Re: comparing ratings

From: Roderick and Ellen Robertson <rjremr_at_...>
Date: Wed, 21 Aug 2002 00:34:01 -0700


>I think this is incorrect:
>a bird flys quicker than a (human)swimmer and maybe as fast or quicker,
than
>"swinging through treetops on jungle vine".You can only compare things that
>have similar "sizes".Similar speed with similar speed.So, you can compare
>these abilities,but not unmodified ! The quickest would get a bonus, judged
>by the GM on his ability!I think, this is quite obvious !

Nope, I stand by what I said.

If I'm in a race using "Run fast 14" against a falcon with "Fly fast 14", a
giant with "Leap far 14", a monkey with "Swing quickly on vines 14" and a
fish with "Swim fast 14" (just to pick abilities and numbers out of the
air), then I have an even chance of getting to the finish line ahead of them all on a straight course, no Hero Points, each creature in its proper environment, etc.

I don't give a darn what the real world abilities of a falcon, monkey or fish are, I want to know how they compare to my ability to run. Saying "a horse will always outrun a human" makes less sense in Glorantha than in most other RPGs, because we know that there are people that can, in fact, out-run a horse on any course you'd like. The *average* horse will outrun the *average* man (who, after all, only has Run 6), but Player characters are, pretty much by definition and design, not Average.

The difference in chance of "winning" should lie in the ability rating, not some "Horses are faster, so it should get a bonus" dodge. If you think the horse should be faster, than upgrade its ability rating to allow it to beat most people who have spent some HP on Running.

>You can�t, universally, compare movement abilities, but you can compare
>similar speeds.

Sure you can. In Glorantha, there are people that can out-run a horse, out-fly an albatross, out-think Big Blue, leap tall buildings in a single bound, and otherwise outperform any *mundane* animal going (maybe not all in one person...). And yes, there are Horses, Albtrosses, etc. that can outperform heroes, but they are magical things, not mundane.

>You can compare combatskills,unmodified, as long as they have the same
>speed.But imagine a human versus a lightning quick creature, in that case
the
>human would get a malus.

Why? Combat is combat is combat, just as Movement is movement is movement. If you want to show that "Lightning Quick" affects combat, use it as an augment (or use it as the primary ability augmented by Close Combat). Just because something is fast doesn't mean that it can actually hit, or do enough damage to harm its opponent when it does. Most wild west shootouts were *not* won by the quickest draw, but by the most accurate shot (the trick is to find the point where "draw fast" meets "hit what you shoot at"...).

>You can compare Strength as long as the creatures use similar or comparable
>sources of their strength(like muscles,etc.)-it depends on the creature,
>maybe, by definition a Cthulhu slimemonster�s strength is superior to
earthly
>muscles- then the monster would get a bonus.

Nonsense. Your Slimemonster may have other abilities that can be used to augment "Strength", but Strength is strength. You can hand-wave that you gave the slimemonster 15w4 Strength because it has extra-terrestial origin and uses non-euclidian space to move things about, but don't give it Strength 15 and then claim some bogus additional modifier because "its not human".

You'll have to remember that it should be stronger than a human *every time* you trot it out. And then one day, at the end of a long session, you'll forget to add your "Extraterrestial origin" modifier, and you'll be looking at a dead slime puddle and wonder what went wrong. Much easier to give it the higher ability rating in the first place.

Roderick

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