> > The first few penalties are
> > invariably absorbed by any Augments in place, reducing them
eventually to
> > zero. This has the added bonus of making higher-level Augments
much more
> > attractive to players.
>
> This I'm not getting. Aside from the fact that they offset in a
purely
> arithmetic manner, why would there be any connection between the
two?
> Why does the knife cut in my side relate to my Bladeshape magic
(swordhelp
> my bum...), and most importantly, why would they have the
same 'duration'
> of effect?
I think the assumption is that you're probably fighting someone with a very similar ability rating as you, so a small bonus or penalty has a big effect on the odds. I'm not sure that logic has much appeal for me though.
My group is going to be adventuring in and around a city though, which contains a lot of peopole below their level of competence (in the various things they are good at) and a lot of people that are significantly harder than they are. Many of whom are agin 'em, they being foreign lunar types.
This has got me thinking. In RQ there were lots of ways that thePCs could get one-shot, or limited use magic to save up for the occasions when the party get seriously outclassed. Even if you don't count one-use rune magic, or one-shot bound spirits, the PCs could conserve Magic Points for some dire need. Much of the drama in RQ come from the astute conservation and expenditure of such resources.
HW only seems to me (unless I'm missing something) to have a few fairly limited resources of this kind. It has one-shot spirit bindings, now only available from shamans, and I suppose Hero Points are a resource too, but that's it. I'd very much like to have situations in which a character is grievously injured, and the priestess of Deezola goes into a trance, pouring much of her magical essence into healing him at the cost of exhausting herself for the foreseeable future.
Now perhaps Hero Points will assume this role, I haven't run the game for long enough to realy get a feel for that.
Perhaps characters could be allowed to overstretch their abilities, gaining a temporary bonus above and beyond a normal augment, but at the cost of a long term penalty to the ability they overstretched?
Am I just worrying too much?
Simon Hibbs
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