A separate Size trait is a good idea, because it can be used differently in
different places. For example, while a unit's Size should provide a bonus to
Combat, it should also provide (possibly different) bonuses to Morale and
Besiege, a penalty to Stealth, a resistance to finding supplies (e.g. in a
modern war, I'd pit its size against the upper headquarters' Logistics ability
to provide food and ammo; in an ancient one, I'd use its size as a penalty to
local farmers to have enough food for the rest of the year), difficulty of being
recruited (feudal kings roll their persuasiveness vs. their vassals' loyalty),
and all sorts of other things that Size influences differently than just combat
power. Also consider the opportunity to do clever things like choose to defend
the pass at Thermopylae, so as to deny your opponent the combat bonus he would
otherwise have obtained from his huge Size advantage over your mere 300 men.
For calculating exact values of Size, I strongly recommend some sort of
logarithmic progression, like "+10 = x5". For example, if you decide the unit
of 20 soldiers has Size 10 and the unit of 100 soldiers has Size 20, then Size
30 [10w10] should mean about 500 soldiers, not 180. This slower than linear
growth is very important for being able to represent these small units on the
same numerical scale as entire divisions (in this example, 12,500 soldiers =
Size 50 [10w2], and 1.5 million is Size 80 [20w3]). The current edition of
HeroQuest has no such tables, which means if you want them, you have to make
them up yourself, which I personally find makes it harder to use, not easier.
That's why I prefer the "zeroth" edition (Hero Wars), which actually had such
tables to assist you in calculating how difficulties could vary reasonably with
range and number of targets affected. Exactly which logarithmic curve you pick
is a matter of taste (I'm partial to +5 = x2), but you really ought to pick some
kind of one, so you can keep things somewhat manageable.
Ryan Caveney
- Original Message ----
> From: Emmanuel Kanter <emi.kanter_at_...>
> To: HeroQuest-rules_at_yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Sat, November 20, 2010 1:55:54 PM
> Subject: Re: Re: new guy
>
> but how would I setup the contest between, let's say, 20 elite soldiers vs.
> 100 green soldiers?
>
> do I create a "size" trait, or do I add a bonus...? how would you do that?