll simple contest is to make the augments more of a tactical back and forth.

So you start off with the basic contest - "He presses forward stabbing at you with his spear, but you have plenty of time to unlimber sword and shield. The contest is one of Spear & Shield fighting vs Sword & Shield fighting."

Then you run through the augments in a round-by-round style: -- "There's a wild gleam in his eye and he spits insults about your clan; his 'Hate Greydogs' will augment for +2." -- "I'll be fighting defensively waiting for his fury to sap his strength; my 'Calm & Collected' and 'Savvy Fighter' augment for a total of +5." -- "There's a gleam of hero-light swathing the shaft of his spear and his blows seem to fall with remarkable weight; he knows a 'Shieldbreaker' feat which augments for a further +2."
-- "I will be using Fancy Footwork to void his thrusts and looking for openings when he overextends; thats another +2." -- "His companions stand close and are cheering him on, ready to offer assistance if he is driven back; in all they augment for +4." -- "I ignore the catcalls of his followers and focus instead upon the rhythm of his breathing, his distances and his pacing; Humakt's vision is strong within me and my 'Sense Opponent's Weakness' feat will give me a +3 augment."

... and so on. Once everything has been brought to bear; you roll for the contest resolution. This is quicker than an extended contest, but still permits those who like to do the tactical stuff to have some input on shaping the contest.

Regards
Luke

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