>
> > > The thing I find most unbelievable about the BA
> > > leader-types is not their highest values, but the fact
> > > that they apparently have whole keywords at
> > > multiple-mastery levels...
> > I think this is a serious flaw in BA. I hope subsequent
> > publications do not repeat it. Aside from the simulationist
> > argument, I think it is dramatically poor, since (as I have
> > mentioned before) the resulting leaders almost always have
> > some ability to pull out of the bag if a PC tries a clever
> > use of one of their secondary abilities.
>
> This sort of short hand is something we've been using in our
> games for some time. To make it useful, you need to use heavy
> improv penalties. So a heortling warrior keyword might give
> close combat at (close to) the full rating, but brave at -5,
> boast at -10 (more in some cultures) and stay awake at -20 or
> more.
There is a delicate balance to be struck between overwhelming the
narrator (i.e. to much detail on a leader character sheet) and
overwhelming the players (such braodbased skills that the players
cannot work around the leaders abilities). Whatever Issaries do,
someone will pillory them for it!
Graham's solution works not just for leader characters but also for
followers with keywords. Of course this opens up whole new grounds
for disputes on which skills in a keyword are primary, secondary and
tertiary and I am sure that, if Issaries adopt it, many will complain
that they should also detail in each keyword what the improv
modifiers should be!
regards,
Charles