> I am caressing the idea of introducing in my campaign this house rule:
> I would like to know your comments in advance, anyway.
>
> DIVINE STRIKE TECHNIQUE (available only to Devotees or Disciples and
> maybe only to selected cults)
>
> When in very dire straits (as in a HQ or against an incarnated
> godling)
If the hero is as powerful as, or more powerful than an incarnated godling, being against an incarnated godling does not place the hero 'in very dire straits'.
Who decides whether the hero is 'in very dire straits'? I don't recall any other rules that apply only when a character is in dire straits. Does the Narrator decide? This takes control of the character out of the player's hands, which seems against the spirit of the game ('learn to say yes'). If the player decides, it could happen at any time. Perhaps it would be better to say 'Disciples and devotees of some cults have the option of a Divine Strike'.
> a hero can use a Feat from an affinity of his using as TN
> the added values of his Affinity + his Relationship to Deity.
> If he scores a Complete Victory against the opposition, he wins but
> he loses half the affinity value used in play. If he scores a
> Complete Defeat (Ugh! You didn't tell me that that was the *real*
> Cacodemon, pal!!), he loses both his whole affinity rating and his
> relationship to his deity. In other outcomes, he can win or lose,
> but "merely" loses the whole affinity used in the Divine Strike.
Losing half your affinity is as good as losing all of it when you are in the W3--W4 range, since it will become useless against your typical opponents (who will also be in the W3--W4 range). For characters in the
W2 range it will be only marginally better than losing the ability entirely. For characters in the W range, it is no better than losing the ability entirely because the halved ability will be little better than a starting ability (12). The distinction between entirely losing the ability and losing only half of it seems unnecessary.
I'd say that no rules should multiply (or divide) abilities, because of the logarithmic game scale, as repeatedly discussed on this list.
Presumably you mean this to be resolved as a simple contest, but do not say so.
If your intention is that this is used 'in dire straits', it should only ever be used within an extended contest. No player character should be placed in dire straits outside an extended contest (more of this below). A player in an extended contest has many options. In particular, they can choose to bid high and spend a hero point to bump the level of success. That can defeat your opponent in one round (I've done so against an opponent who had +40 on me). Repeated use of that trick allows you to face opponents quite far above your ability (I often face opponents with +15 to +20 on my best ability). Given the choice between a handful of HPs for bumping big bids, and shedding (the equivalent of) tens or hundreds of HPs by losing an affinity, why would any player choose a 'Divine Strike'?
Your intention seems to be to provide player characters with an emergency way of keeping a character alive even when faced with an opponent who completely outclasses them. No player character should ever face an opponent who completely outclasses them. The Narrator has complete control over the power of the opponents, and whether there is a contest at all. If the plot requires exceedingly powerful opponents, have them work through underlings (e.g. The Red Emperor tends to send his soldiers rather than deal with problems himself) or don't have a contest at all (e.g. just announce that The Red Emperor captures the players, imprisons them in his dungeon, tells them his dastardly plans, then leaves them to certain death from the glowing red rock that will explode in 7 minutes).
I'm not sure this extra rule is useful as written.
Powered by hypermail