> A good idea. How you get PP is one of my gripes with them.
I'm told that this has been Changed, btw. (Just don't tell anyone that I told anyone, if anyone asks -- and you ain't seen me, roight?)
> Having them around is a necessity though. The
> Opposed rolls even out statistically in the long run,
> but in any single contest you are very much at the
> mercy of the Very Unfriendly Dice.
Don't know if I follow this. Why are Opposed rolls and more unfriendly than other mechanisms, dice-wise? Indeed, for non-combat stuff, turning them into extended contests actually makes them _less_ random. (In the average case, over time, that is; still feels buggeringly random while some bastard trollkin is refusing to die when he Statistically Ought To, and persists obdurately on gnawing at your foot, I betcha.)
> I have seen some concern over the power level of HW
> characters. I can't understand why, as has already
> been pointed out, standard characters have the
> equivalence of 70% chance in a few skills, and that
> is in a simple ability test.
That's not really a meaningful comparison, though. Bit like saying Lancelot has _only_ a 190% Lance skill -- what a wimp! Compared to my 8000% SuperRuneQuest guy, he's LanceALittle! (And I know this is the arithmetic moral equivalent of a spelling flame, but I think it's 75%.)
What has me flummoxed somewhat is trying to come up with a meaningful "benchmark". How far are starting characters beyond the level of an 18 year old recent initiate? How far below the point we used to quaintly term "rune level"? It's hard to say on current data, and every time I ask such a poltroonly question, I get answers that a) don't answer, but b) _do_ use the word "paradigm" a lot.
I'm guessing that what will come out of the wash will be something _vaguely_ like:
o "rune level" ~= 1 level of mastery.
o "rune level titles" -- much more socially determined.
If you run into a guy that tells you he's a Sword of Humakt, this is more of an indication that he's the most homocidal maniac in his clan (or the most efficient such maniac, should they be spoilt for choice), rather than specifically saying that he's definitely got 90% in Sword Attack, Sword Attack (Other), Sword Attack (Other, Other), _et_ cetera.
(I pause to wonder, momentarily, if espadicly-inclined Yelmies ought to get "Other Attack (Sword)"?)
Having said (all) that, it's not an ultimately important issue for me, (as most of these HW niggles aren't, it must be said) as long as it's not a major pain in the gluteal region to tweak, which I can't seriously imagine it would be.
> Here is one strange thing: it is much easier to
> use magic opposed (i.e. on an opponent) than on
> inanimate matter, as the background magic resistance
> is way high. I'm not sure I like that.
That _is_ strange. Hadn't noticed that, when I did magic "unopposed" in the demo game it was just that, an "unopposed" ability test, not a contest at all. (I fumbled anyway, and after hamming up the ritual my character was using too, humiliatingly. Then found lots of spurious excuses to make several inconsequential rolls to get rid of the short-term -2 I picked up thereby. How's that for a Balanced Sample of roleplaying and minimaxing?)
> I really like [...] that when you _do_ have combats you don't have to
> slaughter your opponents to defeat them. 0 SP is not dead, like 0 HP.
I take your point, but there _is_ something appealing about the BRP brutality in this. As Pendragon points out, Gawaine did die of aggravated wounds. My face must have been a picture the first time a Pendragon player told me his character was trying to "subdue" a bandit, with the pommel of his sword... (Like you can do in D&D, I supposed he meant, where 0 HP is also Not Dead.) ;-)
Though in the (very) final analysis, -50ish SP is just as dead as 0 HP used to be, it has to be said. Deader, really, in some respects.
(HW demo game notes for resurrection can be quite fairly synopsised as "Well, you won't be needing _that_ character sheet again, mate!")
Health to you all (and a mercifully swift end for your HW characters), Alex.
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