See those penalties up there? at -15, your "Speak [Spanish]" is 2... That's about the level of knowing "Asta la vista, baby" means "You die, punk". :-).
> > Proud of [My Nation]
>
> Nah. That's just the US, and maybe the French. Everyone else in Europe
> just has Hate [consult appropriate row of the European Hate Matrix].
Hey, I'm an American. Of *course* everyone is proud of their country! We are, so you must be too, right? Right?
> > But if you were running a game and the question came up "Can you ride a
> > bike?" the answer is either "17" (Cultural keyword) unless the player
says
> > "oh, Fed never learned to ride a bike" in which case it's 6. Don't sweat
it,
> > if it is something "everybody" does, then let it happen at Cultural
keyword
> > value.
>
> The numbers here are bonkers, though: I was disappointed to see that
> HQ screws this up incrementally more than does HW (if I recall both
> correctly). If I take the trouble to _describe_ my facility at a
> particular thingy, it ought to mean I'm better at it than if some I-I
> hack <g> just happens to decide that "everyone" in my culture can do
> this -- not vice versa! Might be better to have all your keywords
> start at 13, and give out more "elective" higher TNs (a load of 17s,
> for one); or to give a bonus, say +2 or +4, every time you 'double
> up' on a skill -- e.g. everyone in your culture does Watch TV (13), but
> your family has a 'trait' of being especially decidated couch potatoes
> (+whatever), and furthermore, you're remarkable even among them (wrote
> it down in your 100 words, have another +yadda).
Well, If you take the trouble to describe an ability that is already included in your cultural keyword, then you should also take the trouble to assign some points to it during character creation, so you *will* be better at it. Perhaps not Lance Armstrong good, but better than Mary Jane who only rides to church and back on sundays.
Just in case you haven't read that chapter recently, here's a refresher: in HQ you are no longer giver two 1w and one 5w abilities, instead you are given 20 points to spread around as you see fit (no more than +10 to any one ability, though). Narrators are free to give out more points, or automatic bonuses to Couch potatos :-). Heck, write up a "Family Generator" and see what your family did during the Cuban Missile Crises (Built an underground Bomb shelter: +3 Do It Yourself; Stayed Glued to the TV: +5 Watch TV...) or the OJ Slow-Motion chase ("There was a chase?" -2 Current events; Stayed Glued to the TV: +5 Watch TV)
So when do you use a Watch TV roll? "I'm going to watch all five Star Wars episodes! Yippee" "Uh, thats 20 hours of continuous watching, what with commercials and all; make your "Watch TV roll against 'Bodily needs 15w'." "No problem, due to my family's basic couch-potato nature, and my own efforts in that direction, I have 'Watch TV 13w3'." Okay, you're 13 hours in. Roll your sanity against "Jar-Jar Binks" at 14w5...)
:-)
RR
It is by my order and for the good of the state that the bearer of this has
done what he has done.
- Richelieu
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