The Super-Heroic opponent of course ;)
>
>>PLAYING A ROLE
>>The narrator will choose the ratings of opponents based on the
>>average ratings of all the characters (more of this below).
>
> Not if he has any respect for campaign consistency. This would
>effect the contests I bothered rolling for, but when I've said "a
>typical clan champion has skill level 10W2" I am stuck with that
>choice. If I turn round and say "you're fighting a typical clan
>champion, close combat 10W4" I am cheating the players.
>
Couple of points here. Firstly there is "inflation" - In the years leading up to the Hero Wars, the typical clan champion may have maxed out around 10W2 - that was the sort of level required to stand against the typical foes he was likely to face (mostly other Clan Champions and their Warbands). Now the Hero Wars are here and there has been an escalation in the number and types of foes the Clan Champion has to deal with. The Trolls are more active, Delecti's Marsh-bred Zombies are spreading out, Lunar Regiments are marching through Sartar, Sir Ethilrist has moved in to Muse Roost and Argrath, Kallyr, Cragspider, Jar Eel and Harrek are all active in Dragon Pass - the Clan Champions need to "power up" in order to meet these new challenges. It is not always completely unreasonable for the challenges to increase as the PC's become more powerful, particularly if they become more powerful than you originally envisaged. (On the Other hand, if Climbing Kero Fin was originally a 10w4 challenge (I can't remember, books not to hand) then it shouldn't suddenly become 10w6 when a PC raises his Mountineering skill... (unless, of coourse he chooses to go via "the tricky North Western face....)
Secondly, even if the "typical clan champion" remains at the predetermined 10w2, the narrator is not constrained to make every encounter the PC has be with a "Typical" clan champion. Yes, sometimes he will face a foe he can sweep past in a simple contest - just like the lone farmer, newtling, duck or trollkin he would seep past at the start of the campaign, but now the climactic battle is with a Hero-forming Tribal Champion, or a Telmori Shape-shifter with spirits and fetishes a go-go, or the Elite Bodyguard of the Lunar High Commander etc...
Powerful characters (and this doesn't just apply to combat) who would not have noticed the character before, will start to take notice of them as they rise to challenge them.
>>Because what matters is relative ability, not absolute ability, the
>>choice of whether to increase an ability by +1 when the rating is
>>5W has the same effect, in changing or maintaining your character's
>>role, as increasing it by +1 when the rating is 15W4. Non-linear
>>advancement-costs undermine the choices that the players have made
>>about the role they want their character to play.
>
Not necessarily convinced about this - especially if you accept Graham's point that the World is (relatively) Static, and apply Benedict's rule that the challenge is appropriate to the Character's rating. If my "best skill" is 15W4 and is significantly higher than the other characters rating in the same skill, then increasing it is of little worth. I am likely to be able to defeat all but the "serious" challenges, and those will be aimed at my power level (to provide an interesting game) anyway. At merely 5W there is a need to increase it to get to the point where I can ignore the "mundane" challenges.
>If the rest of the party is choosing to be non-specialised, the
>combat munchkin becomes a destablising factor. If I have a group of
>three reasonably balanced characters (say 10W2) and one munchkin
>(say 10W4, and nothing else above 17) how do I run a combat? Sure, I
>can keep seperating the munchkin from the group and his followers,
>and force him to use his worst skills, but that quickly (and
>rightly!) starts to look like I'm picking on him.
>
It's down to providing an interesting and challenging game. No one
likes to be "picked on" if they don'tstand a chance of winning, - on
the other hand if the "combat munchkin" walks over all the combats
single handedly (or the "issaries munchkin" talks his way past every
challenge etc etc) then everyone will start to loose interest. I
don't see a problem with having the "enemy" have a similar
configuration to the party - one tough "leader" to take on the
specialist, and a bunch of "followers" to deal with the rest of the
party - If everyone is challenged, but gets the chance to win then
everyone will, generally, be happy
>
Powered by hypermail