*Victory Levels are:*
Critical vs. Fumble = *Complete Victory*. Critical vs. Fail or Success vs. Fumble = *Major Victory*. Critical vs. Success or Success vs. Fail or Fail vs. Fumble = *Minor Victory
Getting a high level is good and getting a low level of defeat is bad.
So far so good.
The trouble comes when the results Tie.
The most common one is the Success vs. Success. Now in the rules it states
that the lowest roll wins the Marginal Victory.
Now the probability of getting a Success vs. Success tie is quite high and
it does occur often in each session. It then boils down to what was rolled
and the lowest roll wins.
This is one of the *'whiff factors'* with HeroQuest as it makes the whole
contest about who rolls lowest and not about the level of success.
Far too often a player is making a crucial move in game and the stakes are high. The player is in a simple contest and rolls against their ability. They roll a '8', well below the target number so therefore a success and look to win the contest. However the GM has rolled a '4', below the target number and below the player's roll as well. Unlucky? Well yes but it does suck as both the GM and the player have rolled successes.
*So here is a fix.*
Over the weekend at Conception 2009 I ran four different HeroQuest games
using this new fix and it seemed to work. Most of the players were new to
the system though a few were old favourites of my games.
Now in any contest there is usually someone that starts it off or initiates
it. We will call them the *Instigator*.
Contests will run as normal using the chart below using the first column
[labelled 'Player'] for the Instigator of the contest. More often than not
it will be the player that starts a contest. They are always looking for a
fight!
The different success results compared will show what the Victory Level is
at the end of the contest.
If there is a Tie though the Instigator wins the Marginal Victory. There is
no comparing of the dice results or numbers just a comparison of the Success
Results.
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o270/DarranSims/HeroQuestTable-01.jpg
*The new Simple Contest Chart*
A player is making a crucial move in game and the stakes are high. The player instigates a simple contest and rolls against their ability. They roll a '8', well below the target number so therefore a success and look to win the contest. The GM has rolled a '4', below the target number and a success. The contest result is a Tie, Success vs. Success. As the player instigated the action though they win the Marginal Victory. If the the player was defending against an action the GM instigated the player would have scored a Marginal Defeat instead.
Now if the contest was between players instead of a GM vs. Player situation and it seems that both instigated the contest than I would rule that the contest ends in a Tie. The players would have to be happy with that result or instigate another new and different contest instead.
Thoughts?
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