> Maybe it's just my "simulationist" bais, but I am finding it hard to handle the difficulty levels, stretch and credibility check aspects of the game. I am not an encyclopedia of information about vehicles, weapons, etc., so I am finding myself reaching for other game rulebooks to set the appropriate levels of difficulty, etc. Knowing how far a ditch is across in meters matters, because it may be a "Nearly Impossible" ditch to jump on foot, or "Hard" ditch to jump on a horse, or "Moderate" shot to take with a pistol, etc. Anyway, it's probably just me. I like HQ's nifty sounding abilities, but I think the non-simulationist aspect is making it tough for me to use.
No, it doesn't matter. The story depends on degree of difficulty, not meters of ditch.
One way to approach this might be backwards. Figure the resistance you want (based on the story) first, and then describe things. (Page 74 mentions how the same obstacle could have a different resistance. You just describe it differently.)
And, even if you think you should simulate, you aren't really. Yeah, you have the width of the ditch. But one side is higher than the other. And it's also a little muddy. You can't possibly factor in everything.
Finally, most characters don't have range finders and protractors. It's perfectly reasonable to say, "this ditch looks kind of wide and slippery, it will be nearly impossible to jump." That's really all the information a character would have (after factoring in the relative height and apparently muddiness -- something we do in real life).
To me, it's exactly because I'm not an encyclopedia of information that HeroQuest works so well. I don't need to know what the long jump record is to make a challenging ditch.
Just as an exercise, try slavishly following the Pass/Fail cycle rather than searching for references. It works quite well. If it suggests a hard ditch, describe it as muddy, etc. If it calls for an easy ditch, describe the path leading across.
David Dunham
Glorantha/HQ/RQ page: www.pensee.com/dunham/glorantha.html
Imagination is more important than knowledge. -- Albert Einstein
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