> See, this is where my personal 'credibility test' hit the
> wall. I can
> see how the augment race can kill the fun, but I also see
> how there is a
> big difference between "throw dart" and "throw thermal
> detonator". If
> you don't use augments for equipment doesn't the system
> start to feel
> artificial? Kind of goes back to the New World Of Darkness
> problem where
> 20 Girl Scouts with stale Thin Mints are a match for a
> Vampire due to
> how the rules work.
>
> I get that you grant one side a bonus for more appropriate
> equipment,
> but does that satisfy most players?
>
I think I must be misunderstanding your problem. You don't need augments for equipment in the example you gave. Two different characters, two different abilities, two different resistances.
So if the darts player is trying to take out a main battle tank with his darts he's not going to manage it. Sporting goods ceased to be major factors in warfare after 1915. The man with the Darth Vader tech grenade is going to get an automatic success - Chobham armour's no match for Imperial Stormtroopers.
On the other hand say they're trying to renew a sponsorship deal with Fray Bentos - that well known manufacturer of food for darts players. The bloke who knows how to throw them is going to have a chance while the geezer with his grenades is going to have his professional license withdrawn for bringing the sport into disrepute when he blows the wall of Lakeside down.
In both those cases no one needs an augment for the gear they're using, it all washes out in the resistance.
Of course it also depends on the genre you're playing in. If the game's theme is farce then the bloke with the darts may have a better chance than the one with the blaster against the tank. "I knock on the lid and when the driver opens up I'll stick one in his eye."
Just work out a resistance based on what the players want, what their characters use to resolve the contest and how appropriate one is to the other. It'll give you a better result than adding a pile of modifiers onto the character's abilities 'cause you're thinking about outcomes not about all the minutiae of what to add on and when.
Cheers,
Ash
Powered by hypermail