From: HeroQuest-rules_at_yahoogroups.com
[mailto:HeroQuest-rules_at_yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Kevin McDonald
Sent: 10 March 2009 18:49
To: HeroQuest-rules_at_yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: Re: The merits of relative and
absoluteresistances (HQ1 and HQ2)
On Tue, Mar 10, 2009 at 12:50 PM, Tim Ellis <tim_at_timellis.
<mailto:tim%40timellis.demon.co.uk> demon.co.uk> wrote:
> --- In HeroQuest-rules_at_ <mailto:HeroQuest-rules%40yahoogroups.com>
yahoogroups.com, "Matthew Cole" <matthew.cole_at_...>
> wrote:
>
>> As far as comparisons go, resistances are relative: is it Hard for the
>> Experienced guy to overcome the Veteran? This seems a no-brainer to me.
>
> Strange, because I haven't got a clue. A Great Warrior is almost certainly
> better than a Good one, but I have no meaningful comparison between a
Great
> one, A Superb one, a Magnificent one or any of the other synonyms there
> might be.
I think the problem here is that on some level you are trying to use the adjectives as a substitute for numbers, when that isn't the intent in HQ2. The adjectives are just color. Is a Great Warrior better than a Superb one? This is a false dilemma. Great and Superb mean basically the same thing - the character is notable at that ability. The HQ2 adventure writer isn't trying to use some secret code to let you know which one is better than the other. If that were the case, then numbers really would be the way to go. Instead, the author is just giving general advice on how the character should be depicted your story.
>What if it's a three way comparison. The Trolls have captured us all and
say
> that to obtain my freedom I must fight one or the other. Is the choice
just a
> sham, because the relative resistance will be "hard" regardless?
Again, this question is a false dilemma. This isn't a game of 20 questions where the players are trying to figure out an answer that the narrator has already decided. Nor are the players rolling against an ability in hopes that success will cause the narrator to tell them what the "right" answer is. When the players ask questions like "which troll is bigger?" the narrator's answer will indeed be arbitrary - but that isn't important. What is important is that the PCs are trying to figure out the best course of action and their efforts will guide the narrator in describing what comes next. The narrator could choose to reward the players for asking good questions without requiring a roll, or run a contest where the "prize" for success is a bonus or lower resistance in the subsequent fight. It all depends on the needs of the story, or in glorantha community terms: Maximum Game Fun.
-Kevin McD
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