GURPS does actually suggest and specify taking how much you made a roll by as an indicator of success or failure, and has done since about 2nd edition. And I've been using it that way for a decade and a half. I'm not "HQing GURPS", I'm using what I have always done.
> > Sorry. It's not specified in anything you said. It is implied, though,
> >to
> >an extent. If you have a trip with a, say, 17 difficulty based on a fast
> >movement rate and a good path, and a really bad roll would indicate bad
> >weather and bandits, what does a complete victory denote? Moving at a rate
> >faster than possible without magic? Or, thinking of things, finding a
> >Sartar road? :)
>
>It means whatever you think it should mean. Mechanically it means that the
>resisting force got a defeat. For a complete defeat, I'd just say that you
>< snip >
>endurance and any more such resistances will be reduced by the penalty
>amount. I could go on and on.
Fair enough.
>In any case, of course it's going to make sense, why would I do otherwise?
>Just like your use of the GURPS mechanisms, you wouldn't have that health
>roll mean that they went 100 MPH, right? Why would you suspect that I would
>do something that silly myself in interpreting the result?
Sorry, I was exaggerating for effect. Because HQ is more abstract than most systems, you do have to specify what a resistance means. "Resistance 17, on the goal of getting to X on time, and particularly before Y gets there," is much better than "Reisistance 17" on its own. One must add context, always, as there is no inherent context to just giving a resistance.
> > We aren't, I don't think. I'm not. But you have to have the distance and
> >travel rate numbers to base difficulty on.
> > To get back to basics for this thread; given Jane's original problem,
> >how would you work it out? Please give all working, not just your difficulty
> >results. ;)
>
>I started with the fifty mile figure, saying that it was a maximum potential
>pace, and giving a high difficulty for that, to represent the likely damage
>< snip >
>don't bother doing the calculations. This describes my method of doing
>travel in the style of game in which I play (which, obviously, is not
>everybody's style).
>
>Is that any more clear now?
Is good. Thanks. So, you do work out time and distance and travel rate and comparisons, if it's necessary, and then work a resistance based on that. Cool.
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