Re: Digest Number 173

From: Richard Melvin <rmelvin_at_...>
Date: Sat, 8 Jul 2000 15:15:57 +0100

>>If someone was to say 'I go for an all out lunging attack, ignoring
>>defence', and then bid 3AP, would you suggest a different bid, or
>apply
>>an arbitrary penalty?
>
>Neither. I'd explain that a high risk action must involve a larger AP
>bet. Either the guy is having a lapse of concentration or just doesn't
>understand the game. I'd simply explain it to him.

Um, I agree with that exactly, apart from the word 'Neither'. That's what I meant by suggesting a different bid.

For those that support the view that a high skill rating does not correspond to the ability to do things well, here is a reductio ad absurdium:

Consider a character with no ability to play chess, but a play chess skill of 3W2. As they can't actually play chess, the narrator always applies a 40 improvisational penalty to their skill.

IMHO this is no different to saying that a 'sprint' ability gets an improvisational modifier when used to run fast over a short span flat ground, just because the opponent is supposed to be better.

On the other hand, it is certainly true that a horse with a 'run fast' ability would take improvisational penalties in circumstances when a human wouldn't. The horse's 'run fast' is 'run fast in the style of a horse', not 'run fast as well as a horse'.

Richard