"You wake up in little pieces in lots of trollkin stomachs...." (Tricksters have it *so* easy, all they have to do is get the trollkin to shit in the same latrine...)
> >Followers canceling out Multiple attackers isn't strange (at least no to
my
> >mind), they are there to cover your back, act as your shieldman, etc -
there
> >job *is* to keep too many people from getting to you.
>
> I only find it strange as it seems to work for heroes, but NOT
> villains (or maybe it works for named villains with followers, but not
> leaderless mobs? The rules are unclear). I think I'd use MA penalties
> both ways, if I remembered to use them at all. Thus the 20 local
> warriors to assist the heroes.
No it's a two-way street for villains as well - a group of 5 heroes taking on Decurian Lucius with his 9 followers (or a single horde of 75 trollkin) will not get invoke the Multiple Attacker rule. It's just that normally the Heroes are the ones who are outnumbered. It's usually only when there is a single Big Nasty (like a Dream Dragon) that the heroes are able to pile on and try for MA penalties on their opponent (and they usually need it by that point...)
The rule I use is "break up the opponent's troops so each Player Hero has at least one enemy to face" - so a mob of 75 trollkin wouldn't fight as a single entity, it would have 4-5 (or 8-10, or 12-15, depending on how well-equipped the heroes are to face multiple opponents, where the story is going, etc.) mob leaders and split the rest up as followers. Similarly, Decurian Lucius wouldn't be treated as a single guy with 9 followers, but as 4-5 "combat teams" of 2 or so guys. As the narrator, you can fiddle the opposition so that the heroes have a tough or easy time of it (Roll for each trollkin and watch those Multiple attacker penalties add up!). In general, treating a group of opponents as a single entitiy is good for the heroes (no MA penalty, probably a low Ability rating, just a sh*tload of AP to knock down), while treating the mob as individuals is bad for the heroes (Still a low AR, and a low # of AP per "Enemy unit", but Lots of Multiple Attacker penalties, and a "reset" of APs as the mob cycles fresh troops into the fray - it's possible that the heroes won't even knock a single opponet down to 0 AP, because as soon as he is hit, the little bugger fades back in the crowd and gets healed. So the hero faces 6 fresh 12AP Trollkin every round - bad for the heroes, unless they have a good mastery or more over the Trollkin, and can start getting reliable Transfers of AP instead of simple forfeits).
Every player should have *something* to do in the contest, and "providing support" is usually considered boring (some people like it). Once in a while, however, a breakthrough by the enemy into the "back area" where the support heroes are can get exciting. But always remember that you're playing a game to have fun, and if the person playing the healer really *doesn't* like combat, don't make him or her an "enemy magnet" every contest, even if that is the smart thing for the enemy to do.
RR
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