Re: Keywords only, or additional list of abilities?

From: David Dunham <david_at_...>
Date: Wed, 23 Dec 2009 10:29:02 -0800


Manuel

>One of the things I like in HQ is that 1 way is not exclusive to the others.
>As a GM if a player wants to make the list this is fine, if the player
>prefer staying with the keywords only this is fine. And if you wish to add
>something to the list that makes sense (credibility check and all this) and
>do not justify using rules about adding an extra ability this is also fine.
>This gives each player / GM total freedom on their view of character
>creation/description while being all able to play the same game and not
>worrying about game balance.

Thank you! The development team tried to make all of the keyword approaches equally viable. I didn't imagine you'd mix and match within the same group, but now that I think about it, this would only likely become a problem in a game with a lot of character advancement, and that's not actually a requirement for a HQ game.

LC

>The cases where it has been an issue for me is
>when it has been something that people don't know well enough.
>("Heortling" to someone who has never encountered Glorantha, for
>instance.) Stuff like "Hunter" "Thug" "Jock" etc, tend to be easy to
>judge and NOT having listed abilities helped immensely.

I'd recommend using umbrella keywords, and listing representative abilities for the keywords you're not familiar with (ideally including "etc." so you remember you're not constrained). This way if you realize that your Heortling character should in fact have Eight Known Drinks, it's easy to tuck into your existing clan keyword, rather than start a new ability.

John

>I strongly encourage the Management to consider releasing some "genre pack"
>material - if only in the interests of extending Glorantha's reach and
>encouraging new-comers. I'll even volunteer to help create them if no-one
>else wants to...

Sounds like a good idea! Note however that a genre pack doesn't have to imply a list of abilities -- the ones on p. 94 and 95 would work just fine without the Abilities list. (The lists are there to support games that want their keywords like that.)

-- 

David Dunham     Creator of Jigami, a unique game
for iPhone/iPod touch  http://a-sharp.com/jigami/

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