> In a test run, he (lets call him Rep) had to face the character of
another player, a huge angry uroxi (let's call him Huge).
>
> So Huge, basically wanting to beat the hell out of him, chose
Unarmed combat as a primary skill.
>
> Rep wants to talk him out of it by using is Greatest warrior east of
Kero Fin score.
>
> First question : When it is Huge's turn, can Rep defend with his
reputation score (and if so should he get a penalty) or should he use
a more appropriate skills like Evade Blows (augmented by his
reputation maybe)?
>
==Prob not, he defends with an appropriate ability, which if someone is clearly attacking you is usually melee. You might allow him to use his rep but I would penalise it as a highly improbable defence (the attack is on its way after all). When it comes to Reps turn he can then try to use his rep skill to talk the Uroxi out of attacking him further, and Huge would defend with an appropriate ability - possibly Stubborn... Essentially I look at it as being Huge's turn and he sets the contest, he picks fight and Rep defends as best he can. ON Reps turn he picks talk and Huge defends as best he can.
I would allow a contest for Huge to get up the courage to attack Rep, which would be some roll vs REp's rep, done as a simple contest before Huge attacks. If he fails then he doesnt attack. Thus Reps rep acts as a deterring shield to reduce probable attackers as they all have to overcome his rep first. An appropriate skill would be required for this - ignorant, hate, iconoclastic etc. A goading group of supporters could augment this...
> Second question : When Rep tries to talk him down, can Huge carry on
with his combat ability or should he used another like Determined,
Brave or No fear (augmented by his combat score perhaps)?
>
> Third question : Since the one going first chooses his abilities and
may well force a lower starting ability to the other (defending with
Evade Blows instead of Greatest warrior east of Kero Fin), how do you
determine who goes first? If we use the higher AP goes first option
it's quite easy (Sorry Rep, Huge's ability is higher so he goes first.
What are you gonna defend with?) but if you use highest bid goes
first it becomes a bidding contest (Huge : I bid 7, Rep : I bid 8,
Huge : Euh... I changed my mind, I bid 9, Rep : Hey you cannot change
your bid!, Huge : Well that's not fair you knew my bid before you
chose yours!)
>
The dynamics of who actually opens a contest are quite easy - whoever said it first. The others have commented on various options that all make sense.
The new HQ rules have a quite mechanistic solution, the action level Cautious to Reckless determine who goes first, followed by actual AP bids, followed by AP totals. This is more appropriate after that first action however.
> Fouth question : If the defending character decides to keep his
highest but less appropriate ability for his first defense(thus
incurring a penalty on the roll), does his AP starts at his ability
value or at his ability value minus the penalty?
>
The other point to think about is 'what are you setting up as GM'? Do you want Huge to attack, does he attack out of the blue, is he goaded by a goup of supporters, is he drunk, is he insane etc. What happens depends a lot on what you are trying to set up. Does Rep see him coming and get a chance to act impressive, do HIS allies provide support to him (You gonna get it now man, Rep is UBER! (honest, thats how the heortling words translated!!! Well he was a 16 year old apprentice sage...)).
It basically comes down to how you as GM want to set the encounter, and your intent. If you ant to get around REps rep then Huge attacks out of no where and pre-empts the rep defence.
Also, I tend to use simple contests to decide one off actions. The others talked about sneaking up and killing someone, or climbing a wall and attacking... well I would run them as simple contests, sneak vs awareness, climb vs the wall, get a result and THEN do the attacks, the sneak attacker makes a melee attack, bids ALL his AP etc (or just do it as another simple contest if not important), the result of his sneak roll will influence the result, major or complete success and he gains surprise +20, major or complete defeat and HE is surprised, -20.
The beauty of HQ is that we all can do things differenly and they are all valid. Your game may vary - Violence is always an option.
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