Re: What's in a keyword?

From: Roderick and Ellen Robertson <rjremr_at_...>
Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2005 23:46:42 -0800

> > How do you decide what is in a keyword? Do you put limits on
> > how many things
> > should be in a keyword?
>
> Cue SFX as large can of worms is opened....
>
> I'd say there are no hard limits on "how many" things can be in a keyword.
> It's just that only the ones we're interested in get explicitly listed.

Yep. to *my* thinking, all you need to list are the Keyword, and any ability that you explicitly increase (or decrease). Being in the middle of startup for a game, I see *everyone* listing all their Keyword abilities, even when at default values. To me this is a lot of wasted typing and killing electrons for no good purpose.

Instead, just list "Warrior 17" and "Spear and "Shield Combat +5". As a narrator, I can easily make the decision if an ability is a KW one or not, or look it up (I certtainly haven't memorized the various KWs and their abilities, but as Dr. Henry Jones said, "I wrote it down so I didn't *have* to remember".).

> > If I come up with something that should be in a
> > keyword later, does it start at the level the keyword is at now?
>
> Why should the date of your realisation that a skill is in a keyword
affect
> the level it's at? Same level as the keyword, unless for other reasons it
> looks like it needs to be K-5 or something.

I concur. If you just haven't needed "maintain equipment" in the game until now, you can assume that the hero has been doing it all along "off camera".

RR
C'est par mon ordre et pour le bien de l'Etat que le porteur du pr�sent a fait ce qu'il a fait.
- Richelieu