>
> The Grand Staredown feels much more dramatic if you don't make it
> something that happens "before" the Extended Contest (e.g., just an
> augment or some such). If it's played out as the first exchange or two
> in the Extended Contest, it feels much more dramatic.
>
I tend to think that extended contests are over-used but if an example is added that happens to use an extended contest I can't complain.
The one thing that uses existing mechanics that I have not tried is to view it as a ritual - so instead of the Arming of Orlanth we have the Steely Glare of the Man With No Name.
One way of making this more fun and also of getting some use out of the rolled augments rules would be to make it a bidding war. As the characters face off they are actually bidding up their augments, each one can continue trying so long as they match or exceed the last augment of their opponent. Until one "blinks" - i.e. fails the augment roll or chooses not to gamble with another try - and the contest happens. This would of course be a whole new type of ritual/contest but for some genres it would be well worth having IMO. It also creates a whole new way to narrate augments thats more fun than just piling up the +1s until your jaw dislocates from boredom.
Obviously the same mechanics could handle bragging contests, piling crates of lawyerly research onto the desk and all sorts of other "competetive preparation" situations. You could use it against static resistances so long as you stick to the "each augment must be greater than the last" bit that creates the tension.
What I struggle with is to get the same effect without new mechanics or just treating the whole contest as the staredown and whatever happens afterwards as little more than a coup de grace. All advice welcome!
Nic
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