>The group I game with most regularly is very much into Champions and the
>Hero System. One thing that will probably not go well with them is the idea
>that you don't get "points" back for taking Flaws. Can anybody explain to
>me why the designers decided to do it this way? I'd like to be able to
>anticipate my group's inevitable objections.
How about "the designers think you're able to roleplay without being bribed."
(Rest of rant about disads deleted.)
Roderick wrote:
>I can take
>100 words and produce a pathetic stickpicker, or a heroic near-hero (as long
>as my narrator allows me to do it, of course...).
I think we've had this discussion, but the 100 words have nothing to do with whether you're a near-hero. That's determined by the Narrator when she chooses the starting values for characters. Your stickpicker could have multiple masteries in Cringe, Grovel, Pick Up Stick, and Whine if that's the campaign level.
>(Example of HW
>balancing: A narrator described allowing a player to take "Company of
>Char-un cossacks as followers". This character is so far out of balance
>compared toKallai, the example character, that it's not funny.)
No it's not. You get a starting level follower. "Company of Cossacks" starts at the normal beginning level (13, isn't it?). So you get 13 APs from this gang... Hero Wars is well balanced in this regard. (Also don't forget that any superlatives are meaningless in character descriptions.)
Ken wrote:
> Hmmm, since HW doesn't seem to _have_ stats like Strength, Dex and the
>like, just how are you supposed to do anything?
With your abilities. Usually you can find some ability that's more or less relevant to the task at hand.
Here's a character I played for a while, to serve as example:
Nallindia Trailblazer, daughter of Vornathendra the Priestess-Queen, is an agile Vingan explorer of the Odranging clan. Money-Holldor divorced her after the Erinflarth swept away their daughter, and she wandered the woods, learning from the aldryami, where she befriended Oakneedle the Woodlord, found Calla, a flower spirit, and learned the Magic Revealing feat. She's quick to anger - or laughter - but slow to forgive. She learned Heort's swiftness magic at Grizzley Peak, and has a boat, "Snapper." She wears the Edgeless Ring, originally owned by her hero, Dronyesta. She wants to discover lost ruins, and sings to the river to recover her daughter.
So for Strength, I'd probably use one of the abilities that come with the "explorer" keyword -- in the playtest that would be "close combat" which probably has some improvisational modifiers, but the ability to fight hand to hand obviously requires some strength. For Dex I'd obviously use her "agile" ability (though as I recall, this came up very rarely in actual play), though in some circumstances a "swiftness" feat might be more appropriate.
Even most games that have stats don't necessarily use them often. When did you last make an APP or SIZ roll in RQ3 or Pendragon?
Note: "quick to anger" could be considered a disad in spreadsheet systems like Hero or GURPS; here it's her "Volatile" ability, which I used several times to cow others into submission. The two flaws I counted as such were her ex-husband and her missing, presumed drowned, daughter. (Sadly, she was a tragic enough character because of her many positive attributes that the Narrator never made use of her flaws as a plot hook.) BTW, it's 103 words, because we were given clan for free.
[Warning to listmeister: it appears I can post from several different e-mail accounts. This implies that spammers can post to this list. Any way to fix it?]
David Dunham Electric Fish, Inc snapper_at_... Voice: 206 634 2926 Fax: 206 634 2921 http://www.electricfish.com
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