Hello Ladys and Gentlemen,
The powerful characters thread has been arguing too and fro about power levels.
I have the good (miss?) fortune to play in Ian Thompsons Pavis Game, with some modified rules... most characters fighting equivalent W3 and W4 with Augments, magic topping out at W2... Also I play a Prax game that tops out about 5W. It plays almost as heroic as Ians game.
The main thrust I would want to put forward, is that it is not the numbers that make the game heoroic. It is the action, the struggle.
In Ians game... we are constantly battling *against* the odds. We are fighting villains that are often much better, more organised, better connected and much smarter than we are. We do not spend our HP to improve. We spend HP to Survive. The tooth and nail grit is what makes it fun. We are actually powerful heroes, but we are swept along by powerful forces with little control. There is a horibble chaos and lunar threat, and we *have* to fight it. (Even the party Dwarf fights it 'cause the Lunars will bring in non-union labour ;-P).
In the low power (5W) game, our kid PC's constantly spend HP just to win shinty. We face faster, better organised, smarter (sound familiar?) oponents. We spent several HP to steal three cows from the neighbors. We went on a quest for magical torcs (dunno what they do thou!), and came out at the end with a W3 debt to the Ernalda Temple, a W2 poison snake that we have to treat *really* carefully, and a slightly Urox-touched female PC (will crit those worship (pantheon rolls). The flaws are building up faster than our skills, but the flaws are usefull for play.
It is the challenge that makes HW heroic. Whether fighting Wakboth or Charlie the Wonderdog, having a challenge that has a half to full mastery over you is what makes it fun. Teamwork should be central to winning... "I'll distract Wakboth and you grab Charlie from behind"... defeats should occur. The villain should get away, or surrender to the characters (and get away in court). Even if the villain is caught, that's when you tell the PC's he just married their cousin/sister... no kin-strike now! BWAH-Ha-Ha-Ha!
It ain't character strength that makes the game. Its Challenge strength.
It is the STRUGGLE that makes a Hero.
I can get into these 501's, dammit, I can...
Pete
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