Re: ability test

From: t.s.baguley_at_...
Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2000 12:40:32 +0100


>In a message dated 9/3/00 2:03:44PM, you write:
>
><< This would not be unusual, but it did actually fit with the published
> rules, and made sense. You *don't* fumble at your profession, unless
> there are extra minuses on the roll. >>
>
>You don't fail at anything that a self respecting hero would fail at. A
>shepherd Hero wouldn't fail at shepherding unless there was some reason for
>him failing, in which case it might require an Ability Test, or even a simple
>contest or even an extended contest. "One man and his dog" should probably be
>an extended contest if you wanted to use it as part of a series (but I feel
>this is pushing the TV show analogy too far; "One Warrior Princess and her
>Dog"?)
>
>Keith N

NPCs aren't heroes (as I understand it - the core objection to mastery "inflation" is that NPCs run around being supercompetent). To my mind a fumble means that you'd lose sheep (and they would require special actions, climbing, healing etc. to recover), a fail means that they'd go off in the wrong direction and (e.g.) take longer than usual to round up and you'd miss your dinner. Shepherding also strikes me as a bad example for the "no self respecting hero ..." line. Losing sheep to illness, accident, predator etc. is a life of death matter to poor cottars. I'm happy to have experienced NPCs with Shepherd 1W. As a rule of thumb my mature NPCs (in their thirties) have at least 1W in a professional skill. Starting NPCs (in their twenties) will tend to have 1 or so. Excluding PCs my clan has about a dozen NPCs with masteries in close combat (weaponthanes and a couple of ring members).

Thom

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