I'm just talking about 20 years of "I have Egyptian Hieroglyphics at 27, do I know what they say?" and having the player make the roll with little consequence of failure... and now having a completely different mindset as a Narrator when that question is asked:
-Is it crucial to the story that they can translate them? -Is there something interesting that can happen with Failure? -Can I progress the story if the Player Fumbles a Mock Contest? -Am I rolling in the open or not? -Am I prepared for a Fumble result by the Character?
I should've been asking some of those questions for a long time, but others are unique to HQ and how it works.
One thing I don't think the HQ Rules stress *nearly* enough is that a Narrator should only ask for Contests at fairly crucial times, where Success *and* Failure really matter, especially if you as a Narrator are rolling in the open.
In RAW, if I'm reading it correctly, *every* failed Contest has Consequences, and the risk/reward is *not* balanced. A Marginal Success means the Character succeeds, and that is their only benefit, but a Marginal Failure still leaves a Character with a -3 Penalty (not to mention they also lose any associated Lingering Benefits while a Success generally doesn't "heal" a Character).
Also in RAW, *every* relatively-even Contest (let alone difficult ones) leaves a window for a Character to end up unable to act because they are physically or metaphorically dying.
There are plenty of ways around it if that's what you or your group want (the system is easily-modifiable/extendable) but (for me personally) the focus on Narrative/Character/Story can clash with the arbitrary (almost punitive) Consequences rules.
On Sat, Nov 26, 2011 at 9:12 AM, David Dunham <david_at_...> wrote:
> **
>
>
> On 23 Nov 2011, at 16:46, Aaron Stockser wrote:
>
> > (It still kinda bugs me that going by RAW pretty much *any* Contest can
>
> > leave a character dying... I'm used to Knowledge Skill rolls and that
> just
> > seemed sooo wrong!)
>
> I don't know, having played Call of Cthulhu, and the online game Echo
> Bazaar, it's all too easy to think of such a contest ending with the
> character afflicted by horrible nightmares! Or some weird obsession.
>
> Remember too there is "socially dead" - perhaps the character can no
> longer show his face at the University.
>
> Or look at it in pure game terms: there's a lingering consequence. The
> next time he uses the skill, he either immediately goes off on the same
> wrong track ("I don't care what they say, surely the Empty King is behind
> this!") or avoids the right one ("The last time I brought up the Empty King
> I was laughed out of the room!").
>
> David Dunham http://a-sharp.com Twitter: _at_KingDragonPass
>
>
>
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