I am fairly comfortable with those. :-)
> Wrong emphasis. Don't think 'time and materials', think about the
> description. Emphasis on time and materials is trying to simulate
> the game world process. HW (HQ) is about narrating.
A difference I'm getting (I think) better at noticing through some of the posts! The time and materials however surely give you some indication of the narrative content.
> Ask yourself, if this were a film or TV episode, what would appear
> on screen?
One of my beefs about the LOTR film was that it didn't give any idea of time passing. For example the trek through Moria took four days, the film seemed to make it a short-cut that took maybe an afternoon...
> Sure, the sword might have taken vast effort to be forged, and
> building the phaser might have required a high tech factory, but is
> that shown when the hero grabs the sword/phaser for self defence as
> the monster/alien approaches?
Depends on whether you're watching the A Team or MacGuyver! :-) I take the point but sometimes the story is about constructing the tool used, and I'd expect a multi-augment to reflect that. No??
> Actions are conventionally visible... unless declared otherwise.
> Note that the abilities 'Strong' and 'Surprisingly Strong' are
> different abilities.
Good point. I am focussed on magic just now but I see the point you are making here.
> Appropriate if the preparation is a ritual, but not if it is a
> simple augment. A simple augment has the resistance given only by
> the magnitude of the augment. Too complicated and messy, otherwise.
Yup. Agreed, but this suggests quick and dirty magic use rather than long term, planned mighty magics.
>> Would it be useful to have a guide to time required for larger and >> larger augments?
So the right question would be, how do I decide whether an augment needs days of preparation and when it requires a risky phonecall to Humakt? You say, narrative requirements??
>> Would preparations necessarily alert intended targets of such >> magic? What skills etc might be used to give warnings?
Yeah, but I'm thinking along the lines of 'I feel a disturbance in the Force' kind of stuff. If you are tuned into a particular kind of magic would you feel it being used? Would you have an inkling if it was directed at you? If it is a different kind of magic would you have a worse or the same chance of noticing it was directed at you?
> It depends on your opponents.
But I'm concerned about consistency. I'd like to know what it is appropriate to tell PCs and what preparations it would be appropriate for an opponent to have made for the coming of 'well-prepared' PCs!! :-)
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