> All,
>
> Here are some pearls of wisdom I've learnt from narrating a Hero Wars
> campaign. I hope some of you find them useful, or at least find them
> useful for prompting discussion on this list. In essence, my tips are:
> 1. Relax
> 2. Learn to say 'Yes'
By far the most important rule in Hero Wars. If you don't like it, make it a simple contest against a resistance Orlanth couldn't cope with.
Practice rolling the dice, obviously not looking at the number and saying "the world criticals".
> 3. Extended contests are about decisions
>
> After seeing extended contests, does anyone really want to go back to
> the
> bad old days of having fights being endless repetitions of 'I attack,'
> 'I
> parry,' 'I attack,' 'I parry'?
>
Unfortunatly, I often find fights with extended contests being endless repetitions of "I bid 7". Which is why I try to keep their use to when they are really needed - too often and they get boring.
> Describe the action, then determine the AP bid
> ----------------------------------------------
> Each round in an extended contest, get the player to make a decision
> about how their character will act in that exchange.
Good advice - but on the whole I get more mileage by using augments to get the action across. By the time someone is bellowing a prayer to his god while sumersaulting over the opponent to hack from behind with all his strength, the action and roleplaying is right up there.
> * I still feel there's a half-way house mechanic using simple contests
> and carryover trying to get out. But I haven't worked out any details
> yet.
>
Yep, I use such a mechanic a lot. Rules for it are at http://gjr.thestableyard.net/glorantha/house_rules.html. Not for everyone, but it does work, and emphasises the bits that we find work best in Hero Wars.
Cheers,
Graham
-- Graham Robinson The Stable Yard - Internet Solutions gjr_at_... http://www.thestableyard.net
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