I hated Runequest combat. It only worked in a narrow range of skill levels, and just took too much damn time and bookkeeping. But at least it represented something. You could follow what was happening. I don't see how the Hero Wars extended contest mechanic is any improvement. I find it flavourless (moving action points around means nothing to me and doesn't help me imagine what's happening), unsuitable as a universal mechanic (I especially don't think that the final margin of success in every endeavor is so strongly dependent on how much you're willing to risk), and unable to cope with mixed situations.
The best mechanics I've seen that have the same 'dramatist' approach are Heritage's system, which has only one roll per 'scene' - absolutely ideal for PbeM games, BTW - and the mechanics in Theatrix (if you can call them mechanics; they're really a series of questions the narrator asks himself to come to a decision about how to resolve something. And the plot point mechanics are a lot more fun than HW's hero points, and give the players a vastly expanded, central place in the story.)
Did any of the people involved in Hero Wars look at Theatrix? I think they
should have.
Theatrix presents its 'dramatist' point of view in a much more coherent
manner than Hero Wars. I find myself shaking my head at some of the postings
on this list revealing the intentions behind certain mechanics - if that's
what was intended, why wasn't it in the darn book?
Hero Wars has wonderful character description mechanics; one of the best I've seen. Pretty much everything else has been a big disappointment for me. I only stay on the list because I want Issaries to know that there are people who completely support the style of game Hero Wars claims to be written for, but don't care for Hero Wars mechanics at all, and want something clearer and more coherent.
-- Jeff Johnson jsjohnso_at_...
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