I like this. I like this explanation a LOT. Can we maybe talk about other things now?
> So why should one option (Increase wealth) be treated differently
than any
> of the others? It shouldn't matter *to game play* if I add 1 cow or
20 to
> my herd, or what size my herd was to begin with. If I add one cow to
my herd
> of 500, and spend 1HP on the increase, I get +1 Wealth. If I add 20
cows to
> my herd of 5, and spend 1HP on it, I get +1 Wealth.
Or... you might get directed XP, especially if your circumstances dictate - which is, as always, a narrator purview anyways.
> You are forgetting the "Wealth Evaporates" rule, then. Without HP
> expenditure, any loot your hero acquires is so much narrative fluff,
subject
> to manipulation by the eeeeevil narrator. "Whoops, you put down your
> loot-stuffed backpack to get a drink, and when you turned around it
was
> gone."
Yes. This is something I had mentioned but apparently it is ignored because, of course, no "hero" ever lets stuff evaporate of his character sheet, especially money.
But its a valid case.
> Let me see if I can state your point:
> Your point seems to be "We need to know exactly how much an Wealth
Rating
> increase x Loot provides if cemented". You also want the value of x
loot to
> vary according to the Current Wealth rating of the owner.
>
> My answer is:
> 1. Loot is not an item to be cemented into Wealth.
> 2. Wealth is an ability like any others, and increases at the normal
HP cost
> for an ability.
> 3. Acquiring Loot (any amount) gives the player an reason to pay a
"related"
> HP cost to increase his Wealth rating.
> 4. If the narrator decides that x loot can't sustain the wealth
increase
> that you propose to buy, then discuss it with him
> 5. If you want to cement a particular item of that loot, go ahead.
Such an
> Item can be used to Augment wealth, but is not considered a normal
part of
> the Wealth rating.
And if you get a BIG BUCKET of fhat lewt, then your narrator gives you +4 or whatever HP to spend on increasing your wealth/resources/my stuff/bloodline's swag rating.
> Do you mean "how many cows do I have if my Wealth is 15" ?
> or "How many cow-worths of stuff do I have if my Wealth is 15" ?
> or "How many cows can I raid from that pasture" ?
>
> The answer is "it doesn't matter except as a narrative convenience".
I
> wouldn't tell a player "This guy has 17w2 wealth", or even "He has a
herd of
> 2,043 cows". I'd say "His herds cover the hills and dales, his
clothing is
> exquisite, and his weapons are of the finest quality. You could fit
your
> entire house into his bedroom." The first sentence gives an idea
that the
> guy is rich. The second puts him in relation to the hero - "much
richer than
> you". Just as we don't like to give concrete damage in describing
combat, we
> don't want to give concrete figures of wealth, because the game is
not meant
> to work on the concrete level, it is built to be more free-form.
"Yes, but"
> is a valid response - "yes, but it was only a scratch"; "yes, but
you
> grabbed the scrubbiest and weakest cows".
Yes, the game is rather cinematic. And things like wealth's precise dollars and cents are glossed over. Herowars is not really designed to play a Gloranthan version of "Papers and Paychecks."
>
> Except that people have said that they want a Universal Economic
Unit (the
> UCU, instead of the ECU) for Hero Wars, and that was the reason
> coined/printed money was invented.
I'll stick with marks of silver if I have to deal with them. However, we do have the long standing Runequesty obsession with lunars and trading them in for training (now THAT was was even more unreal than the wealth table!)
> Yes, and you'll notice that what you buy does not increase your
Wealth.
>
> RR
It just increases the amount of loot someone else gets when they beat you up and take your stuff... =)
Here's to phat lewt.
Jeff
Powered by hypermail