Rurik the Heroquester

From: Jonas Schiött <jonas.schiott_at_...>
Date: Tue, 7 Nov 2000 22:01:19 +0100


>> It's a completely different matter that the example of play never
>> explains where Rurik gets the 90 AP from. ;-)
>
>His community (whatever that happens to be), preparation, and his own
>abilities.

Well yeah, I knew that much. But it's not there in the example....

OK, instead of just moaning about how broken this example of play is, I thought I'd have a stab at fixing it. So let's start with the desired results and work our way back from there.

We know that this HQ requires one ability with a rating of at least 10w2 and 90 Action Points. We also know that Rurik is using his Boasting ability. Let's assume it's at the minimum required level (any higher seems unlikely for a secondary ability like this one) - that leaves 40 AP to make up for from support, which requires the conversion of 20 points of ritual bonus (HW p.242).

To enter the Hero Plane, Rurik uses his Mythology of Orlanth ability. I can't believe this guy has raised something like Boasting to two masteries and let his Mythology stay at the base 17. At the very least, I'd never let such a maniac lead a HQ for _my_ clan's benefit. So let's say he has 5w in this ability. He needs to overcome a 10w2 barrier (because he's at a weak spot), which means that to be reasonably certain of success he wants to boost the Mythology to about 20w3. That's another +55.

Giving bonus points to carryover or sword skill is pointless. With my numbers, he'll probably get a nice carryover from crossing to the other side anyway. And if he can boast with two masteries I expect he can fight at least as well, so another +1 makes no difference at all.

So in total, Rurik wants a ritual bonus of +75 to go on this quest. He could gamble on succeeding with a few points less, but not many (unless he wants to splurge hero points about). Quite a difference from the +46 given in the text. Where can he get the extra 29 points from? Well, the rules aren't totally clear on this, but I assume that some of the items used in the Arming of Orlanth can be exchanged for expensive or magical equivalents, thus increasing the ritual item bonus. Sacrificing a few cows would be good, too.

What I'm really unsure about is whether rituals can be stacked. That is, can Rurik do the Arming _and_ some other Orlanthi ritual (possibly one directly related to the quest) on top of that? If so, would the add-ons for auspicious time and location apply to both of them, or just once to the total?

In any case, it's easy to see that the bonus given for the actual support from the clan (+8) is a very small part of the total bonus, regardless of whether that sum is 46 or 75. This feels vaguely wrong somehow, since the book goes on at length about how important community support is.

(If Rurik _is_ ready and willing to blow a HP on the Mythology roll, he can scrape by with a rating of just 20w2, 20 points less than my suggestion. But the 17 vs. 10 roll in the book is something no sensible hero would consider an option.)



Jonas Schiött
Göteborg

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