>From: "Rob" <robert_m_davis_at_...>
>
>Don't you think that you are being too slavish to the result. So its
>marginal on a simple contest. Do you always have to narrate it as
>such? I don't.
I, for one, am pretty "slavish" to the results. In fact, I've put a lot of thought into how best to interpret the rules to produce good results following the rules. And I think that the variation produced by HQ is actually a good range (especially as somebody pointed out, with the addition of HP in the mix - note how often a marginal defeat becomes a minor victory).
This isn't the same thing as saying that the character has to look bad. You can still follow the principle of making the character look good, even with "marginal" results.
I'm actually very fond of marginal results, becuse I always narrate in some sort of downside for the winner of the marginal victory, or a small benefit for the loser of a marginal defeat (I think something like this is suggested, at least vaguely, in the rules). Like a Marginal Victory in a fight might mean that, though you got your goal, and ran off your opponent, that you got somewhat turned around chasing him so vigorously, and now have to do a contest to find your way back to camp. That sort of thing. Conflict arising from victories as well as defeats.
That makes Marginal Defeats pretty complex in outcome. Give it a try, you might find it makes them worth persuing as their own thing. Marginal doesn't have to mean dull, or demeaning for it to still be somehow marginal. I think that they're becoming, more and more, my favorite results.
Mike
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