>So, perhaps by having the 'sidekick' type be about 50% as worked out as the
>main character and the 'spear-carriers' be about 15% as worked out, you get
>a system where cannon fodder is a bit less common.
I guess the intention was that the 'Companions' would be represented as Allies, the 'spear-carriers' as Followers, but as far as I can see in fiction, a hero's friends are frequently far less capable than he (or she) in most areas, and thus better represented as Followers. I quite like my 25-word Companions (I chose 25 by the way as that's how many you get to describe a Hero-Forming or Posession) with the extras usable when they're acting independently, and my spear-carriers as just the 2 as normal. Trouble is, how to achieve a bit of balance... Admittedly, HW isn't about balanced character creation, with points & limits, but still, why would anyone create a named Follower when they could have a full Companion? Initially, it's the same as Initiate vs Devotee, why be an Initiate when you can be a Devotee? Answer, time & responsibility. Likewise a Companion should be more personal, more emotionally involved, and more valuable. Like in the WB&RM/DP boardgame, when a SuperHero's Best Friend gets killed, the S-H goes ballistic and hunts down his friend's killers.
>Think of Xena with Gabrielle as a
>Companion then various others show-up and might come along for the adventure
>for 1 to 4 episodes who are often very rough sketches and end up dying or
>taking off after a while. Also, as in HW, Gabrielle grew in powers as Xena
>was fleshed out, but in a more sophisticated way then just a percentage of
>Xena's abilities e.g. she picked up the Sais somewhere along the line.
We always seem to come back to Xena, don't we...? Ah, well, since I hear Greg likes her too, maybe it's not as bad a comparison... And using that comparison, Gabrielle is certainly no 2-word Follower... whether she's good enough to be an Ally is another matter...
Wulf (currently sanding down a 1/6 scale resin Xena...)
Powered by hypermail