Re: Praxian archers; vagueness

From: David Dunham <david_at_...>
Date: Mon, 7 Aug 2000 22:06:49 -0700


Philip wrote

>I'd rather face a horseman with a
>spear than a horseman with a bow, all else being equal. At least I will be
>dealing with the spearman at close quarters and can go for his horse.

My point exactly. Worse, dealing with a mounted archer really doesn't strike me as dramatic or fun, which is why I don't want the game system to further discourage the archer from closing.

The Mongols may have kicked butt, but it was their great tactics as much as their horse archery -- mounted archery isn't a super-weapon, but it can easily become so at the scale of an RPG. Especially in areas like Prax where unmounted people can't reasonably claim to make use of terrain -- I find escaping from or closing with a mounted archer quite plausible in Sartar, but not in Prax.

Charles wrote

>Martin Laurie or Wesley Quadros said in a previous posting that in
>the Lunar book they are writing, the feats etc. will have similarly
>short names with few if any descriptions. This allows them to put
>more background and myths in a book with a specific word-count. I
>assume that they have done this under the explicit direction of Greg
>and that the Sartar books will be similarly written.

I am currently trying to write Heortling magic keywords, with much the same goal. I favor descriptive rather than vague *names*, but I want to leave the feats and affinities open enough to be improvised.

Here is a subset of the Drogarsi keyword -- feel free to give private feedback as to its level of usability. Keep in mind this is still a draft, and it might be changed or edited, or even totally rewritten.

Physical Skills: Dance, Play Bagpipes, Play Drum, Play Lur Horn, Sword Fighting.
Mental Skills: Memorize Repertoire, Mythology of Drogarsi. Virtues: Boisterous, Daring, Enthusiastic, Flamboyant. Affinities:
Dance (Celebration, Incite to Battle, Sword Dance, Wooing Dance) Entertaining (Glamorize Appearance, Improvise Amusing Patter, Perform Without Tiring, Sense Mood of Audience)
Music (Enjoy Life, Fear Us, Fight Harder, Make Work Light, Travel Together) Secret: Whooping War Dance (acts as a feat with no penalties for multiple targets, which can daunt any group, whether the opposing side at a moot or enemies on the battlefield).

David Dunham <mailto:dunham_at_...>
Glorantha/HW/RQ page: <http://www.pensee.com/dunham/glorantha.html> Imagination is more important than knowledge. -- Albert Einstein

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