zornwil

Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat "Awwww, there's just more of you to love!" NT: What Robin said to Batman just before he kicked his ass.

Re: Why add a rule? Let me be a little clearer, though - I'm interested really in the actual official system rules. House rules are a different story serving different criteria - though to your post that would make a good thread, too, but I'm threaded out at the moment!

Re: Musings on Random Musings I still think the NGD presidential thread was funny up until people got too serious about the absurdity, but then again in some respects I have a callous streak and obviously am rather close to that subject.

Re: Musings on Random Musings

Re: The Last Word Those are some nice pics, thanks!

Re: The Last Word Yes, yes it is.

Re: Musings on Random Musings Oh, PS, if Ben locks this in favor of the other thread, be upset at me...I just assumed the polling was indicating a clear majority, and thought that among us NGDites we'd obey that majority. I was wrong...but have already PMed Ben. So please don't bitch and whine at him if he does lock it.

Re: Musings on Random Musings In reference to the other thread (if you were seriously asking)

Re: The Last Word Unless you choke on it by accident... (hey, it's the Last Word thread, after all!)

Re: How do you feel about Superheroes that kill? I have to assume it wasn't 5 real Turns but 5 Phases or something? I mean even SPD 2, that's 10 Phases, and a Brick should have some dang beefy running. I dunno...I run fairly non-straightforward hero games but this sounds like a very staged "let's kill an innocent and watch the brick get mad at his teammates, who are absolutely useless." Anyway, if the Invulnerability is diffusive, I'd just go ahead and jump and land on my back with the kid up to at least try. People have survived stranger things in real life, so, even if doomed per some crazy "realistic" falling rules, I'd just go for it. But I'm not accusing the player/character, I'm just saying things I'd try, and that's the benefit of hind sight and discussing it here, of course.

So...under what conditions is it worth adding a rule? I was thinking of this just a second ago, hence the thread, when the issue of comparing Breakout (mental) to Casual Strength came up (I won't get into all that of course here, and I use the word "compare" rather broadly), and of course one could add a point to the system regarding Casual Mental/EGO. But would that be worthwhile? It would be consistent. It would be interesting. It would of some use, even, I could argue. But how much use? What is the level at which we are willing to add rules for situations? What is the bar? How common must a situation be, or how critical must it be? Another factor, I'll bring up in a moment... Just fishing for thoughts, really. Certainly I think commonality matters, as does criticality. I would add, though, that if we think of it in terms of a system built on Axioms which informs and regulates Mechanics which in turn are used to create specific Rules which then interacts with Play Experience, I think we have to think more philosphically, as in: Does the Rule enhance Play Experience? Is the Rule needed to ensure correct functioning of Mechanics? Does the Rule enforce the Axioms more clearly in the system? One of the Axioms of HERO is its role as a "toolkit" for a GM. Another, at least I would argue, is uniformity of mechanics, of consistency in application, limiting relearning of new subsystems by creating regularity among them where it makes sense. These two can clash as we get into "enabling" GMs with more and more situational, circumstantial rulings, because in the granularity is also where occurs this lack of streamlining, this increase in Rules which then become something to (at least by many's perceptions) be learned. I would say that the minimum bar for a Rule is that it must be necessary to the regular functioning of the system or enhance Play Experience where the GM cannot otherwise "easily" do so. I think with the logical building blocks, the Axioms will get addressed via this, although another corollary here is that a Rule should never violate an Axiom unless it consciously, deliberately "breaks" one by design, and in that case there must be a mitigating cause, either being essential to Mechanics or fundamental Play Experience (i.e., functionality - in which case the Axiom shoulid be revisited, at least, because it should be very rare for an Axiom to contravene these) or if there are competing Axioms in which case choices must be made. I think there's a real importance to the phrase "must be necessary...where the GM cannot otherwise "easily"" do so," because while it is tempting and certainly to many even interesting to embed rules for all sorts of situations and nuance, doing so where GMs can easily rule with the use of a good, consistent system harms the system in three ways: it stifles GM creativity in my opinion by suggesting there is one correct way when anything so nuanced should be considered holistically as no doubt there are many variables; it threatens Play Experience by calling into question GM judgement against "standard" rules and play groups too often fall prey to "these are the rules" in a manner which suddenly violates common sense or other specifics of the situation (this is related, yes, to the preceding point but not identical); and it simply makes the system harder to learn, or, at least, creates that perception, by having more and more variables to read and consider and (ideally) resort to the book for. In point of fact, while I am not suggesting this is a HERO Axiom (I'm unclear either way), I would like to think that this system promotes the mentality where GMs should feel very free to make judgements with ease because they are well-grounded in an ultimately consistent and streamlined system. The more we violate that premise, the more we fall prey to being precisely the system that we are accused of being, unwieldy and too difficult to learn. Now, I am not suggesting that nuanced, conditional rulings should not be published in some format, but I would reserve them for genre or adventure books where they are more likely, as well as reserve them for DH or a "HERO almanac" or whatever, where they become more clearly targetted to the more interested parties and do not clutter the essential rule system.

Re: Musings on Random Musings Splitters! :

Re: Appropriate challenges: how many points? No problem, it took me a while to think of it and I just about live here...

Re: Hit Location: Heart That's a really good point. I might go less for the OCV decrement but that's a good requirement to add.

Re: Longest Running Thread EVER I didn't think I implied it...

Re: The Last Word Well, they have arsenic in the core/seeds, so if you eat enough you get sick or die. You have to eat a lot but still...there is SOMETHING wrong with them! (We need a nit-picker emoticon!)

Re: Longest Running Thread EVER Well, gee, we don't spend all our time on here! Speaking of which, I'm heading off in a minute and staying off all day to get stuff done here...I don't know why but I've been horribly procastinating work stuff lately...but it's all a balance, and have been productive otherwise. Oh, well, life is all choices. And I work plenty of hours and can do much of my work outside of work hours, so it all balances out (actually in work's favor, on the whole).

Re: Longest Running Thread EVER What what?

Re: Appropriate challenges: how many points? I just searched the boards, it's DH #3.

Re: Musings on Random Musings Shrug, I don't agree with changing it, but I don't see it as childish, I can understand others' concerns on it. In particular, the recurrence of people seeing the original posts and saynig "What happened to Kara," which is simply getting boring to answer.

Re: Musings on Random Musings Preposterous! (I just figured that topped "rediculous" (sic))

Re: The Last Word Totally tubular!

Re: Appropriate challenges: how many points? There's a system of evaluating character capabilities. It's detailed in a Digital Hero article, I'd have to check which one (I can do that later at home), and there's an Excel for this on the Free Stuff, it's at http://www.herogames.com/FreeStuff/charactersheets/New%20EF%20Rating.xls

Re: How do you feel about Superheroes that kill? Yes, normally I would say something like, "Your character(s) would notice or remember there's a young girl in the building." EDIT/PS - to add on to prior comments, we usually have heroes who are looking after the other, less movement-ready heroes, in similar or other urgent situations (Captain Dizzying: "Worm Crawler, need a lift?" Worm Crawler: "Uh...yeah, but Captain Dizzying, I don't want to use your teleport, hey, Airlift Boy, can I grab onto you?" Airlift Boy: "Sure!" Captain Dizzying: "Nobody likes to go with me...").

Re: Hit Location: Heart Xander needed an edge, so it was probably a good call all the way around.