Re: Building an Experienced Character

From: Thomas Bagwell <tom.bagwell_at_...>
Date: Thu, 23 Jun 2005 20:26:13 -0000

• In HeroQuest-rules_at_yahoogroups.com, "Mike Holmes" <mike_c_holmes_at_y...> wrote:
  >
  > This is the second time I've seen this idea proffered. That
  > giving out less AE will somehow make the system easier for
  > players to adjust to. I frankly can't see at all the point? The
  > system works precisely the same at any level of ability. So I'm
  > curious as to what you're getting at here.
  

I'm doing to see how the characters feel at this level. If they seem underpowered, then I'll bump them further. I'd far rather do this than to ask them to take points away later. That's all, really.    

> No, see, you're not following my line of reasoning. We know that
> the characters did enough interesting things between when they
> were "starting characters" and when you want to introduce them as
> HQ characters with experience that they got to 15th or 20th level.
> What this says is that they did, in fact, live through enough
> interesting times to merit more. Basically, if you actually had
> played through all of this stuff using HQ, the characters would
> have a lot more HP that they would have had to spend on their
> characters to lift them up. The AE in this case is just a shortcut
> to represent that spending, since you've done all of this
> "background" and not in play.

Of the 15-20 years that have passed, they have spent about 10 actively "adventuring". The rest they've spent on various private pursuits.

I'm also addressing a bit of power-creep that seeped in toward the end.

> Basically if you only give them experince for their downtime, and
> not for all of the advnetures they've had, then they won't be as
> experienced as they should be. Right?

I'm trying to give them the experience they've earned for active adventuring, plus some for the downtime.  

> What I'm afraid of is that they're going to meet up with a
> rampaging giant, the sort that they used to stomp for lunch in the
> original system, walk up to it and get their asses handed to them.
> Which is not to say that the original system's scale is good so
> much that you're not even keeping up with the "Gloranthan" level
> of competence with what you're suggesting. You're going to get
> characters who, on the resistance scale, would be something
> like "Vetran soldiers." Not the heroes that they remember their
> characters as being.

Frankly, they were finding certain foes that should have been a challenge to be too easy. That was one of my sources of dissatisfaction with the old system. So I plan to give them a big chunk of advancement and see how it fits. If it doesn't feel like enough, I'll give them more.

Tom B.