Re: Re: SIZ table

From: Doyle Wayne Ramos-Tavener <dmtavener_at_...>
Date: Sun, 09 Apr 2000 11:26:57 -0500


At 09:30 AM 4/9/00 , you wrote:
> Epic, Sweeping style aside, its handy to know a few more mundane &
>concrete type facts like just how much weight

(Snip)

> Whoever suggested that such stuff was inconsequential to the Epic
> style of
>the game is full of _baloney_.

I wondered why I was so stuffed.

I gotta tell you, The main group I play with (as opposed to GM) plays Rolemaster, the ultimate "how much can you carry/what does it weigh/how much does it slow you down" game. And we don't even worry about this.

  Some might be
>interested in doing something as simple, and non-Epic in scope, as loading up
>a pack animal before making the trip along the road to Hero.

You are confusing the epic with the dramatic. Hero Wars is a game about the dramatic, which can _include_ the epic.

How much a mule carries is dramatic only if it is an excuse for some dramatic conflict or another, such as an argument between an Issaries trader and his apprentice, or whether the mule with the gold is loaded down too much too keep up with the rest of the fleeing party.

Each of the above circumstance can be resolved quite nicely with HW mechanics.

(Extended Contest for the argument, and a Simple Test of Animal Handling or Trading skill for the other. Or maybe a Simple contest between the Strength of the mule and the speed of the pursuing forces. You get the idea.)

You _don't_ need to know how much a mule can carry in either of the situations in order to resolve the dramatic conflict.

Look, I am well aware that this sort of message can seem really dismissive of your concerns. But honestly, HW does not attempt to model the world, only dramatic conflict.

This sort of role playing can be both enjoyable and entertaining, I promise you.

Doyle Wayne Ramos Tavener

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