Allow a set of choices that are automatically successful? Sure, that seems fine. But these seem like such cool opportunities for contests to make the conversion "correctly." In fact, while the other poster has a point about just allowing bonuses to add directly to abilites when appropriate, I think that these make fun contests, too.
For example, we all know that gold is valuable, but an Orlanthi values cattle. Basically, an Orlanthi is going to have no idea how to incorporate a sack of gold into his wealth. Wealth is not money. Ask anyone in the financial world. To make that gold into wealth, should require some sort of investment scheme. Until then, the bonus for a sack of gold is good for making one big purchase or something, and then I'd rule it was used up.
If a player with a Heortling character wants to make that gold into wealth, I'll have him do a contest to make the conversion. We'll probably end up doing something like having him purchase some cattle with it. This'll use some of his abilities that'll show just how good a Heortling he really is. If he fails, the cattle he purchases are weak and don't last the winter. If he succeeds, then the cattle are a fine addition, and his wealth rating goes up to represent it (assuming he pays the HP to cement).
Sure you can just skip all of this, but it's fun stuff. The neat thing is that if you keep rewards as bonuses, then you can assume that they expire after a while if not cemented. That bag of gold gets spent on many long nights of celebration, and in the end, it's squandered. A heads up player will use the celebrations as a way to increase his relationship with the community by using one of these contests.
>Another option entirely that has been forming in the back of my head,
>but which I haven't thought about in detail yet, would be to allow
>players to have a list of non-HP cemented "disposable" items. A bag
>of coins, a bottle of fine wine, a secret, a favor owed. In
>appropriate situations they could cash these in for a bonus in an
>appropriate contest. As I said, I wouldn't want to make them cement
>them, as who will spend an HP for a temporary item?
This is how it works now. That is, these are just appropriate situational bonuses. You're just listing them before seeing the situation in which they'll be used, which is fine (presumably the bonus would change if the situation wasn't particularly suitable, or was more suitable). This seems to be standard practice from some of what the book says. And any bonus not cemented "expires" when appropriate.
>But at the same
>time you don't want to encourage massive scavenging. I'm not quite
>sure how to control that. Also I note that this is directly contrary
>to the stated episodic-dramatic intended sytle of HQ, in which one
>shot items don't carry over from episode to episode.
This is the usual point at which things expire. Again, the sack of gold gets spent on wine and women. Or the new friendship is allowed to dissapate as you forget to write. Or the Clan Sword of Broo-Gutting (a fully rated item) ends up being given to the clan where it rightfully belongs. The only way to prevent this is to spend a HP to cement the item. That includes cementing bonuses as additions to abilities, by my reading. This is where that reward of +1 Sack of Gold, would normally become +1 to your Wealth rating automatically (again, per the other poster).
I just like the option to make these into contests.
Mike
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