> My comment to the FAQ committee was "Don't make a rule about it,
but instead
> give suggestions of how to handle it. Keep Big Gub'mint out of Hero
> Creation"
>
Hmmm, there will certainly be lots of folk upset at not having a rule, but maybe the ambiguity is good....some will take a devotee for the power, but the narrator has a bit of a brake available in this regard.
Reading through your suggestions however, it suddenly hit me how much some of the subtle changes going from HW to HQ can add up.
For example, my first ever HW character sketch was of a Yinkin devotee. His focus abilities were hunting affinity 5W, close combat 1W, sweet-talk 1W. From the write up, the close combat included claw and bit fighting of course, but also a weapon or two, which would also be at 1W. With claw and bite fighting he'd of course augment with "grow claws", for typically 4W before other augments--probably a point better than most people who took combat 1W, but he'd not have the edge that someone using weapons would have, which should about balance it out. Of course, in many situation he'd actually attack with hunting magic, using leap from hiding (5W) followed by paralyzing bite (5W), which would probably go against weaker defenses in many cases.
Switch to HQ: First of all, 3 development points go to being a devotee. Then, probably don't have all of the feats. Next, look at the combat, well, his cultural key word now gives spear and shield 17, but his other weapons are probably at 13. He can't get hunting magic, combat, and charming up to the same net levels as before (that would take 20 points, he has 17 left). Nor can he increase all of his weapons. Assume he takes the hit in Sweet Talk and makes claw and bite combat 1W, hunting magic 5W. Now enter combat, his reasonably equipped oponent has a +5 from light armor, shield, and a spear, plus at least a +2 augment from magic (if not from affinities, then probably from common magic). The Yinkini has +3 from hunting, and +1 from armor. He is at -3 compared to his opponent, and clearly at a disadvantage. If he switches to spear and shield he is even worse off, unless he raised that skill instead of claw and bite combat, but what fun is that? He could still use his feats to attack, but that would mean giving up some of the other hunting feats which have their own uses.
In no way is this meant to knock HQ, I think it is a big improvement over HW. I'm just trying to point out that it does shift the balance between types of hero somewhat. I think HQ makes good equpment a better investment at hero generation, and in terms of raw power devotees probably don't have nearly as much of an edge as they used to have, if any (they may still have more flexibility in certain situation, depending on the feats available to them).
I guess what I'm trying to get at after all this Friday afternoon rambling is: don't assume what made sense, hero wise, in HW is still the best choice in HQ.
--Bryan
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