Re: Simple Contest Stalemate -- The Giant Tick

From: bigblackcatmail <bigblackcatmail_at_...>
Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 15:13:46 -0000

Thanks for all the replies. I had cross-posted this situation on the Forge as well. Apparently, my hang-up with what I termed "Simple Contest Stalemate" had more to do with my approach to contests in HeroQuest than the contests themselves.

Coming from a fairly hackneyed background in RPGs, I was looking at contests through the lens of what Mike Holmes termed "task-based resolution". This would be akin to a Spot or Listen check in D&D. Mike highlighted that, in HeroQuest, the issue was more about conflict based resolution and offered some excellent pointers to help me remember and stick to this in play.

Among the pointers offered to me was prompting players for their objectives. Rather than accepting "I hit him" as a declaration of intent, I was to clarify the player's objectives by asking a follow-up question for unclear declarations: "So you're trying to stop him from getting away?"

Also, Mike suggested that I focus on the minor victory/defeat implications, rather than the major and complete results. His assessment was that if I had no clear implications for a minor degree of success or defeat then I wasn't defining my conflicts well enough.

Both of these suggestions, among many others, solved my problems with Simple Contests "stalemating". We had a great game. Thanks to everyone online who offered their assistance. I appreciate it.