>Action: challenge, skill 6, 3 AP bid. Grazers can defend
>with horse archer at no penalty, ...
I would penalise the use of this ability to defend against a "challenge" action.
>Humakti loses 2 * 3 AP, leaving him with 29.
If he started out with an ability of 6, then he has been defeated, as he does not get to use his Combat APs. (OK, you explain this below as a "house rule")
>This is an attempt to gain an edge. The Odaylan uses his 5W1 sneak skill
>to try for a +6 offensive edge. He gets a minor victory, representing
>him getting to a concealed firing position in range of the Grazers.
That was lucky, 5w against 10w is pretty tricky - approx. 35-40% chance, off the top of my head, and if it goes wrong, he'll get a -6. I hope he had a Hero Point spare, but even that would not have helped in about, again, 35-40% of circumstances.
>The Chalanan tries another 20 AP heal, but fails,
>losing 20 AP. He passes out.
And takes a wound, I believe, which is reasonable - he may have got hit by a stray arrow while trying to help.
>1. The Humakti didn't get stuck with only 3AP when he switched
>skills from the initial challenge to close combat, instead he
>just carried over the 6AP loss. Without this, he would be dead
>in seconds, which seems hardly the intent of Hero Wars (There
>is always another way? No, Close Combat is the only option...).
To a Humakti, yes! If you're going to start out negotiating or threatening, then you had better be good at it.
Even with this house rule, do you allow him to switch even when he is defeated on 0, which he is after the first exchange? Also, when he switches and uses his ability to defend at -10, that should give him -10 APs as well, so do you keep adjusting up and down by 10 each time he uses it for offence then defence? This is one of the reasons why the "don't change APs" rule is there.
>You could, as I believe David Dunham suggests, ignore his
>victory, but this is trickier if it is part of a group
>contest where other actors are able to harm their opponents.
This is why I suggest a large edge for arrows (or any effective missile). If you ignore losses due to defeat, then why not just bid 50 APs?
Aside from these minor quibbles, that was a great example!
Philip Hibbs http://www.snark.freeserve.co.uk/ Opinions expressed may not even be my own, let alone those of any organisations, nations, species, or schools of thought to which I may be affiliated.
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