> We dont need to simulate a fight between spiderman strength 12 and
godzilla
> strength 12m10, because godzilla will win this fight anyway !
> There is no drama in rolling this contest !
Which is exactly what I said :)
BUT:
> Stop looking at the scale. Look at the story you want to narrate
with your
> players. And everything comes from there. Every opposing rating is
defined by
> the story, not from simulating a universe.
But the story I want to tell involves a hero powerful enough to beat a regular human most, but not all, of the time, fighting against a Cosmic Threat (TM) powerful enough to beat him most, but not all, of the time. The system you are suggesting simply cannot cope with that, because it assumes that beings are either more or less evenly matched, or so powerful that one cannot hope to beat the other. That is, quite simply, not a story I'm interested in telling.
And, I would suggest, its not an accurate description of most team superhero stories, either. Take the JLA as an instance. The heroes (PCs) include Superman and Wonder Woman, who are, broadly speaking, on the same scale of power. It also includes the Flash and Batman who are, at least in terms of physical strength, more or less human. But, crucially, it also contains Aquaman and Martian Manhunter, who are kind of in-between. In a comic, the writer can always ensure that the group of villains they face just happen to pair off appropriately - the powerful guys go for superman, the human level ones for Batman, and so on. But in a game, the actions of the players drive the story. If the guy playing Superman decides to try and fight the Joker hand-to-hand, we know what the end result will be. But what if he tries to fight Aquaman's villain? What happens then? The needs of the story require that I be able to answer this question.
It's not a matter of simulation v. the needs of the story, it's that the needs of my story just aren't what you seem to think they are.
-- Trotsky Gamer and Skeptic ------------------------------------------------------ Trotsky's RPG website: http://www.ttrotsky.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/
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