> 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.
Speaking as someone who has often played support or specialized characters, I thank you for this advice! I've had too many experiences over my couple of decades now of sporadic gaming that go something like:
narrator: "You can see three heavily armed guards in the clearing,
standing around the <thing we want> which is on the other side."
players of combat monsters: "Charge!"
me: "I start sneaking around the clearing while that is going on...."
narrator: "Oh, uh, another guard comes back from having a piss and
comes across you and attacks!"
me: *gnashing of teeth*
It is great fun, once in a while to make any character do things they
are bad at, and make it critical. I can immediately recall (with a
grin) occasions like:
-when a foppish magician had to use that rapier he wore for show
against a merchant who was semi-trained with his dagger, loser's
entire party apt to be butchered
-technically incopetent, fast talking deal-maker had to figure out
how to operate the armored car's heavy machine gun in time to take
down the uber-cyborg about to rend into tiny shreds everyone else.
-lone cleric has to hold back the rear attack of a troll, and
desperately try to save alive until the rest of the party deals with
the ogres at the other end of the corridor and one of them manages to
sprint back and take over just before the cleric was put through the
figurative mulinex.
In all cases the non-combatant eventually had a key and highly tension role in the fight, but wasn't just thrown an opponent in the main fight. All three events also took some narrator consideration and scripting to balance off, of course.
So to bring it back to HW....74 trollkin form into groups and attack the fighters, but one has the bright idea of climbing a tree and crawling the branches until he can drop down on that tasty looking horse. Oh dear, the horse ran away, but this woman looks helpless and tasty....or the humakti swordsman is perhaps just a shade better than his lunar attackers, but with numbers they've taken down his shieldmen and it is now two against one, and that multiple attacker penalty could make all the difference unless the Bevaren either manages to briefly distract one or grabs the shield and spear of a fallen warrior and protects the humakti's off side.
I guess what I'm getting at is that if you like playing characters in a more supporting role, you don't want to be ignored, but you also don't want to always just get thrown into the general fight either. Therefore taking the time to mix up the threat levels of the opposition so that everyone has something at the right level will make you greatly beloved of this sort of player.
--Bryan
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