You seem disappointed ;-)
> > My suggestion then, would be to be quite explicit in saying that
> > there is no right answer, they do not need to pixel-bitch (I love
> > that phrase!).
> Oooh! what's the origin of that phrase and what exactly does it
mean?
You know computer RPG´s...I´ve not played much but there is one "feature" which seems to crop up enough to have acquired this name...that key you need to open the chest to get the pro-McGuffin so you can slaughter the princess, rescue the dragon and get the actual McGuffin...well you find that key by pressing on the exact right spot (or pixel on the screen) next to the right rock next to the right tree in the right square of wilderness. Or, the secret panel to open the door to continue the quest. Well, finding that pixel on the screen which allows you to carry on playing is called Pixel Bitching.
[Frank writes in seeming despair...]
Despair not, Frank. You have a wonderful smorgasbord of ideas. They
are just toys in a chest. They needn´t play with all of them. Yes,
you could have too much going on. However, remember two of the
beautiful things about HQ...
One is that you can resolve things, even big things like travelling all the way to Zoria and finding the secret, if you are running out of time, with simple contests. Just remember to frame the contest right - not necessarily do they find the secret which allows them to proceed (see pixel bitching above) but do they do it in time to avoid the KoW discovering what they are up to.
The other is that you have that underlying mechanic, the ability ratings to which you can add augments and so on, which to some degree means that *whatever they try to do* has a chance of success, whatever it is (almost). I´d suggest not to think of it as solving a problem (you end up with that "right" answer again) but coming up with cool approaches to a problem, to which you can add situational modifiers if they seem to have hit the nail on the head / to be barking up the wrong tree. That way, the dice can decide what is true or not, even. You then may get some nice surprises. Who knows, one of the players may go off on a completely different tack ("My character has a huge Genealogy ability - sod all this mirrors stuff, I´m going to track down his mother so she can tell him he´s a Very Naughty Boy" - GM adds a -20 to the roll as it way out there - won´t it be fun when the players rise to that challenge and start to get augments together and start to bring that -20 down, then roll well and find Mamma? Or fail the roll and, because you´re running out of time, come face to face with the bad guy unprepared).
So, at this juncture, I would say...you have a neat set-up. You have some nice complications thought out to what they might decide to do. They will inevitably mess about with that, so don´t invest too heavily in that. I would say your mission is then simple. Set it up well - you´ve already done most of that. An hour (or something, but I´d suggest you work it out in advance) before the appointed time to finish, you bring everything together towards the climax (maybe having a break), taking whatever brutal short-cuts are necessary (e.g. I have several times cut extended contests short as they started to drag, e.g.2. Aggressive Scene Framing). Finally, on the way between that start and finish, don´t forget to make sure you have fun too.
You´re gonna have to come back and say how it went, you realise...?
Sam.
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