Re: Mastery Inflation

From: Mikael Raaterova <ginijji_at_...>
Date: Sat, 1 Jul 2000 00:33:47 +0200


Steven White:

>Why I think other people tend to have masteries too:
>
>Because your characters are going to be getting experience. Maybe
>they will only be getting 50 hp instead of the 110 I've gotten in the
>last 20 sessions. To assume the rest of the world is built on 0..10
>heropoints makes the characters overly freaky. So I'm also arguing
>over your distribution.

I haven't said anything about Hero Points and character development, so i don't really see why you seem to think i have.

>On the subject of tightening the mastery levels, compressing them
>down:

What i have been talking about is that starting characters begin in the sub-mastery range, and that mastery levels aren't spread around like confetti. So i'm not sure what you think the subject is.

>Now, if nobody gets any 'hero points' and the only difference
>between a hero and your farmer is that he got the sword instead
>of the plow. (Poor fellow got ripped off in the will) then sure,
>enjoy it.

I'm quite generous with hero points, so this isn't the case.

>I think your game would make followers far more important, because
>you'll likely be making it harder to buy up a skill to a heroic
>level, so a follower is more important. Even if they get wasted
>with crossbows all the time.

Why would i make it harder to buy abilities up to heroic levels? Seems awful dull.

>Anyways, I'm sure we can argue all day over how big the
>dynamic range of skills should be. I like it a bit bigger,
>you seem to like it small.

If you mean that i'd let abilities top out at, say, 10ww or something like that, then no, that's definitely not the case.

It seems i didn't communicate my ideas very clearly (or hardly at all) since my intention could be _this_ misunderstood. My apologies.

We know that Harrek is in the Xw4 range. These days a standard tribe has several near-Harrek guys (or at least Xw3s) running around. I don't like the implied assumption that a handful of tribal tough guys stands a good chance of taking Harrek out.

One of my campaign ideas is that the player heroes start out as the clan's tough guys. As they develop they get to interact with entities of progressively greater stature and on a larger regional scale. If they can have several Xw3 opponents within their own tribe, they don't get to deal with the greater schemes until they reach divine stature themselves.

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Mikael Raaterova        [.sig omitted on legal advice]

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