> What I really want to know is this: What occupational keyword can I
> use for a character who was a farmer for the first 24 years of his
> life then he got press-ganged into being a sailor for another five?
>
> One approach is to use the occupation that he did the longest
> (farmer) while another is to use the occupation that he did most
> recently (sailor). Yet another is to make a new keyword made up from
> a mix of attributes chosen from both of the others.
The reason I dislike adding clunky mechanics to Heroquest is that they can never supass the intuitive judgement of the GM and the player working in concert.
My solution to this sort of thing is to have a look at the keywords and consider utility of the skills in the keyword in the context of the intended campaign, and to rely on literature conventions for handling these things.
So our man was a farmer all his life except for the last 5 years? I would give him the ability, from his 100 words of was a farmer before pressganged into service. I would then let him improvise 'farmer stuff' straight from this ability, with or without an improv modifier, depending on what he was trying to do. If you look at the Farmer keyword then there is not necessarily a lot of stuff in there that he is going to be using in the games I run. Then the player has the opportunity to be as good, or as bad at that farmer stuff as he likes. I would then let him take the 'Sailor Keyword' at 17.
Now, imagine you have this player who says that his new begining character is 46. He joined the army at 16 and rose through the ranks to become captain of his unit, serving in the army for 25 years, being at every major battle and serving with great distinction. For the last 5 years he has been a farmer. Hehehe - this is where it may break down a bit!!!
Regards
Rob
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