> Re: Joining an Extended Contest
> Posted by: "Mike Holmes" mike_c_holmes_at_... mike_c_holmes
> Tue Nov 21, 2006 1:07 pm (PST)
>
> >From: Brian Curley <bkcurley_at_...>
> >
> >Should the unimpeded heroes act first because their actions aren't
> >restricted by an opponents actions? Should they act last because
> >everyone else is already *in* combat?
> >
> >A similar situation also arises concerning how a hero would join an
> >extended contest that's already under way (i.e. a hero happens on a
> >fight already in progress, an ongoing debate, etc).
> >
> >Is there a clear statement in the rulebook that I'm just missing?
>
> I use two methods, both supported by the book.
>
> First, there's the "dramatic entry" method. This is especially useful
> for
> people leaping in. It basically says that you can sorta tell in a
> situation
> who should go when based on the attacker going first. Did the broo
> attack
> from surprise? Then they go first. Did somebody join in the debate?
> Then
> they go right now, right as they decide to interject (although you
> could
> read the rules as saying they can't get a pool in this contest - they
> can
> only augment at this point).
>
> Second, where it's not so clear - maybe the broo ran up, giving them
> all
> time to prepare (to say nothing of whether the unengaged heroes go
> before
> the engaged ones) - then I use the AP totals to decide who goes when.
> Pretty
> straightforward.
Um... yeah, I know this. My question was specifically on what happens when someone *joins* a group extended contest that's *already under way*.
> But there's two other considerations - why are there two "unengaged"
> PCs?
> Just because there are only four broo? The "Broo Team" is attacking
> the
> "Hero Team." They are all under attack. The broo don't have to declare
> which
> pool they're targeting until their turn.
Each PC has their APs determined when they act, or when they have to resist. Since the Broo in my example are attacking from surprise, they choose their targets (i.e. four of the PCs, since they don't want to try attacking multiple defenders). Only those four PCs attacked have the AP values determined. The remaining two do not. My question is, when the surprise round is over, how do you determine when those two PCs act since their AP values have not been set?
> And, further, the broo team, at least, and perahps the heroes too,
> could
> actually be just one pool each. This is how I determine this. I
> declare for
> all of the narrator characters what goals they have, and for all that
> are
> the same, I make them a "team" and assign a leader. The rest of the
> team
> simply lends AP to the leader. Then I ask the players to indicate
> goals. If
> any of them have goals that coincide, I ask them if they want to be a
> leader. If they want, they can, instead, simply lend AP to a leader
> with the
> same goal. Often this means that the entire team ends up behind one
> player
> hero. But often not.
Our players must be of different breeds, because mine always want to roll their own dice instead of choosing one person to roll for them. But if I could convince them to go with your method, it would really streamline group extended contests.
I still wonder if there's an "by the book" way of handling this that I've just been missing.
BKC
-- "In my opinion, Americans are not getting screwed by the Republican Party. They are getting screwed by Large Corporations that bought and own the Republican Party." - Molly Ivins
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