Re: Implicit and explicit factors in Extended Contests

From: Paul Andrew King <paul_at_...>
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 07:55:46 +0000

>The Implicit expectation is that you will advance towards your contest
>oal - not just "get in a position to take an action", but actually gain on
>your opponent. This is my problem with the "you have to fix the problem
>before you go on" theory. "Fixing a problem" (whether psyching yourself up
>or getting up from the floor) is, to me, treading water without going
>forward. Every action should have the possibility of going forward - What
>happens when "I spend the round getting up" turns into a Crit-Fumble and I
>get the 3x transfer? Wow, I *really* must have psyched myself up! So much so
>that...err...he sees how psyched I am and gets scared ?!? "I [fix the
>problem] and [do a suitable action]" both fixes the problem, *and* advances
>me towards my goal. If the narrator wants me to make a larger bid, or take a
>penalty, or specify how I'm fixing the problem that's okay. But saying "You
>can't do Y until you do X" was not my intention when working on the rules.

Of course that can be countered by pointing to the p189 example of jumping over the hedge and hitting the monster. Jumping over the hedge is not an action that directly advances the contest, instead it is about getting around an obstacle. Nevertheless it is an action and in the example the GM rules that the player cannot combine it with an attack.

If the action cannot win the contest, then keep the AP bid low so it cannot win the contest. Remember that a 3x transfer requires a *fumble* by the other party - how did *he* mess up ("his ill-chosen insults make you angrier and more determined", perhaps) ?

Simply forbidding actions that are about improving the position ready for a strike would seem to rule out a lot of low AP bids. I'm not happy about something that seems to say "no, you can't bid that low"

-- 
--
"The T'ang emperors were strong believers in the pills of 
immortality.  More emperors died of poisoning from ingesting minerals 
in the T'ang than in any other dynasty" - Eva Wong _The Shambhala 
Guide to Taoism_

Paul K.