Re: Re: Puma Person question

From: Andrew Solovay <asolovay_at_...>
Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2004 14:52:45 -0700

bethexton_at_... wrote:
> wrote:

>> On p. 50 of HeroQuest, we get the Puma Person write-up. I've got a
>> question on their shapechanging:
>>

> Just so you don't feel ignored....yah, that is a good question. If
> you can't get a "we meant it this way" from someone in the know,
> then I guess it comes down to the old rule of thumb "whatever seems
> most fun to you."

If I can get all talmudic, I might suggest this way of reconciling "any success is a success" with "a marginal success means you only change a little bit"...

One might say that any success means you change, but the level of success indicates how quickly you change--so a marginal success might mean you don't change quickly enough to do any good *in this situation*.

So... If the party can take their time--if, say, the party is doing all their "prepare for battle" rituals and spells, and the puma person says, "I want to go into battle in puma form"--then, yes, a marginal success is good enough. The change is slow and painful, but he isn't in a hurry.

But if he's in a rush, if a bear is charging *now* and he wants to change *now* so he can climb up a tree *now*, a marginal success might not be good enough--it might result in "You have whiskers and claws, but you're still bipedal".

But even there, I'd be more inclined to have the GM assign a penalty--"You're rushing, that's a -5"--and have "any success means a success". Then, if he gets a marginal *failure*, the generous GM can say, "Nope, all you've done is the claws. But I'll let you use the claws for a +2 to your human tree-climbing skill."