Re: Assembling a Tricky Situations List

From: nichughes2001 <nicolas.h_at_...>
Date: Fri, 09 Mar 2007 09:45:37 -0000

• In HeroQuest-rules_at_yahoogroups.com, "Robin Laws Mail List Only"
  >
  > One of the things I want this book to do is to show GMs and players
  how to
  > handle the tough special cases that sometimes perplex folks who are
  new to
  > the system.
  >
  > Classic instances of tricky situations:
  >
  > * can I use my "Silver Tongued" ability to stop you from hitting me with
  > your "Great Big Club" ability?
  >
  

Along these lines I would like to be able to seamlessly narrate the classical tragedy situation that occurs when both abilities "win"

So the Silver Tongued person is clubbed and lying in a pool of blood AND the wielder of the Big Club is persuaded that the smooth talker is really their one best hope.

Or Big Club wielder wins the duel but finds himself ostracised by the clan for his actions. Or lots of other possible outcomes depending on the context but quite often it does not just progress the existing story it opens up new avenues for the story to take. Which is why it is a literary device with such a strong pedigree.

A single simple contest struggles to capture this, as does an extended contest. I have been leaning towards a solution of having most simple contests be multiple, so in this case you have one contest between Silver Tongued vs Stolid and another between Great Big Club vs Back Away From Maniac. That leaves simple contests for dealing with passive resistances.

--
Nic