- In HeroQuest-RPG_at_yahoogroups.com, "markmohrfield"
<markmohrfield_at_z...> wrote:
> One question this raises is how do the Bison riders survive in Prax
> if they have no missile weapons?
>
I can think of three explanations:
- Diplomacy. They have things the other tribes want, so even if
they raid and skirmish with the bison riders, nobody tries to
actually kill off too many of them. Maybe they can deal with a
specific foe better, maybe they have a ritual importance. Maybe they
make the best drinks when people get together at the Paps.
- They actually do have missile weapons. There are all sorts of
ways you can explain this. Easiest is that they have only a small
number of such, who do most of the skirmishing. A variant is that
they have some magic to substitute for missile weapons, but this
isn't shown in the rules either. There are other
explanations.....but I don't like this option much myself.
- There are of course exceptions to every rule. The Bison Riders do
fine in Prax, so they are obviously an exception :) I'd call it
largely an armor thing. Each tribe uses the hides of its
brothers/animals. Bison hide is heavier than that provided by the
other tribes, and bison themselves have a reasonable amount of
protection, especially from the front. Most missile weapons in the
waste have points of fire hardened wood or flint. These can cut the
hide, but only on a fairly solid hit, so are far less effective
against bison riders than others. Also the bison are strong enough
for the riders to wear armor and carry big solid shields. Finally,
the bison don't tire easily, and can carry a charge for a fair
while. SO, what happens is that the lighter tribes can often shoot
off a fair number of bison riders, but in the right circumstances the
bison riders can charge through the missiles and eventually run down
the lighter beasts, where they are totally dominant. So it comes
down to strategic moving and how much you are willing to chance their
charge, which keeps the other tribes from just whittling them away.
--Bryan