At 5:39 PM +0000 3/20/03, simon_hibbs2 wrote:
>wrote:
>
>> Exactly. Or change resistances. I'm usually very subjective
>(aribtrary? ;)
>> ) on assessing resistances anyway. Isn't it simpler to change
>things when
>> they matter than to worry about them from the beginning? In other
>words, I'd
>> apply modifiers only if there's a Bison Rider that attempts the
>same action,
>> or make the task easier for him by lowering the resistance to his
>roll,
>> otherwise I wouldn't bother. And only if I wanted to emphasize the
>point.
>
>Generaly, I'd only impose relative modifiers like this is there's
>a very clear case for doing so. For example, if a Lunar cavalry
>officer finds himself challenged to a traditional Pentan game
>played on horseback, he gets a penalty. If a Pentan nomad gets
>challenged to traditional Lunar cavalry practice tests, he
>gets a penalty. In both cases there's a direct and obvious
>case for a modifier because the character is being deliberately
>stitched up.
Exactly. If Pentans are known as better riders than
Heortlings, it's not because Pentans always get some sort of bonus to
Riding tests. It's because that Ride is a very common skill in Pentan
culture; almost everyone will have it at 17, many people will have it
at 10W, and abilities in the low W2s are probably fairly common. Most
Heortlings don't ride, and abilities in even the low Ws are probably
fairly rare. So your average Pentan will ride rings around your
average Heortling (with their Default Ride 6), but the hero Hrut
Horsemaster, with his 10W3 Ride Horse ability will still defeat most
Pentans, even if he gets a penalty for playing some Pentan game
unfamiliar to him (where a "relative penalty" is completely
appropriate -- Hrut is penalized for his unfamiliarity with the task,
not because his Ride is substantially different from the Pentans').
Peter Larsen