1 - you don't think that this is worth worrying about - the character has had the contest with a giant tick that you wanted and the tick has had a minor victory inflicting a hurt on the hero. In this case the result was that the hero drove off the tick but not before it had a few bites at him, draining some blood and leaving him weakened.
The tick might be sated and leave, decide that it wants more but fancies easier prey and leaves, is temporarily sated but hovers about obviously waiting to attack again or:
2 - you want to continue, it was fun and you want more of the same or it is important the hero defeats the tick or dies! :-) In this instance you could do another simple contest, but the importance you are giving to the contest suggests it might be better using an extended contest instead, and battle the hero and the tick until you feel the situation is resolved.
-----Original Message----- From: bigblackcatmail [mailto:bigblackcatmail_at_...] Sent: Sun 19/10/2003 19:05 To: HeroQuest-rules_at_yahoogroups.com Cc: Subject: Simple Contest Stalemate -- The Giant Tick This question should be easy to answer, but (for me) it isn't. In fact, I don't much have an answer to it. It is most likely that I am thinking about it incorrectly or, perhaps, have the wrong take on the situation. But it has come up before in a couple of contests, and I think now I have the vocabulary to at least identify it as a cognitive speedbump. Take a normal warrior facing off against a Giant Tick. The warrior wants to either kill or drive off the Tick. Now take the Giant Tick. It wants to suck the blood out of the warrior. A simple contest ensues and the Tick gets a Minor Victory. Now, under the rules, the warrior takes a Hurt. But the Tick hasn't *really* succeeded at its goal and neither, really, has the warrior. Should another contest be attempted? Should I rule that the Tick fed until it was full and then left (while the warrior laid there paralyzed) and now the paralysis has worn off? Should I have ruled that, since the Tick was intending to *kill* its opponent that it needed a Major or Complete Victory and, therefore, failed? What about the warrior, then? Should the same stipulation apply to him? Further, what would I do if both sides required a "Complete Victory" to succeed at their stated objectives and then neither obtained one? This type of Simple Contest Stalemate has come up only a couple of times. I have identified it, but honestly don't know how to handle it. I'm fairly new to this system and this is one bug (pardon the pun) that has me sort of perplexed. Has anyone else come across this? How have you handled it? Thanks in advance for any advice you can give.
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