> The problem occurs when there's really only one "action" that will
> ultimately occur - one shot from a bow & arrow (rifle, proton torpedo...),
> one casting of a spell, one hero fighting a duel, etc.. It is difficult for
> a group to do these things due to the nature of the action. Part of the
> answer can be "try not to make a single action the climax of the scene",
> but sometimes the circumstances - or the players - rather force you into
> it.
>
> Of course, this is not unique to HQ - all games suffer from this.
Absolutely. And, as you say, HQ allows more participation than most in this.
> Where a
> novel or a movie can easily make one protagonist the focus of a scene,
> RPGing usually has a bunch of players that want "screen time". And for a
> climactic scene, this is doubly so. Everyone wants to be in on the kill,
> because "it's such a cool moment" - or just to get the XP and loot the
> body ;-).
Ah, I see you met my first gaming group. :)
> Compare and contrast the two Death Star endings in the Star Wars trilogy -
> In "New Hope", we have Luke carrying the whole scene - Han is (presumably)
> flying away to pay off Jabba, Leia is back at the command center, and
> Obiwan is a dis-embodied voice. They all augment Luke on the final "womp
> rats" shot, but really aren't doing "active stuff" (Yes, Han shoots the one
> TIE Fighter and clears forces Vader off Han's back, but that can easily be
> handled as an augment, rather than active, just as Darth and the Tie
> Fighters can be penalties on Luke Getting the shot - a narrator could play
> it either way, one of the strengths of the HQ system). Then look at the
> climax of "Return of the Jedi" - Luke fighting Vader and the Emperor,
> intercut with Han and Leia trying to destroy the shield generator, intercut
> with Lando and the Rebel spaceships fighting the Imperial fleet. (Lando
> gets the coup de grace on the the Death Star, but by then the main action
> is actually over - the Shield Generator is down and the Emperor is dead;
> killing hundreds of thousands of Imperial soldiers is simply gross over
> application of deadly force, and would have earned Lando a War Crimes trial
> if the rebels hadn't won the war...). You might say that Lucas became a
> better GM between the two episodes (that still doesn't excuse Jar-Jar,
> though).
A great example. And I would actually say that Lucas didn't become a better GM, rather that Han and Leia and Lando got bumped up from NPCs to PCs. (HE started playing with just his friend Luke.) :-)
> And the reason this hasn't been moved over to Rules (even though it really
> *should* be) is because Greg started the thread, and presumably still wants
> to read it.
Oh.
Sorry about moving that earlier post of mine, then. Should I port it back?
LC
> RR
> He was born with the gift of laughter and the sense that the world was mad
> R. Sabatini, Scaramouche
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