Re: cementing; simple contest

From: David Dunham <david_at_...>
Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2001 20:25:16 -0700


Wulf

> Did whats-his-name in Greek Myth really have a helmet of
> Invisibility and Winged Sandals of only 12?

No, because if I recall correctly, he never cemented it. Heroes in literature usually don't.

In our games, cemented magic items tend to be very powerful -- they can be used in many more ways than the typical ability of 12. But they have usually started at 12 (the only exception I can think of, if it was an exception, was a heroquest item). I guess this is sort of along the "it's a follower" approach.

I'm certainly not averse to a guideline for allowing cemented items to start at higher than 12, in certain cases. I have seen the problem where a character turns into an item, which is one reason not to go overboard with this.

Andrew brought up Stormbringer, which in many ways was more like a patron than a follower... The 12 rating would be your ability to control it.

Christian wrote

> The simple contest rules are not intended for combat!

Even though in the games I run I wouldn't use them that way, I disagree. They are very much for combat IF the combat is not dramatically important. In most people's games (and most movies), combat is important enough to devote "screen time" to.

But even in some movies, combat is a simple contest. There's a scene in _Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter_ where he draws his sword and kills someone. One action, too fast to even see. The purpose of the scene is to establish that Captain Kronos is a cool dude, not to show an exciting fight.

-- 

David Dunham   <mailto:dunham_at_...>
Glorantha/HW/RQ page: <http://www.pensee.com/dunham/glorantha.html>
Imagination is more important than knowledge. -- Albert Einstein

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