Re: stretches and credibility checks - anyone else having difficulty?

From: Jeff <richaje_at_...>
Date: Tue, 16 Feb 2010 07:10:52 -0000

> False statement.  My next session of Sartar: Kingdom of Heroes will open with the ambush by (or against, maybe) the Greydogs after the Clearwine Feast of Beasts - a ranged attack fight that I am having trouble figuring out. I do not want to have the same flop that happened when I playtested out HQ rules with the Garhound Contest and one of the same players - inconsistency, player frustration, etc.

Hal - I think the trouble is framing the contest. When I spring an ambush on my players, I tell them something along the following:

"While crossing the ford, you hear the twangs of arrows! You've been ambushed by those treacherous Greydogs. They have the high ground and are softening you up with arrows before they charge. Its a bad situation - charging them will be very difficult. What are you going to try to do?"

We then run an extended contest to see what the cost is for their desired outcome.

As in a Conan story, I don't particularly care if they try to use their dagger, their bow, their axe, their sword - just that I have enough information to figure the consequences of victory or defeat.

I keep going back to the old Robert E. Howard stories as examples because they show a remarkable contempt for a lot of the "gritty combat" rules that RPGs have developed over the years. Weapons don't have comparative advantages UNLESS Howard needs it for the story. Usually a knife is as good as a sword which is as good as a fist.

Jeff