Not abusing the suspension of disbelief (re: HQ2)

From: Bryan <bethexton_at_...>
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 2009 18:27:44 -0000


After having digested a lot of posts on this, I think I finally put my finger on the one 'numbers' issue that was still bugging me.

If I'm playing a game where the characters are young apprentices in Nochet, Harrek's pirates should be terrifying doom-carriers, not someone that you should be able to find some way to deal with if the story cycle says you are due an easy contest. Fairly typical Orlanthi farmers and herders should not be directly involved in the dragon raising. If you are planning on penetrating to the heart of the Kingdom of War and finding the way to bring it down, you should probably be Mighty Heroes of some sort.

Conversely, those who were amongst the last defenders of Whitewall should not find a normal cattle raid challenging, nor should wizards who have retraced Prince Snodal's journey find it difficult to deal with a rogue journeyman who is causing mischief with his spells.

Obviously narrators can read material and decide if it would suit their group. But without numbers, is it all up to the narrator's taste?

(If it is, I'm not saying that it is bad. I'm just trying to wrap my head around how this works--both so that I know what to expect, and so that if I try to write or collaborate on anything, I have a clue of how it should be done).

--Bryan

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