Re: Hero Wars Paradigm Shift

From: Simon Hibbs <simonh_at_msi-uk.com>
Date: Mon, 03 Aug 1998 11:13:50 +0100


Ross Inglis :

>However I'm beginning to worry about some aspects of the rest of the
>system. Two things (possibly related); rules light and infinitely
reusable >magic.

Rules Light is an easily missused term. HW actualy gives more rules for more situations than any other RPG I've seen, simply because the mechanics cover just about any skilled or competitive activity I can think of. I do think that the rules should give a comprehensive set of guidelines on how to run interesting, novell and climactic combats. I can think of all kinds of things that players are likely to want their characters to try, such as disarming opponents, feints, aimed blows, etc. I can see how I would use the rules to cover these tactics, but it may not be obvious to GMs who may never have run an RPG before.

On the subject of Magic, the apparently infinite reusability of magic was a serious concern of mine at one time. The trouble is that the cut down rules provided for convention games miss out a lot of the checks and balances in the main rules. Powefull magical feats are actualy very difficult and require opposed rolls to succeed. They also have risks as the consequences of losing the opposed roll could be dire. In practice, I expect that performing powerfull magical feats with any reliability will require the use of Plot Points. Thus Plot Points will become the fuel for magical workings. Smaller scale magic, roughly equivalent to spirit magic and ad-hoc sorcery spells just take a little time to cast and have short durations, but I don't see any particular need to limit their use arbitrarily.

Simon Hibbs


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