>Subject: Questions on Affinities / Feats

From: Thom Baguley <t.s.baguley_at_...>
Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2000 15:12:19 +0100

> From: "Grawe, Philipp" <pgrawe_at_...>
>
>
>I don't quite understand the Affinities / Feats system.
>
>I understand that Initiates get to work with the affinities, Devotees have
>chosen to follow their god more closely and begin to be able to perform
>feats (first one is free, 1 per hero point after that, if I recall
>off-hand).
>
>Affinities strike me as logical. Taking Odayla as an example, with the
>Hunt affinity, a player who is chasing after another person could say
>"Chasing prey is part of a hunters job, 'Odayla, aid me in my time of
>need, grant me a burst of speed to catch the bastard'" and use his Hunt
>affinity to augment his Running skill as per the rules. It's not exactly
>hunting, but the situation is related, so his Hunting Affinity can be
>applied (similar to the rock lifting example in the rules book).

Spot on IMO.

>Are all affinities simply used to augment other abilities ? Surely
>there's more scope than that for affinities. Can the (and I'm stretching
>and guessing because I don't have my rules at work) Mahome worshipper say
>"I'm using my fire affinity to light the camp fire" <zot> "Campfire's
>burning, campfire's burning..."

No. Any affinity can be used as an ability in its own right. For example, a hunter with no hunting skill could use their hunting affinity (-3 I suppose for improvisation?) to hunt an animal. He could the ability to augment the target number of his track skill (if he had one) or to give an edge in an extended contest, or to lend AP to another tracker etc.

>What about feats ? How would you use, say, Humakt's Truesword Feat ? Is
>that just used as an augmentation to your Swordfighting skill ? If so,
>then that's pretty naff. The Truesword Runespell gives you double chance
>to hit which is a very specific effect, but we're not playing RQ here...

Humakt's Truesword feat can be used in place of sword skills (e.g., if you lost your close combat ability in a heroquest challenge), to augment your target number or provide an edge. I don't think it is naff per se. The ability levels aren't linear. With a 1W affinity you have a pretty high chance of getting a +6 augment or a +12 edge. (BTW I seem to recall Truesword gave double damage not double chance to hit). Truesword replaces both spirit and divine magic. The feat power ranges from very weak (affinity of 12) to godlike (W12 for Humakt himself).

>I mean, Truesword Stoke, to me, sounds like it would grant the devotee a
>single sword stroke that is guaranteed to hit, Humakt guides his sword for
>the one killing blow, or something like that. Not exactly sure how you'd
>mirror that in game terms.

Nothing is guaranteed. Even Indrogar Greydog would have trouble hitting Harrek with a Truesword feat.

>Some feats are obvious, some are quite cryptic. The rules seem quite
>vague on the topic and I really don't know how I'd use feats in a game.
>They sound really, really cool and I love the concept, but...

The vagueness can be seen as problematic (and has occupied vast numbers of postings on this list - so I'll stop here). The best tip I can give is to try and interpret them in context (i.e., in play), rather than in advance. This cuts down on the workload, seems easier to do (for me at least) and fits the game style well. Good rules of thumb are:

1. Most feats can be treated simply as augments to target numbers/ability
2. Any damage enhancing effect should be treated as augments to edges
3. Special effects can often be narrated without using any specific mechanics

>Is it honestly just a case of looking at the feat / affinity, thinking of
>a plausible use for it and going for it ? If so, has anyone done a list
>of cool uses for affinities or feats ?

Someone was working on a list ... (Nils?)

Thom