Re: Biggest man in the Tula

From: Alexandre Lanciani <takenegi_at_...>
Date: Wed, 27 Jun 2001 12:46:50 +0200

Il giorno 27-06-2001 11:42, gamartin_at_..., gamartin_at_... ha scritto:

>

>> Well, not only unnecessary long, but also overly specific

> deserve it. I

>> like the Over the Edge approach, where rather than picking up

> Beautiful,

>> players are suggested to choose tag such as Natural Beauty, Hot

> Babe, Model.
>
> ?? This seems redundant - the very fact that it is a multi-word
> ability in HW (usually) serves the purpose opf specifying which kind
> of beauty, or whatever.

    I don't know if we are saying the same thing, so let me try again: I think that a player should not choose an ability such as Beautiful or Strong. He should rather choose abilities such as Hot Babe, Rippling Muscle. Not because they're narrower, but because they're more interesting. They're more functional to the hero's characterization. And the Narrator should give bonuses to people who spend their time trying to deepen their character's characterization.

>

>> A Jaded Millionaire's resistance to be seduced will be higher

> if the

>> ability is Model and lower if it's Natural Beauty, because he may

> be fed up

>> on stylish Models and welcome the freshness of a Natural Beauty.

>
> Maybe. And maybe he's an old lech who won't touch a woman until
> they've been equipped with all mod cons, the inflating breasts and
> collagen-enhanced lips. The point is there is no way to tell this
> from the ability "Jaded Millionaire"; that descriptor in itself does
> not give you this information. HW's abilities make much more of the
> characters intellect and player intent explicit, incorporated in the
> game world, and thus available for interaction in the ocurse of play.

    He wouldn't be a Jaded Millionaire, though, but an Old Leach. ;)

    Anyway the abilities' descriptors IMO should be short and evocative, so that the ability does not take a whole paragraph to be described but isn't reduced to a single uninspired word. And on this I think we all agree.

-- 
Regards,
Alexandre.
"What  came first, the idea or the perception of the idea?"