Re: magical vs.mundane resistance

From: Alex Ferguson <abf_at_...>
Date: Mon, 01 Mar 2004 23:53:29 -0000

> Actually, you didn't come up with this idea first, so I'm sorry to
pick on
> you, here. But let's say that both characters get a Minor Success.
Who threw
> the rock farther? If it's a contest, I'm afraid that "about the
same" isn't
> going to cut it.

Well, if one likes this solution otherwise, it's easy enough to extrapolate a further elaboration such as, whoever got that level of success by the larger numerical margin, on the die roll. It's further into the realm of, game mechanic we just made up, though, certainly. (And it seems unidiomatic since now we need 4 die rolls rather than 2 to resolve.)

IMO it's better to finesse the whole issue by rather than finagling the value of the numerical resistance, where one has an otherwise sensible-looking value (or where it'd normally be ignored, as being presumably equivalent for both parties), and instead adjust the rating of the _active abilities_, as seems to make sense in the situation. In which case, we a) don't have to invent new game mechanics, and b) aren't faced with false dichotomies about 'passive' vs. 'active' resistance.

Cheers,
Alex.

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