yes that griffin in HQ2 rules is a real anomaly. what's that you say? take it out!! well I might just agree with that decision!
"Mere words can make this sound impossible. " I'm gonna see if I can get the text from the book. It might make this clearer.
"Discworld narrative logic ensures that one in a million chances pay off 9
times out of 10"
- how do you publish number for this?
"The problem with much of this discussion is that you appear to be deciding
that in order to set the resistance of the Nazgul King, or Lancelot, you
first need to decide whether you want them to be beaten or not. (1) If you
are already deciding this, why are we bothering to roll dice? (2) What if
the point of the contest is to find out whether or not they can be beaten?
Either outcome can lead interesting continuation of the story, so why do we
need to
*fiddle* the numbers to obtain a particular result."
- this paragraph reveals exactly what we've been trying to get at. Don't
decide if you want them to be beaten or not, decide how hard you think the
contest will be - you know nothing about whether they will be beaten until
the dice stop rolling.
(1) you don't roll if there is no disagreement over the outcome.
(2) this could be in a story but it would be a crap munchkin-like one.
change it to something that might withstand a credibility test and apply the
above logic. nobody worth reading about would try to beat the Witch King of
Angmar "just to see if they could do it"; same goes for Lancelot: there has
to be something else going on. If a player of mine suggested this as their
next action I'd ask them "why?" and we would explore that to reveal the
abilities in contention. Likely as not it would not end up as a sword fight?
combining both your posts:
Tim Ellis
Sent: 25 February 2009 13:13
To: HeroQuest-rules_at_yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: How do you compare published abilities
without numbers?
As an optional method it is a very useful tool. It is when it becomes the only acceptable method, and used as an excuse to avoid providing any alternatives that it becomes a problem.
The rulebook doesn't need to have (many) numbers in it (WHat's this I hear about a griffin?) - as Trotsky says, there are few in LotW1. I think that a scenario, on the other hand should include them, as it is easier for those that don't want to use them to ignore than for those that expect them to have to find them/make them up.
Add a sentence or two at the start of the adventure "The Statistics in this adventure are based on a benchmark of nWx. GM's may prefer to use relative resistances and the Pass/Fail Cycle in some or all instances, whether or not their adventurers are within this range."
.
<http://geo.yahoo.com/serv?s=97359714/grpId=1590039/grpspId=1705057147/msgId
=24606/stime=1235567609/nc1=3848621/nc2=5579902/nc3=5191953> > Jamie just
said something that illustrates the pointless nature of publishing figures
for gloranthan characters:
> "who would win? a mortal woman and a halfling or a nazgul witch king?"
>
How so?
Mere words can make this sound impossible. The numbers can show there is a chance, (and Discworld narrative logic ensures that one in a million chances pay off 9 times out of 10).
The problem with much of this discussion is that you appear to be deciding
that in order to set the resistance of the Nazgul King, or Lancelot, you
first need to decide whether you want them to be beaten or not. (1) If you
are already deciding this, why are we bothering to roll dice? (2) What if
the point of the contest is to find out whether or not they can be beaten?
Either outcome can lead interesting continuation of the story, so why do we
need to
*fiddle* the numbers to obtain a particular result.
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