Desperate Measures, etc.

From: Nick Brooke <Nick_Brooke_at_btinternet.com>
Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 08:23:25 -0000


Theo writes:

> It seems to me that the size of the bid, comparative to the remaining
> action points, should affect the chance of success. This would repre-
> sent situations such as making an all-out lunge for an opponent in
> combat, showing up naked in the apartment in seduction, etc, are less
> likely to succeed than, for example, precisely jabbing at your opponent
> in combat or sending a single rose in seduction. But that's just my
> opinion.

IIRC, the best way to work the system is to do the kind of sophisticated, low-bid, "sensible" actions you suggest *if you're going to win eventually anyway*, and the unsophisticated, high-risk, "desparate" actions *if you want to win quickly through luck*.

The high-bid actions are "win or lose" strategies; the precise and clever low-bid actions won't expose you so much if they go wrong, but don't win you so much if they succeed.

Disclaimer: I have never attempted any of the actions given in Theo's examples, leaving me wide open to refutation by experts (BJM for combat, A.N.Other [perhaps BJM again?] for seduction).

Theo also asks:

> Is it realistic to have a Char-un light cavalry group attached to a
> Lunar base in Tarsh?

In what sense? We know there are Char-un cossacks based in Tarsh. They'd be most likely to be imposed on recalcitrant areas as a "punishment garrison", IMO: "If you don't pay your taxes on time, we'll bivouac fifty Char-un outside your village for the rest of the season." But they've got to live *somewhere*, haven't they?

If you're asking, "is it realistic for Lunar troops to be deployed in small, sub-regimental units", we *know* (from our collective gaming experience) that it is. After all, player characters have been knocking off isolated Lunar garrisons and patrols for decades...

And inquires,

> KAP?
"King Arthur Pendragon," an unclear abbreviation for "Pendragon".

:::: Email: <mailto:Nick_Brooke_at_btinternet.com> Nick
:::: Website: <http://www.btinternet.com/~Nick_Brooke/>


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