Matthew Cole wrote:
>From what I know: (owning and running HQ2)
>as Laurent (LC) says: you set resistance according to story logic, so:
>moderate, hard, nearly impossible, etc are all relative to the Base
>Resistance currently in force. (ask if you haven't heard that term)
This gives me a chance to ask more about how Base Resistance is set. Is it by game, by session? Is it in relation to the stat levels of the PCs? When is it decided?
>The focused ability usage bonus is (again as far as I remember)
unrelated to
>the resistance difficulty.
>
>It *is* related to the resistance *name* though: if your hero's ability is
>narrowly focused on opposing the *definition* of the resistance (gleaned
>from it's name) then you *can* receive a bonus (at the narrator's option).
This makes sense, and seems to be something many HQ 1 GMs were arguing for for some time - using situational bonuses judiciously. If something is very apt, it should get a bonus just as something a bit off-center should get a penalty.
>So:
>After 7 sessions of play in the series, the Base Resistance is 16.
See, THAT is an interesting statement. Does BR go up per session?
>Broddi's player rolls 14, a failure
>The narrator rolls 11, also a failure but the lower rolled value.
>Outcome is *marginal victory* for Angmar.
Hmmm... I see the "lowest number wins ties" is still in effect. I wasn't ever sure I liked that (but it's a minor point).
>This could be narrated: Angmar mercilessly grabs Broddi by the collar
of his
>vestment, intending to do him in *but* Broddi's incessant whining (his
>player narrated that Broddi tries to wheedle his way out of the
situation by
>claiming mistaken identity [which is true]) distracts the assassin
enough so
>that Broddi can wriggle out of the vestment and (naked) make a dive
into the
>freezing cold river.
So the marginal loss means he escapes (which is what he wanted to do if he won) but loses all his clothes and is in a situation for a new contest? How would you narrate a marginal victory?
>The reason for the Hard resistance was initially inspired by the Pass/Fail
>Cycle. The heroes had had a string of victories and the narrator knew
it was
>time for a bit more adversity, so she used the character Angmar who could
>provide a Hard resistance, in keeping with the story.
Nicely pointing out that the Pass/Fail can also be used not to adjust the resistance of an encounter but rather dictate how the encounter is set up in the first place. (i.e. - do not increase or decrease what you think Angmar is like, just choose to use someone as implacable as Angmar.)
Laurent
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