Re: AP's and switching in combat

From: Roderick and Ellen Robertson <rjremr_at_...>
Date: Sun, 26 Mar 2000 11:28:52 -0800

> >The risk of a big AP bid is in losing it. There need not be any penalty
to
> >the ability rolls. If I bid big, and win, well, I gambled and won. If I
> >lose, I am at a disadvantage. We are not trying to model combat so much
as
> >the flow of advantage between the contestants. Igf I won the exchange, I
> >obviously brought my blade back in line after my exorbitant gesture,
while
> >if I lose, I didn't.
>
> I don't see this in the rules (please correct me if I am wrong), but I
> recall seeing somewhere that the AP bid should match the stated action.
For
> example, a description of a perilous action should be matched with a large
> AP bid, while tentative conservative actions should be matched with low AP
> bids. Questions:
>
> 1. Is this true? Is this mentioned in the rulebooks?

Yes.

> 2. If true, what is Cyrano doing that is so spectacularly dangerous so as
> to justify a large AP bid? (When I first made this point about whether
> Cyrano takes a modifier in order to make the large AP bid, I had in mind
> the technique of matching risk to AP bid.)

Whatever Cyrano is doing, it should be described so that it is obvious to all concerned that this is a desperate or major action - if the player bids 3 AP and says "I swing on the chandelier, land on the table and kick at his head", that doesn't seem to match up - there are many things that can screw up the action and leave the actor at a disadvantage (the chandelier rope breaks, someone flips the table, he lands badly, whatever). On the other hand, if he bids 25 AP and says "I fight defensively, circling around and looking for an opening", that doesn't match up either - there is no real risk being taken. Whatever the action described and the AP bid, there is usually no reason to penalize the character for his action - if he loses that is usually penalty enough.

The AP bid and the rolling of dice are the game-mechanics, while the description helps people "see" what is going on and for the narrator and player to guage the risk involved. Ideally, the bid and the description work hand-in-hand to resolve the exchange in both a game mechanic *and* a story. Can you play the game without descriptions? Yes, of course. Is it better or worse? I can't answer that for you. You can play any game with only the bare mechanics and no description. It is not my preferred method of playing, but I've seen a lot of it in other games.

Remember that a "big" bid is in relation to the person making it - if Cyrano has 70 AP, then a 20 Ap bid isn't really "big" (even a 3x loss will leave him in the contest), but to Timmy the trollkin with 6 AP, 3 is a major investment.

RR