>In this area, yes, but not in general. As you've probably gathered, I
>like the simplicity of the core HW rules. In this area, I believe the
>the similarity of the ability, contest and advancement rules at
>different power ratings are a feature worth keeping. Why? Because the
>use of relative abilities in the rules means that we only have to be
>sure the game system works at a particular power level (which we do) to
>know it works at all power levels (which we should conclude). Increasing
>the cost of advancement at high levels seems to be a suggestion that has
>not been play tested at high levels, so how do we know they don't break
>something else?
At this point it is probably worth discriminating between the rules that are used during the game from the rules that act on a meta-level. In other words, the core rules are those which are used to answer the question "Do I succeed?" In HW these involve throwing a d20 and comparing it to target numbers on the character sheet. The meta-rules are those which determine how the application of the rules changes over time - in HW, that translates as "What are my target numbers?"
Benedict says, quite correctly, that the core rules are scalable in that it is only the relative difference in skills that matter, not the absolute skill level. But how those numbers are determined does not effect that scalability - the cost of advancement is a meta-rule, and has no effect on how well the core rules work. With one exception. The ability to generate numbers of wildly differing scale does mean there is no point even rolling. A character with no masteries cannot win against someone on the W3 level, and is highly unlikely to win long before that level. Some of the meta-rules break down at this level - mainly to do with gaining new abilities - but that isn't an effect that is likely to be made worse by my suggested rule, quite the reverse.
Final point - the rule suggestion was motivated by the fact that the *current* rules have broken in play testing. i.e. They don't work for my group. Your group will vary.
Cheers,
Graham
-- Graham Robinson graham_at_... Albion Software Engineering Ltd.
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