Someone clip this and save it as an example of how to narrate
contests. Excellent exposition Roderick
wrote:
> Christian asks:
>
> >I donīt know if anybody knows the manga-comic book"Eden"by Hiroki
Endo.
>
> Err, nope, don't read manga, sorry.
>
> >The troopers are distracted and Kenji jumps of a rooftop(maybe 2,5
m
> high)on the first >trooper,slamming the knife right through the
helmet into
> his head.Then sommersaulting off his >shoulders to the next trooper
and
> cutting his throat[thats kind of super ninja-i admit :-)]
> >How would you resolve that?this is an extended contest.
>
> It doesn't have to be an EC, of course, but assuming that's the way
you want
> it...
>
> Are the three troopers individuals or are they one leader and two
followers?
> How experienced are they? (Probably one-mastery guys?)
>
>
> >The attack is surely augmented by the
> >extra force that comes from the "falling off" the rooftop and the
Ap bid
> should be very >high,because of the risky nature of the maneuvre.But
as i
> see it,this is an augment the narrator >decides-you dont really roll
for
> this,do you?
>
> It depends - the player can say "I'm going to augment my attack by
jumping
> off the roof" and roll for an augment normally (note that the
negative
> augments rules really come into play here - blow the roll and there
is ample
> reason to give a negative augment!). Or, the player can say "I leap
onto the
> trooper" and the narrator (being the kindly soul he is) says "Okay,
I'll
> give you a +x Edge for falling damage"
>
> >So how much edge would you give for that attack?
>
> Less than 5 yards, probably a +2 edge.
>
> >From there i come to another question.In HW Apīs are not hitpoints
but,how
> well you are doin in >a contest.Edges or weaponranks give you
> advantages,still there are some times,where there should >be
something
> impossible.Judging from ranks there is no impossible.Even if ranks
cancel
> each other >out,you can still attack and be successful.I would
actually
> say,its not very probable to be able to >slam a knife through a
military
> helmet into someones head and kill him.I mean a helmet is designed
>to stop
> bullets and thus knifes as well.In RQ you had definite armourpoints
against
> definite damage >points,so with the exception of criticals you could
say,you
> can penetrate or you cant.This is not the >case in HW.So has the
narrator
> the last word,when it comes to possibilities?Are there cases where
>there is
> a simple no-go.Like you canīt penetrate the wall with your arrow and
kill
> the one whoīs >standing behind it ?Or is it all a matter of what you
like
> and whats dramatic and nice for the flow of >the story?
>
> Yes, the narrator has final say on what is or isn't possible. She
can say
> "no, you can't do it" (it's usually better to say "well, you try but
it
> simply bounces off", or "C'mon, you know better than that!" ). Of
course,
> magic can make all the difference - a normal unmagic'd arrow can't
penetrate
> a stone wall, but I bet there is at least *one* group out there that
can
> fire arrows through stone all day long.
>
> Can a knife penetrate a helmet? Well, in the universe of Eden it
can, so the
> game set there should reflect that it is possible (at least if the
hero is
> on a par with Kenji). Heck, the hero doesn't even have to use a
knife - "I
> jump on his shoulders. Grabbing his neck, I somersault and snap it,
then
> follow through, using his body as a whip and hitting the next
trooper in the
> face whith his steel-shod boots"
>
> In HW terms, it's a double attack (-3), but depending on the
opposition, he
> could easily do it. Assuming that the troopers have only a single
mastery,
> Kenji has a 2-bump advantage, meaning anything but a Fumble will be
bumped
> to a Critical. Couple that with a "High Ap bid for a really risky
maneuver"
> and you've easily got two troopers down. Trooper 3 is now face to
face with
> a hero that not only has his original AP, but he probably got a
transfer
> from the exchange as well (think of it as a *big* morale loss to
Trooper
> 3!). It's not something a non-Kenji should think about doing,
though! A
> leap like the one you describe might knock the opponent(s) sprawling
(how
> many Star Trek episodes, Ahnahld movies, or A-Team gigs have someone
leap
> onto a whole group of enemies?), but not take them out in one shot.
>
> RR
>
> RR