"You've not got any weapons and armour, you're facing a fully tooled up warrior so this is going to be nearly impossible..." (base resistance +w2)
"You're a Fyrdman, he's a professional warrior with better weapons, and some armour so it's going to be very hard to beat him." (base resistance +9)
"You're both clan champions but she's got ubran's iron armour. Looks a bit hard to me..." (base resistance +6)
"You're both at the top of your games, he knows you're not a complete pushover as you've got similar gear" (base resistance +0)
Ad nauseum... It's just like setting the resistance for any other conflict. It applies to the merchant's spangly pants impressing the rubes, a hoodie helping you blend in around inner city shopping centers or even no clothes for a seduction.
Don't fart around with things like "Oooo, he's in plate armour, that's +9, he's in chainmail that's +6 and he's in his gimp suit, that's +3." Choose what works with the narrative, what gives an interesting story and what doesn't bend the fictional reality for you and your players too much.
Or just say "bugger it" and use the pass fail cycle. It works most of the time.
And if you end up with two player characters facing off against each other you've got the rules on p51 to help you:
"Hrolf's a weaponthane, a professional killing machine in his full clobber with a sword so big he must be compensating for something. He wants to kill Jan."
"(scours character sheet) My most appropriate ability is 'Pulls turnips out of the ground' but I do have a hoe!"
"Sounds like +6 for Hrolf then, unless you want to frame the contest so you're legging it."
> From: michaelL <michaelalewis25_at_...>
> Subject: [HeroQuest-rules] Re: Armor and equipment
> To: HeroQuest-rules_at_yahoogroups.com
> Date: Saturday, 12 November, 2011, 23:01
> Yes, I meant HQ rather than RQ.
>
>
> I'm not trying to simulate physics, but I am trying to
> simulate a fantasy world that seems to replicate hand to
> hand combat that includes armor. What's the point of
> being a huscarl/weapon-thane/warrior/knight if it doesn't
> matter if you have a mail hauberk or are fighting
> naked. That would be a credibility test to me.
> Making mail was a skill which took weeks to complete, was
> very expensive and was very effective in combat. I'm
> not trying to determine weight, armor quality, movement in
> armor or hit locations. I'm just trying to determine
> the best way to factor in when an armored warrior faces
> someone who is not.
>
> In reading HQI, it seemed to me that stuff like that was an
> augment. In HQII, augments appear to be used
> differently. I didn't know how to use it.
>
> Michael
>
>
>
>
> --- In HeroQuest-rules_at_yahoogroups.com,
> David Dunham <david_at_...> wrote:
> >
> > On 8 Nov 2011, at 09:45, michaelL wrote:
> >
> > > How can armor and equipment be used? Since
> there is no armor class or damage reduction, how would a
> mail hauberk protect you?
> > >
> > > I thought in RQI you would use it as an agument
> bonus. (Skill divided by 5=bonus) In RQII, aguments
> must be fresh, create suspense, and emotional
> responses.
> >
> > I assume you mean HQ not RQ …
> >
> > Normally, a mail hauberk is not an interesting part of
> the story. It's just what fighters wear. It could be a
> requirement to use certain skills, like using your
> Weaponthane keyword to impress a farmer.
> >
> > If it becomes important to a story, in game terms it's
> because it has a rating on your character sheet. You either
> use it directly ("I ignore him, letting the blade bounce off
> my hauberk") or as an augment.
> >
> > It can be used for color. For example, to narrate the
> use of a hero point, it's convenient to describe an augment
> you didn't actually use. "His blow got past my shield"
> [spends a hero point] "but glances harmlessly off my mail
> hauberk."
> >
> > Frequently items on the character sheet will have
> names. "I show up at the moot wearing Turnspear, my
> ancestral hauberk."
> >
> > If your schtick is Mister Armor, then it may make
> sense for you to use the hauberk as your augment every
> battle. But that's because Mister Armor is your role in the
> story, not because you couldn't think of something
> different.
> >
> > Relative modifiers from equipment don't really make a
> whole lot of sense IMO. If you, the hauberk-wearer, are
> rated 15 in Armored Combat, you are just as effective as my
> 15 Swashbuckling. How we defeat people will be somewhat
> different, but we are equally good at resolving story
> situations using pointy objects. If the narration suggests
> otherwise, there might be a modifier, but in general there
> is not. It doesn't matter that I have no armor and you do.
> (If it does matter, you are slow and can't move as fast and
> have a penalty -- everyone knows that!)
> >
> > In short, don't try to simulate the effects of armor.
> HeroQuest is a game of story logic, not physics.
> >
> > David Dunham
> > Glorantha/HQ/RQ page:
> www.pensee.com/dunham/glorantha.html
> >
>
>
>
>
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