Re: Re: Assembling a Tricky Situations List

From: Ashley Munday <aescleal_at_...>
Date: Fri, 9 Mar 2007 08:53:51 +0000 (GMT)

We don't need a tricky situation list - lets have a list of examples of how to narrate things. Ask Vincent Baker if you can nick his list of examples out of DiTV and translate them to HQ. We need things that help reinforce the mental model of what the game's about - if we get that right, there aren't any tricky situations left to cover.

When you boil it down HQ is marvellously simple. For simple contests it's work out what the character wants to achieve, have them narrate how they're going to do it (which determines ability score + augments), pull the difficulty out of yer bum according to taste, roll the dice and bingo, you know what happens.

The problems come with all the other guff that's been piled on top. It's like someone saw the system and said "Wow, that's so cool and simple, but there aren't enough special cases. I'd better make them up."

If you make an ability an ability and stop trying to classify them the game becomes a lot cleaner. A shaman with a 10W2 "cause fear" spirit has the same game mechanical impact as "My enemies shit themselves when they see me." They can probably be defended against in the same way [1]. Likewise equipment bonuses could be done away with - assume that you can only use the ability with equipment, if you haven't got the right gear then big improv penalty.

All this stuff about physical simulation ("how far can I run...", "how much can I lift...") is answered really simply: It doesn't matter. Abilities only have a meaning in the context of what they're used in. So with "Strong 17" I've got about a 50/50 chance of winning a contest that involves an obstacle of resistance 17, however you measure it. Concentrate on the narration, don't get bogged down in the physicality of it all. Don't get sucked into considerations of encumbrance, lifting gates, bending bars and whether you've got a 12" movement rate.

So how long does it take to get 10 miles to the fort? It doesn't matter in terms of time. Not one bit... The real question is "Do you get to the fort in time?" There are two basic possible answers, yes and no. You could extend this a bit to take into account the various success levels ("in plenty of time", "in the nick of time", "just too late", "it's all over") but exactly how long it takes doesn't matter.

Judge the difficultly according to your conception of how difficult it is:

• Any muppet could do it: Don't roll
• Joe Average could do it: 14
• You could brag about this one down the pub: 10W1
• Stand aside, I'm a professional: 10W2
• It's underpants outside trousers time: 10W4

Anyway, this is veering off topic. The point is we need good examples of narration, not how to handle "special cases" that come from a wonky mental model of how the game works. Of course, it could be my mental model is wrong, if it is just ignore me...

Cheers,

Ash

[1] Certain fetishists might have "interesting" defenses against the second...