Darran wrote:
...
> I think that giving NPCs HP will allow the players' Heroes treat the
> Narrators NPC villain to be treated like a player character i.e. with
> respect. The villain will be able to counter the good luck or fate the
> Heroes have
...
You seem to be saying that it is 'unfair' (to the Narrator, I assume)
that the players get HPs, but that NPCs don't. I don't think that
asymmetry is at all unfair. The Narrator gets to secretly design the
scenes, the NPCs and the sequence of scenes. The PCs have no similar
control over the course of the game; isn't that 'unfair' (to the
players)? Player bumps using HPs counteract that.
When might NPC HP bumps be a 'good idea', in your opinion?
- Are NPC HP bumps a good idea when the PCs have 'played well'
(either cunningly planned, or described their actions well, or
whatever) to thwarrt/capture/kill the NPC? To have the NPC escape in
such circumstances is to punish good play--- why bother putting
effort into good play, when the outcome (the NPC escapes) is the same
regardless? If the PCs have invested much mental effort in playing
well, why not reward them by letting them have the success they
deserve?
- Are NPC HP bumps a good idea when the NPC is 'unlucky', rolling
badly with the PCs rolling well? I think this reasoning is more
subtly wrong. When designing the NPC, the Narrator got to choose all
the abilities of that NPC. She got to choose just how tough that NPC
is, relative to the PCs. She got to choose where that NPC was on a
continuum from always-beats-the-PCs through to
always-looses-to-the-PCs. Probability of winning is the way that HW
represents the intermediate points along that continuum. As I
mentioned in an earlier post, having a stock of HPs is just like
having a higher ability. If it seems that it is 'too easy' for the
PCs to defeat the NPCs, having NPC HP bumps will solve this, but why
not simply make the NPCs tougher?
- You might have wanted the NPC to last several contest rounds (or
even scenes or episodes), to test the players and show them just how
tough the NPC is, and to develop the plot, but instead the PCs kill
him in two rounds. A real let down. Are NPC HP bumps a good idea to
prevent this? Is this really a game mechanical problem? I think its
more of an episode design problem. The Narrator gets to choose the
scenes, the contest difficulty and the outcopmes for victory and
defeat. The Narrator is a hostage to fortune only if she wants to be.
If you don't want Dr. Evil to die until the final climatic battle,
don't have any earlier contests in which death of Dr. Evil is a
possible outcome! Set them up so the best that the PCs can do is
wound him, or greatly reduce his minions. If you really want to show
the PCs how tough Dr. Evil is, have the best the PCs can do is to
reduce the magnitude of the bad things done by Dr. Evil, rather than
stop them altogether. An example, based on a real episode Narrated by
Ian Cooper: the PCs are ambushed by bandits intent on taking
captives. It transpired, this was vital for a later part of the plot,
where the captives were in danger of being scarified in an Evil Magic
Ceremony(TM), the climax of the episode. Had the PCs completely
defeated the bandits, the episode would have been over as soon as it
begun. Instead of trying to simulate a combat between the two sides,
have the defeat or victory level merely determined how many
supporting characters (followers, allies), or even PCs, are captured
by the bandits. Decide that not even 'complete victory' can prevent
the capture of at least one supporting character.
- In the sources, it transpires that the Evil Bad Guys, although
seemingly blown to bits/burnt to a crisp, actually ducked through a
secret door/regenerated after everyone left. Are NPC HP bumps good
for representing this? Another option is to give Dr. Evil a Secret
Door, Regeneration or even Amazing Escape ability. Also, remember
that you need to drive Dr. Evil to complete defeat to kill him;
anything else gives him the chance to escape (but thereafter
weakened). Finally, the players should be entering into the spirit of
the game. When we were RQ grubby adventurers, melees would be
followed up by a grim mopping up operation, making sure all the
baddies were REALLY dead. Now we're HW heroes, we should stand around
and declare 'So that's the end of Dr. Evil', but in no circumstances
do anything to prevent Igor later removing the stake through Dr.
Evil's heart, etc.