> I think people are taking my statements a little more extremely
than
> I meant them....
Perhaps, and I hope so, but you raise a number of situations where you think situational modifiers are necessery. I disagree, and here's how I'd resolve these situations using the standard rules. I only make one modification (and this may be in there somewhere already). If there are several factors opposing a character I generaly use the highest one as the Difficulty, even if that factor is one of the character's own Abilities.
> ....someone
> who can shapeshift or grow wings, and has fly 17, versus someone
who
> jumps on their invisible breath which is in the shape of a horse.
> They would presumably maneuver in different ways, and certain moves
> that would be fairly easy for one would be difficult for another.
Perhaps, but I can't think they'd be very common. I'd compare them directly in every situation I can think of off the top of my head.
> Or look at brave. Imagine for a moment that a warrior has brave
17,
> and for some reason has a squirrel follower, also with brave 17.
> When facing a small alynx, you wouldn't even make the warrior role,
> brave skill or not, while the squirrel would—to face a cat is a
brave
> action for a squirrel, but not for a human.
This is because the human has other abilities (much better Close Combat for example) which he can use to augment his Brave. The squirrel might have Flaws (Small for example) that might give it a negative augment. I'd simply apply these modifiers, and I think they'd probably be quite sufficient without imposing ad-hoc penalties or bonuses.
> ...Later, they need to try
> and walk across a rope strung between two towers, hundreds of feed
in
> the air, with a cross breeze. The squirrel doesn't need to make a
> brave role at all, the warrior might, depending on how the narrator
> feels about the situation.
Similarly the Squirrel can use it's sky high 'Climb' or 'Sense of Ballance' abilities to augment it's Brave, while the warrior's heavy armour and weaponry modifiers are reversed into awkward penalties.
> In a less extreme case, you need your brave to overcome and fear
> disadvantages you may have, but someone else without those fears
> doesn't need their brave in that situation. So brave is still
> relative to you.
If your character has phobias or special terrors, write thm on your character sheet and write a number next to them, then just apply them as negative augments, or even struggle against them directly in a contest.
> One more example. You and your horse both have "jump 17." In many
> situations everything is the same—say you are running along and
wish
> to hurdle a moderately wide ditch. On the other hand, to hurtle a
> man-high hedge at a full run is a challenge for the horse, but
> certainly possible, maybe a difficulty of 17. For you, it is
> probably more difficult
Because the Horse can augment with it's Big 10W, and you can't.
> ....On the other hand, you are running
> alongside a flat-bed wagon, and you want to jump up on it. Not so
> hard for you, maybe a 14. Much harder for the horse however.
Because the horse's Big 10W gives it a negative modifier, or it may even have to roll against it's own Big 10w with it's Jump ability.
Ok, I'm sure you can eventualy come up with situations that would require situational modifiers, but in the vast majority of situations you don't (well, I don't anyway). It all comes down to having the right abilities and numbers on the character sheet in the first place.
Simon Hibbs
Powered by hypermail