Re: Re: comparing ratings

From: Roderick and Ellen Robertson <rjremr_at_...>
Date: Wed, 21 Aug 2002 11:10:39 -0700

> If the written name of the ability of one participant is more
> specifically suited to the conditions of the contest, then I would
> apply a situation modifier. If the contest was 1 on 1, I would apply
> a minus to the other participant. If the contest involved many, I
> would apply a plus to the more specific rating.
>
> For example, Run Fast versus Running. If the contest was a short
> race, then I would favour Run Fast. If the contest was over a long
> distance, I would probably (but not definitely) favour Running.

I agree, which is why I made sure that all my examples had a speed modifier built in :-)

and not to pick on Charles, but it's a good place to put all my thoughts/replies in one place...

The example was specifically set up so that all creatures are in their preferred environments, there are no impediments to their movement, and no HP are used. These kind of things will scew the outcome one way or another.

Also note that all the creatures have the same ability rating, which, by Mastery Cancelling, comes down to "14" - they could all be a mundane 14, a heroic 14w3, or a godly 14w6, it doesn't matter. I'm not looking at the "base speed" of an animal, but the animal in comparison to others with similar abilities with the same Rating. You can substitute "Tortoise" for "Horse", the important part is that 14 in "Run Fast" (Why a tortoise has a Run Fast ability I'll leave up to the Myth-Wallahs).

Christan says:
>If your rating for any movement ability, for example, is 5w-it means you
are
>quite good at it, right?!
>So a giant, who maybe moves 5m(on default of 6) per step and a giant who
>trained running, and thus runs 7m(or any other number), is quicker than a
>bird(rating 6), who flies only 2m in the same time, that the giant moves
>7m.So how can you say you don�t give a darn how quick they are in
reality???
>The rating describes how good a character is with his specific skill.You
can
>compare the rating with any other human, but not with movement skills, that
>rely on quicker or slower forms,that�s what i believe!

I don't care what their base movement is. HW/HQ doesn't care. You won't find a listing of "Base Movement Rates" in the rules. The ability rating is an indication of how well you can *use* your ability.

The basic flaw in your argument in Giant vrs Bird is that the Giant is really using his Large, not his Running, in the contest (longer legs gives a bigger stride). So it's not surprising that his "Large 18w" beats the bird's "Fly 6", because you're comparing apples and oranges. If the bird had "Fly 18w", it would be just as fast as the giant (again, we're only looking at raw scores and not concerned with what the course is, or the wind, or any other situational modifiers, and not augmenting with anything).

RR