I know. That was not what i was groaning about. The impression i got was that you seemed to advocate the use of "magical" as a blanket excuse for suddenly making it difficult to jump over a tree. "Yesterday you could, but today you can't, because *this* tree is *magical*, see. Thbbpt!"
>Someone (the narrator or scenario writer) is determining a
>lot of things about the world. Why do you have a problem with this?
I don't.
>Because
>there aren't a book full of rules that say exactly howmany magically tall
>trees there are?
If that's the impression you have of my gaming style, i have obviously been acutely remiss in my communication.
> > >As has been pointed out many times before,
>> >Hero Wars is *not* Simulationist, but Narrative. Resistances can vary
>> >depending on *narrative* criteria. There is *never* only one way to do
>> >things.
>>
>> Yes, i know that. Intriguing then, that i find your rationale (below)
>> somewhat simulationistic.
>
>You mean, the first two paragraphs, until you get to the part that says
>"narrator fiat".
As i see it, the difference between simulationistic and narrative isn't just "rules for everything" and "make it up".
> > Following this reasoning, the following should be correct:
>>
>> With my movement magic at 10w I can jump over trees ten meters tall
>> with little or no trouble (unless someone suddenly deems them
>> "magically" tall). You, using your mundane ability "jump high" (rated
>> 10w) can't. But if we have a high jumping contest we are evenly
>> matched, since we actively resist each other.
>>
>> Is this correct?
>> If not, why is it wrong?
>
>It's right, and it's wrong. There is no one answer.
The question i'm getting at isn't about how to design contests, but how magic works in HW.
Another example:
I use the magical feat "Burst of Speed" (10w). You use the mundane
ability "Sprint" (10w)
Contest A: i want to catch you. You want to escape me. Since this is
a staple example of resisted rolls, we should be evenly matched: i
roll my feat, you roll you ability.
Contest B: We compete in a 100m race. Do i roll against 14 or your 10w?
"Contest" C: We both try to run 100m in under 10 seconds. What are
our respective resistances?
My point: *either* a person can run equally fast with "Burst of Speed" or "Sprint" at equal ratings, *or* a person always runs faster using "Burst of Speed" because it is magical and can accomplish the impossible. I am no fan of the third alternative: that you are sometimes faster and sometimes equally fast (given equal ratings) dependent on Narrator whim for the day.
>I personally wouldn't have a high-jump contest be my skill vrs
>your skill, I'd probably have both characters facing resistance from
>gravity, and see how well they did individually against it.
Sorry, but that seems pretty simulationistic to me.
>And yes, Magic
>would be resisted by 14, while the non-magical Jump would probably have a
>much higher resistance.
So magical abilities are always comparatively superior, given basically synonymous tags and equal ratings?
I'm asking these irritating questions because i want to know whether we are playing the same game, even though we use the same rules.
-- - Mikael Raaterova [.sig omitted on legal advice]
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