From: Simon Hibbs (simonh@msi-uk.com)
Date: Mon 03 Aug 1998 - 13:13:50 EEST
Ross Inglis :
>However I'm beginning to worry about some aspects of the rest of the
>system. Two things (possibly related); rules light and infinitely
reusable >magic.
Rules Light is an easily missused term. HW actualy gives more rules for
more situations than any other RPG I've seen, simply because the
mechanics cover just about any skilled or competitive activity I can
think of. I do think that the rules should give a comprehensive set of
guidelines on how to run interesting, novell and climactic combats. I
can think of all kinds of things that players are likely to want their
characters to try, such as disarming opponents, feints, aimed blows,
etc. I can see how I would use the rules to cover these tactics, but it
may not be obvious to GMs who may never have run an RPG before.
On the subject of Magic, the apparently infinite reusability of magic
was a serious concern of mine at one time. The trouble is that the cut
down rules provided for convention games miss out a lot of the checks
and balances in the main rules. Powefull magical feats are actualy very
difficult and require opposed rolls to succeed. They also have risks as
the consequences of losing the opposed roll could be dire. In practice,
I expect that performing powerfull magical feats with any reliability
will require the use of Plot Points. Thus Plot Points will become the
fuel for magical workings. Smaller scale magic, roughly equivalent to
spirit magic and ad-hoc sorcery spells just take a little time to cast
and have short durations, but I don't see any particular need to limit
their use arbitrarily.
Simon Hibbs
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