Re: Ranged magic

From: Alex Ferguson <abf_at_...>
Date: Thu, 04 Mar 2004 01:37:47 -0000

• In HeroQuest-rules_at_yahoogroups.com, Jane Williams <janewilliams20_at_y...> wrote:
  > --- Alex Ferguson <abf_at_c...> wrote:
  >
  > > > The really amazing thing that most feats can do is
  > > kill at a
  > > > distance. You can stand in the back, safely behind
  > > the shield wall, and decapitate someone.
  > >
  > > And we have an early nominee in the "least idiomatic
  > > use of a Humakt feat" competition...
  >
  > I'm not quite sure what you mean by "idiomatic" in
  > this context
  

I can cite no more appropriate precedent than Lancelot/John Cleese in Monty Python and the Holy Grail... ;-)

> but I'm struggling to visualise a
> Devotee of Humakt staying safely behind the shield
> wall while there's a fight going on. Even with two
> broken legs.

Exactly.

> Decapitating that guy at the top of the cliff, the one
> with the bow, though.... yes.

Yes, definitely. Reminds me when one of my PCs as a "neutral judge" *snicker* in a tribal gathering chose 'sword throwing' as one of the contests in some sort of ritual do-dah. The Gahlani clan, a bunch of notorious Humakt-inclined warmongers, won this handily, not so much as it's a *big* magical speciality of theirs as the "dog playing the piano" syndrome.

But struggling back to the topic... Sure, under some circumstances many Feats are viable as ranged attacks. But the idea that that's *the* thing that primarily distinguishes them from non-magical abilities fails several key tests, ranging from "making magic dramatically interesting" to "casual observation".

Cheers.
Alex.