Re:Bumping vs. Ability Increase

From: Ian Cooper <ian_hammond_cooper_at_...>
Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2006 08:22:34 +0000 (GMT)


>"Would it be cool for my character to do better here, or should I let him flounder for the moment?"We certainly found it easier to do this when we made sure that we were clear that we were resolving a conflict, not a task, and agreed up front what that contests was really about i.e. the conflict is not about whether you open the warehouse door - you won't fail at that - but whether you do it before the guards arise. So it's clearer to the player that defeat adds complication instead of blocking.

That reduced spending hero points to bump for us a lot.

They seem to be becoming more useful now to bump a roll so as to make sure you get a level of victory. This can be useful with simple contests to force a complete or major victory. Otherwise you tend to get a minor victory with a simple contest. The other option to bumping is to call for an extended contest. So the hero point gives the player the option of saying 'I want to finish this now' without going to the extended contest. It is really a kind of 'I'm bored with this plot line' veto from the player.

In fact that may be the way to think about hero points in bumping, it's a way of vetoing some story developments.  

Ian Cooper                                     



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