Bemps.

> > This isn't a bad idea. I've been toying with making HP (for bump
> > -up)purposes in some way inherently "flavoured", in some fashion I
> > can't quite properly articulate.
>
> I had been looking at Hero Points with the thought of requiring them to be
> 'dedicated' by players. I haven't thought this through so any comment is
> welcome. I was thinking of disallowing (or restricting) the use of 'raw'
> hero points to bump rolls. Instead they would have to dedicate hero points
> to the Gods out of game (ie before each adventure, or at set points within
> the adventure where time would be available for the ritual). That's where I
> got stuck, I like the idea of dedicating points to Orlanth or to Ernalda but
> how would that affect their use later on. Would it matter? Should there be
> a simple contest on the roll depending on its dedication?
>
> Is this all too complicated????
>
> :-)

Your thinking is not entirely unlike my own. I think. I have many a reservation about dedication to the gods per se, though, since that's such a clearly game-world thing. (A little like Rune Magic Power Points ride again, indeed.) I was thinking more on the lines of restricting what sort of "story element" you could affect (or introduce) with a given HP -- as opposed to the danger of the unvarnished rules, as Charles mentions, that they become a sort of Ablative Invincibility.

If and when someone publishes the Gloranthan Tarot or some such (Yo, Mike!) then I might take a punt at formalising these vague notions into a system of some sort -- right now they are no more than just that, vague notions.

(In my second and current HW game, following on from the experience of the first, I've been taking a much simpler (and cruder) "fix"; firstly I've "encouraged" players to spend their end-of-session HPs on related abilities, and secondly I've made bumps more "expensive" -- 3HP per. (You can get a +10 for 1HP, though.) I suspect this is in part a matter of how "ability roll heavy" one's game is; if the players perceive they'd rather have a +20 once, rather than a +1 forever and ever, on a given ability, because 20 ability rolls won't happen this side of christmas, this will naturally encourage "hoarding".)

Cheers,
Alex.