- In HeroQuest-rules_at_yahoogroups.com, "Bruce Ferrie"
<bruceferrie_at_t...> wrote:
> I think that if you're giving equipment bonuses for weapons and
armour
> for combat, the same should apply to equipment used for non-combat
> tasks. HQ p78 lists the bonuses as being for a "Weapon or Tool" and
> includes rope for climbing a wall as an example. I think this should
> apply just as much to first aid kits, cooking utensils, musical
> instruments and quality clothes, in the appropriate contests.
<snip excellent examples>
I've mulled over the same thing. I wondered if it made more sense to
usually ignore armor and weapons and only give modifiers when there
is a mis-match. At first I was pretty excited by the idea, as it
would clear out some calculation (which really slows some people up),
but then I saw a couple of reasons to maybe keep it the way that it
is:
- As the examples show, it isn't always armor and weapons and how
they balance. A better tool should make life easier. You can do
first aid by ripping strips off your tunic and using branches for
splints, but proper tools and equipment will help.
- Using relative values, you have to compare each pair of
contestants for equipment all of the time. I think this actually
ends up be more intrusive than just having tha values added in, and
trying to remember that occasionally they don't apply.
I agree that it is esthetically displeasing that you can never* use
the skill at its rated value, however.
- never is not quite the case. You may occasionally have very poor
equipment that negates penalties but doesn't supply a bonus, like a
wooken practice sword and a light wicker practice shield for sword
and shield--they let you use the skill perfectly well, they just
don't add any useful value.
--Bryan