predictable heroes?

From: David Cake <dave_at_starfish.net.au>
Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2000 03:06:40 +0800

Martin
>One of the key ingredients of being a successful hero is to be
>somewhat unpredicatable. If you are always doing the same thing, you will
>suffer for it as your enemies work out your strengths.

        Actually, becoming predicatable is probably a key difference between heroes and gods/otherworld beings. Heroes are unpredicatable, gods are not. Dead heroes (ie the founders of hero cult) are also predicatable, even if still active in the world somehow.

        But Martin, I think, overstates the importance of 'unpredictability' as far as defeatability is concerned - there are plenty of hero level beings around that are predictable, and yet tough and hard to beat. Jaldon Goldentooth, for example, has very predictable rules of appearance, motivation, etc, also the Crimson Bat. Sure, you might be able to exploit their predicatable behaviour to beat them somewhat, but it doesn't always help you much.

        Heroes are unpredicatable because the nature of herodom is to change the world from what it was. That doesn't mean that you can't have very successful heroes who are from conservative cultures, and push conservative values, but true heroes are those who make the new myths (or reinvent the old ones).

	Cheers
		David

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