Reading more into WvH, and I have a few questions. At least, I do for now, though I might have more later.
When picking cards from the tableau, the Hero Player doesn't care about their number, only their suit, correct? If I have a Clubs of 3, I can use any Clubs to "activate" it--is that right?
Conversely, the World Player cares only about their number, correct? The suit doesn't matter--The difference between a 3 of Diamonds and a 3 of Clubs still results in a "3." Or, should the suit "guide" the World Player--in the example in the book, the WP had 3 listed as "evidence." Would it matter if he activated with Clubs (a physical challenge) or Diamonds (a mental/logical one)?
With multiple characters, how does one handle "group" threats. In Karl Hendricks Bridgeways game, during the opening round, the tavern was struck with "glowmad." Only one the PC's reacted to it, the other that was present seemed to be fine on the following turn. Is it just so that any character "deals" with a challenge?
Thanks! Oh, and what about "Impact Token" or "advantage." Or is, this something Karl Hendricks did?
ReplyDeleteWhat is WvH? It sounds interesting
ReplyDeleteAllan Bray It's a 1 on 1 Storytelling game. One player is the "world player" who sets the stage and describes the broader world. Similar to a GM, except he doesn't "master" anything--he Plays the World and see's where the story develops much like the Hero Player. The Hero Player is the "co-author," but whose focus is limited more to a single character. The two trade back and forth as the World Player challenges the Hero Player until their narrative is complete.
ReplyDeleteIt can be purchased here:
drivethrurpg.com - World vs. Hero
Yeah, Impact Token are my own addition to the game. They're not mentioned in the rules, but they're meant to be a mechanical implementation of the Round Guidelines on p 38-39.
ReplyDeleteNo Impact Tokens in round 1-2.
World gets them in 3-4 to put the hurt on.
Hero gets them in 5-6 to bounce back.
They both get one in round 7 to build to the climax.
Hero gets one in round 8 for an exciting conclusion.
Ok, I can see how that would be neat. And, just so I understand, the impact tokens "kick things up a notch," right? So a Low Impact ability becomes Moderate, but not High or Extreme, correct?
ReplyDeleteForgot to add this arguably most important bit:
ReplyDeleteAn Impact Token lets the player increase the impact of the scene... even above what their suit ability would normally allow.
Another reason I did this is because I slightly house ruled how the World Player determines impact. As written, the World Player gets an Extreme Impact scene on any 10 and any face card and any paired cards 7-9. The resulted in a ton of Extreme scenes for the World Player and almost none for the Hero Player.
This is great for building drama and generally making the World put the Hero through the wringer, but I found that eventually Extreme didn't mean Extreme anymore. So I changed the scale like so:
1-3: Low Impact
4-7: Moderate Impact
8-10: High Impact
Extreme Impact only through pairs 8-10
This means that the World Player gets Extreme Impact much less often (through still more than the Hero), and the Hero Player also has a shot at more High and Extreme Impact scene by strategically using their Impact Token in the rounds when they have the advantage.
Yes, by one step. A Moderate becomes a High for example. Same thing is true for the World player when they have the token.
ReplyDeleteOk, I like that House Rule. Reading through it, the sheer number of World Player "Extremes" game me pause. Particularly since it seems like a typical Hero Player would only be rarely be able to have an Extreme Impact themselves. Your solution seems to still allow for the World Player to put them through the ringer, but gives the Hero a bit more freedom of action.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of running multiple Hero characters, yes I just allow one of them to react to the World's scene on behalf of all the heroes. Most of the time this makes sense when the heroes are together since they all get to benefit from the acting hero's action or idea.
ReplyDeleteIt's more tricky when the heroes are split up, such as in Rounds 4-6 of my AP, if you've gotten that far. This is harder to do since you're really running two scenes in parallel and it's a bit harder to decide which cards to use for which hero in which area.
Yeah, I've read your AP. I actually liked 4-6, probably the best. I was a bit skeptical of the multiple PC idea until I got to that part, and I saw how you can exploit the narrative possibilities of a split party.
ReplyDeleteAnother quick note on Extreme Impact scenes. The only way the Hero Player can get an Extreme Impact scene (besides Impact Tokens or hitting their FX card) is with a four-to-a-flush board. The chances of this happening are around around 3%. And when it does happen, the Hero will get 4 Extreme Impact scenes in a row (assuming they have the proper suit at the proper rank).
ReplyDeleteThis hasn't come up for me, and I'm not sure what I'll do if it does. It seems like it might need a bit of house ruling on its own, but I'm not sure how.
Wait, maybe I'm misreading things. I thought the Player can get an Extreme Impact with a Suit Ability of 4, or with one of 3 and a Pair. Is this not right?
ReplyDeleteThe Hero Player cares only about the suit. Say a Hero has an ability of Diamonds with rank 2. If there is 1 diamond in the tableau, they can make 1 scene of Low Impact. If there are 2 diamonds, they can make 2 Moderate Impact scenes. If there were 3 diamonds, they could make 3 Moderate Impact scenes (because the total impact is limited by their ability rank). If their ability was instead of rank 3, they could make 3 High Impact scenes.
ReplyDeleteOf course, you can mix things up. With 3 diamonds in the tableau, that hero could make 1 High Impact scene, and then another hero with a rank 2 in diamonds could make a Moderate scene, and so on.
In general, it's good to have a variety of abilities in each suit so you have multiple ways to use the cards... rather than 3 straight scenes of "Grogg smashes it with his hammer."
I went ahead and posted my notes about house rules. The way I use Impact Tokens and Disadvantages is in there.
ReplyDeletethe-ithrian-gambit.obsidianportal.com - House Rules