Re: HP rationale

From: Benedict Adamson <yahoo_at_...>
Date: Sun, 01 Sep 2002 20:22:59 +0100

> Is this rationale correct and coherent with the HW system approach,
> IYO:
...
> [The Narrator] should also [tell] [players] to spend *more* HPs when
> they lazily (the capital sin of the players) avoid storytelling their
> part.
...

I think this is likely to annoy players.

HPs are something 'given' to the players. The players are likely to view the HPs as 'theirs', to use as they please (according to the rules). If the Narrator starts meddling, telling the players how they must spend HPs, the HPs are not 'owned' by the players; she has effectively merely placed the HPs on the players' character sheets as an administrative convenience. I think players are likely to resent the Narrator 'taking away' something that they perceive as 'theirs'. I know I would.

I think this is against the spirit of the game mechanics.

The game mechanics have surprisingly few ways in which the players can control the course of the game AS A GAME (since the Narrator sets up all the contests and decides the abilities and ratings of the opponents). Expenditure of HPs (either as bumps or ability improvements) is how players control the course of the game. Weakening the use of HPs is therefore, I think, reducing what little player control of the game there is. This is against the spirit of the game as a JOINT effort.