Of Course, very familiar.
> One advantage is that they let multiple players participate in a
> one-person contest
I am less interested in their relative merits, more in their actual utility, its a tricky distinction to explain. I am currently composing a response to Rob's post that may explore this.
> They also let you use multiple abilities when that's appropriate. I
> routinely describe NPCs as uisng as varied a range of abilities or
> attacks as I can -- different each roll.
This is something that can be done, but it seems to change the dynamic of the contest in a manner not handled by the rules, as the resistance may have to change to accommodate changes of skills.
This can result in a contest, where the 'contest frame', already set before the iterations take place, has to either act as a hard rule and restrict alternative actions, or become mailable to accommodate them. As the rules do not allow a change to the prize and or the tactics within a contest.
To put this another way, in order to make an extended contest more flexible than the use of a narrow set of abilities, you have to change the framing of the contest as you go, which is a change to the rules.
Jamie
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