Re: Mastery Questions!

From: Alex Ferguson <abf_at_...>
Date: Tue, 6 Jun 2000 12:26:38 +0100 (BST)

Roderick Robertson:
> As noted by a previous poster, there are no "naked" masteries. That is why
> D+ resistances are ,measured in plain numbers (20, 40, 60... instead of +w,
> +w2, +w3)

That's something of a non sequitur. Difficulty modifiers _aren't_ ability scores, so what general principle prevents them from being written in the latter fashion? Or indeed, what specific problem is there with doing so?

> > Please, please answer my above questions, or pass them on to somebody who
> > will! Some of my players are pain-in-the-ass rules lawyers, and I'm sure
> > they'll exploit the above rule quite a bit (if I can't do anything about
> it).
>
> How can they "exploit" it? Not bother to pass the mastery barrier?

It could certainly lead to some mildly silly cases: one might contrive to incur a 'penalty' that would actually _improve_ one's net chances of success. Thus one gets into the situation where the rules introduce a 'perverse incentive', and one ends up 'policing' it on the basis of world coherence (rather than the rules supporting same, which is kinda what they're there for).

(Just like the Community Participation rules. Isn't odd that the way to get the best bonus for a clan-supported ritual is to shove your closest allies and family down a well?)

Cheers,
Alex.

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