First session

I ran my first Hero Wars session using the new published rules on Sunday night. I ran Chasing Kites, and the players bypassed most of the scenario by being clever, and also dealt with the raven swiftly by finding its secret hidden weakness.

We didn't use any extended contest at all. No individual confrontation seemed important enough to devote the time to it - from the players' POV, there was always another way of proceeding if a tactic failed.

The way I see it, extended contests should be only used where the action is crucial. If you don't care whether that enemy gets away or not, and your only real concern is to beat him up, then roll a simple contest. If the player really wants to kill or capture him, then use an extended contest, because that allows the player to pursue the contest to a satisfactory conclusion, and takes the risks associated with that.

If, like David Dunham, you find horse archery dull, then just run the horse archery stage as a series of simple contests to inflict wounds, and have them close after three or four rounds, or sooner if the PCs can arrange it. I think I disagreed with this opinion last time someone expressed it.

Philip Hibbs http://www.snark.freeserve.co.uk/ Opinions expressed may not even be my own, let alone those of any organisations, nations, species, or schools of thought to which I may be affiliated.