> If you're one of those people that have a view that everything in the gameworld
> stays constant (i.e. a skeletons are easier than zombies which are easier than
> wights and so on or "Doors that had a resistance of X to open three days ago
> should still have X") then a lot of the techniques in HQ2 aren't what you want
> to use. They're designed to work by setting the resistance based on how
> interesting success or failure are for the bunch of players as a whole based on
> exploring the player's agendas (clumsy word, couldn't think of a better one,
> sorry!) for their characters. Having said that loads of people were happy with
> the fixed resistance model that HQ1 and Hero Wars presented so the system can
> cope with it if you want it.
Hi Ash,
Point taken about pass / fail being optional - and I think it's a good tool. I certainly don't have a problem with narrative factors determining or affecting resistance - but I would prefer the *nature* of things like creatures or challenges to be one of those narrative factors. So, Kero Fin should *generally* be harder to climb than a garden wall - that's not some simulationist decision, it's a narrative factor. If you're fighting a trollkin runt and a Zorak Zoran dark troll death lord, within the context of the narrative I'd expect the death lord to be generally tougher to *fight* (but not necessarily to chase, for example). Both resistances can be subject to pass / fail, but I wouldn't want them to always be exactly equal in a given context (such as combat). I think that differentiation is implicit in the critter writeup "Significant Ability" vs "Exceptional Ability" distinction anyway...
Cheers,
Sarah
>
> Cheers,
>
> Ash
>
> [1] Interestingly (at least for me) I've experimented with GMless HQ where we've
> just used the pass/fail cycle to set resistances and it worked surprisingly
> well. 'Go round the table, play out a conflict in turn adjusting the difficulty
> of the next one based on the success/failure of the previous and it plays
> itself.
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> To: HeroQuest-rules_at_yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Friday, 26 November, 2010 6:37:07
> Subject: Re: Question about Simple Contests
>
>
> > Final point: All this lot only matters when you're dealing with player
> > characters against player characters. For most contests again the GM you won't
>
> > bother specifying the GM character's ability, they'll just be an arbitrary
> > resistance based on something like the pass/fail cycle or perhaps how
> > interesting you think failure for the character would be - if failure's not
> > interesting, don't bother rolling.
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> > Ash
> >
> >
>
> I think this is likely to be the biggest beef I have with HQ2 over HQ1, though
> I'm still thinking it through. As far as I can see, setting resistances using
> the pass / fail cycle makes opponent abilities largely irrelevant. It doesn't
> seem to matter that you're fighting a hideous vampie sorcerer with a zillion
> augments and weird chaos powers - if the pass / fail cycle says the resistance
> says the exchange is Base -6, then regardless of what ability he uses, it's the
> same low resistance. I grok that you're supposed to select one of the vampire's
> abilities which will fit the low resistance you've selected credibly, but just
> at the moment I'm wondering if this isn't sacrificing a lot of crunchy monster
> flavour on the altar of the pass / fail mechanic. :-)
>
> I think I'm happy with the Base Resistance in a session being related to how
> many sessions you've played for eyeballing general difficulties - say the
> resistance of spotting a secret door or overhearing a conversation in a maket
> place - but less so for critters with clealy defined abilities. For me it'd be
> losing a lot if you were fighting a trollkin, a dream dragon, and a vampire, and
> regardless of which one you chose they all had exactly the same ability score /
> resistance cos the pass / fal cycle said so. OTOH, I'm pretty comfortable with
> the idea of the pass / fail cycle modifying the critter's own abilities rather
> than using the modified session Base Resistance instead.
>
>
> So, you're fighting a griffin on your first session, it has Exceptional Beak &
> Claws (High or Very High resistance, so Base 14 +6 or +9, ie 20 or 3W. Let's
> say 20). If the pass / fail cycle then says the present contest should be High
> resistance (Base +6), then you're modifying the Griffin's exceptional attack
> ability up by +6, not the session Base Resistance - so the Resistance the PC
> faces is in this case 6W (20+6), not 20 (14+6). That seems to preserve the
> differentiation between types of opponent's, imho, and allows tough fighters to
> attack the tough foes, etc. :)
>
> Regarding not rolling if failure isn't interesting, I hear you :-).
>
> Anyway, I'm definitely enjoying reaing the 2nd ed rules - thanks everyone for
> your explanations & help!
>
> Cheers,
>
> Sarah
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > ----- Original Message ----
> > From: "sarah.newton5_at_" <sarah.newton@>
> > To: HeroQuest-rules_at_yahoogroups.com
> > Sent: Thursday, 25 November, 2010 17:23:15
> > Subject: Question about Simple Contests
> >
> > Hi everyone,
> >
> > Just today I've got hold of the HQ2 rules and am reading through. I previously
> >
> > played Hero Wars and HQ1, but it's been a few years since I've run a game. I'm
> >
> > trying to understand the way Simple Contests are intended to work in HQ2.
> >
> > Let's take a physical conflict. Abner the Assassin is trying to assassinate
> > Bert the Burglar. Assuming this is a Simple Contest, how many "exchanges" do I
> >
> > run? Is it simply one roll for Abner (conflict goal: assassinate Bert)? If
> >so,
> >
> > do I also define a goal for Bert (conflict goal: run away!) and derive a
> >defense
> >
> > ability from that? So, we have Abner rolling to assassinate, and Bert rolling
>
> > to run away. Is that it?
> >
> > If so, what does it mean if Abner suffers a Major or Complete Defeat? I take
> >it
> >
> > he's not injured, as Bert isn't fighting back - he's just running away.
> >
> > OK; next example. A conflict between a warrior and a wizard. Simple contest.
> >
> > The goals are "Defeat the wizard with my weapons" and "Defeat the warrior with
>
> > my magic".
> >
> > Is this still a single exchange? Is there any sense of an "active ability" and
> >
> > a "resistance" here, or are we simply rolling a Weapons ability and a Magic
> > ability, and assuming that the warrior is simultaneously attacking and
> >defending
> >
> > against magic with his Weapons ability, and the wizard likewise with Magic? Or
> >
> > do we have *two* exchanges, one where the wizard has to use an *appropriate*
> > ability to defend against Weapons (like Dodge), and the warrior likewise
> >against
> >
> > Magic (like Magic Resistance).
> >
> > I'm guessing in all cases a Simple Contest is just a single die roll; however,
>
> > if two PCs were squaring up, like the Warrior and Wizard above, I'm interested
>
> > what abilities they would use in that single die roll.
> >
> > Hope that makes sense!
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> > Sarah
> >
> >
> >
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> >
>
>
>
>
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