Yeah, that all makes sense. I think you are very much on the right lines in what you say (highly subjective statement but there you go).
IMO, the key things are to have the scouring for augments be proportional to interest in the outcome and desire to succeed. Once you have broken the automatic desire to win every contest, I find, even with PbEM where there is more time for scouring etc, that I often opt for a straight ability as the TN, and often for the straight default ability (i.e. 6). It becomes a sort of test for the character, especially the default ability. When you succeed with the latter, it is good fun.
Sometimes I do really want my character to succeed (rarely when it is martial skills though, more when it is something fairly underhand or roundabout like shaming a schoolmaster out of drowning my character by nearly drowning.) in those situations I do want to scour for abilities. They are things I will include in the narration and I do want the character to succeed.
Sometimes I really want the character to fail. I've yet to ask to spend a HP against my character, but I very nearly did once.
On Mon, Apr 14, 2008 at 6:46 PM, Matthew Cole
<matthew.cole_at_...> wrote:
> Secondly the methods we use to play HQ (outside of the ones laid out in the
> rule book) reflect our motivation for playing. Scouring reflects a need for
> a higher Target Number so we can succeed our Goal or (at best - subjectively
> used term) a need to 'accurately portray what my character can do/is like'.
Okay. This is, then, where characters who always succeed are a bit odd and dull. The ones which fail are fun.
> You say that in the second instance you'd include the fighting skills as
> augments, even when the contest narrative focus is on the political
> situation. I'd be interested to hear how you would narrate the outcome,
> making sure you include the augments. I'd bet that it would not be a
> narration that focused on the political situation. It would be interesting
> to compare our narrations. I think if I were given the same Main Skill,
> Augment List, Goal and Outcome as you'd have built (including those fighting
> skills) and was asked to narrate what happened, focussing on the political
> situation, I'd be in for a struggle. I suspect that you intended to leave
> the augments out of the final narration, possibly as implicit. Would that be
> fair?
If I understand you right, I'd include the guy's big flashy blade and armour, his telling of how he slew another champion who also had his red beard braided just so; the sort of stuff Mr Cockney Beowulf did in the film. For narrating the outcome with those things, I'd have people be suitably impressed is all. No-one actually needs to try and hit anyone to use a combat skill, say. The guy *walks* like he could run you through in an instant if he so chose...
> So to focus more tightly on the topic of scouring again: when we establish a
> goal that is aimed at the kind of scene we want in the kind of story we want
> and then look for augments that address the goal (see my post on the
> subject) we quickly realise that scouring is much harder and less fruitful.
> What we find fruitful is bringing out the side of our hero that narrates
> satisfyingly into our scene/story - that's the payoff.
If you're actually having a problem with this, can I suggest that you (plural) agree to classify scenes/rolls? I've never tried this but I think it'd work. If it is all-or-nothing, your scour all you want (and perhaps narrate each augment, perhaps in turn). If it is only "most importnat event this week" you agree to take a rough maximum of three augments. If you decide it's an interesting challenge but one your (specific) character should never have got involved in, allow just one raw skill (make him naked). I think something like that could be habit-forming.
> All the best
>
> M
Cheers,
Sam.
p.s. If you want me to try an example (perhaops implied in your msg, not sure), ask away. I'm fearsome busy at the mo, but I could try.
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