> > Probably just as well we never played together, then... I don't
> > think I ever
> > as a player mustered [an augment] more than +8, no matter invested I
> > was in the outcome!
> > Different people obviously played the game in different ways, which
> > may reflect differing attitudes to HQ2.
>
> In essence, you were, by unstated gentleman's agreement,
> following the augment caps that are explicitly designed into
> HQ2. (Though the execution is different, of course.)
Are 'augment caps' something that changed or was added since the Tentacles pre-release of HQ2 last year? I ask, as I can't find anything of that name in that book (I may just not have seen it, of course). For the record, I prefer being able to apply a small number of augments to a roll, usually more than one but less than five, with the option to apply a greater number where it makes dramatic sense (the only instance where I can recall doing this as a GM was in a heroquest contest that required a lot of planning on the part of the PCs).
I think the "mistake" that I made was in assuming that the HQ1 rules were supposed to applied with common sense and a feel for the narrative. For instance, I wouldn't let someone augment with two very similar abilities - that's just silly, from my perspective. Whereas the intent, unbeknownst to me, appears to have been to stack augments indefinitely, with this action in itself being part of the intended appeal of the system.
Of course, "apply common sense" is about as basic a house rule as one can think of, and whilst it may (apparently) have been against the intent of the rules as written, I doubt anyone would regard it as an unreasonable one!
The problem I have with the augment rules in HQ2 (and I refer here only to the Tentacles pre-release, not having seen the final version yet) is two-fold. Firstly, by insisting augmenting with only one ability at a time, it feels a little overly restrictive - going too far in an attempt to restrict the overblown inflation that apparently troubled many people. Secondly, and not directly related to that, I dislike the "freshness" rule.
As always, I expect many people will like the aspects I dislike, and vice versa. It doesn't make either of us "right" or "wrong".
-- Trotsky Gamer and Skeptic ------------------------------------------------------ Trotsky's RPG website: http://www.ttrotsky.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ Not a Dead Communist: http://jrevell.blogspot.com/
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