Narrator Advice
Extended Contests and Ranged Combat
by Bradley "Brand" Robins
Copyright © 2004, Bradley Robins
Running a ranged combat in HeroQuest, especially in a situation in which one side has missile weapons and the
other none, can give players and narrators alike migraines. Because we're all used to thinking of battles in terms of ranges
and movement values, revisioning such a combat in HeroQuest terms is a difficult task. A similar problem can occur with
extended contests in general. Sometimes players get stuck in the place where the contest starts and are unable to find
ways to dramatically change the conflict because they see action points (AP) as being simply an abstraction. For many
groups, these two problems are linked, because both involve learning to envision contests with shifting focuses as part
of a greater extended contest. Using the AP system to allow dynamic results in conflict, rather than just gaining and
loosing points, is one key to making extended contests more dynamic and making ranged combats work without pain.
AP in an extended contest are often seen as being divorced from the actual situation of a contest, as being a nebulous
indicator of relative position that is not directly tied into shifting control or location of the contest. It's fairly
typical to hear players say that they're frustrated with extended contests because winning or losing AP has no effect
on the conflict until someone goes below 0 and goes down. Extended contests in combat thus become a "I hit him"/"I parry"
sequence until someone drops. This is obviously not acceptable, as HeroQuest conflicts are supposed to be
about scene resolution rather than task resolution - but even more importantly are supposed to be fun!
One way out of this is to allow actions in an extended contest to radically change the situation. Rather than just sucking
away AP, an action can cause different skills to be used, change the setting or range, add or remove modifiers and equipment,
or otherwise affect the course of the contest. Rather than just being beans for counting, AP can reflect actual gains and
losses with concrete effects in the contest. (Obviously, this won't be necessary for all contests or all groups, but it
can work to great effect when desired.)
The "Sample Advantage Point Bids" table on page 68 of HeroQuest should become everyone's best friend, as it
makes a great guideline for determining how much a character needs to risk in order to make the change they want.
Some examples of this principle in action:
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Thomas the peasant is in trouble, as Sir Ector is trying to ride him down for sport. Sir Ector has chased Thomas to the
edge of the woods, and is now trying to stick as sword in poor Thomas's back. Sir Ector has a lot of advantages in the
contest - a horse, heavy weapons and armor, the ability to do charge attacks, and so forth. Poor Thomas has only his own
little self and a rock - and, he notes with relief, the Climb Trees ability. Thomas knows that climbing a tree is taking
a big chance - if he slips and falls he goes under the hooves, if he doesn't get up fast enough he gets pinned to the
trunk like a butterfly to a tray. He's willing to risk it, however, as he really has no other chance. The narrator rules
that climbing the tree before Ector can get there is a contest of Thomas's
Climb Trees 5W vs. Ector's horses' Run Fast 10W,
and that it's a normal bid for Thomas. Thomas bids his 10 AP and rolls, getting a low success against Ector's high success.
Thomas gets half the AP, and the narrator rules that he gets high enough that Ector can't use any charge or horse-based
skills against him. Now if Thomas can survive until his next turn, maybe he can get high enough into the tree that Ector
can't do anything to him unless he abandons horse and armor and climbs up after him...
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Ranulf the Heortling is engaged in a heated debate with the beautiful Lunar priestess Jalvera. Ranulf's best debating
skill is his Bragging 17. Jalvera, on the other hand, has a Debate of 5W2 and
it is quickly becoming obvious that Ranulf is going to lose, and lose badly, unless he can change the focus of the argument.
Ranulf, in a move dear to every barbarian adventurer's heart, steps in and grabs Jalvera to lay a kiss on her that will
curl her toes and make her lose track of all her arguments. The narrator rules this is a desperate move, and requires
Ranulf to bid every single AP he has on the contest. However, Ranulf is able to use his
Seduce Nubile Maiden 2W2 against Jalvera's Resist Manly Barbarians of 17. If
Ranulf loses Jalvera is going to slap his face and publicly spurn him, probably humiliating him so badly that he'll never
be able to show his face in town again. If he wins he'll gain a huge advantage and be able to move the rest of the "debate"
from verbal skills to bodice ripper skills.
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This method also works very well for running ranged combats, even ones where one side has missile weapons and the other
doesn't. At the start of the contest, one group is able to use their combat skills to affect the AP totals and the other
isn't. Through the contest the non-missile side must make AP bids and take actions that allow them to change the situation.
This could be anything, from a simple charge to gain ground to using the landscape for cover to something as complicated
as changing the formation of the non-missile troops so that they can use the small group of slingers they'd forgotten they
had in order to gain range. (See Xenophon's "The Persian Expedition" for a real world historical example of this happening.)
If the non-missile group is able to gain the AP, they switch the contest up. If they don't, they don't.
An example:
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A group of Dara Happan hoplites has run into a group of Tarshite skirmishers. The Tarshites approach like they were friends,
and then attack from surprise while the Dara Happans are bidding them welcome. The combat starts with the Dara Happans having
to use their Spot Foe against the Tarshite Thrown Axe augmented by Cunning, Scouting, and
Know Local Territory. The final score is Dara Happans 1W,
Tarshites 20W.
The Tarshites act first, and make a normal engagement bid - as they're happy with the situation as it stands - for 13 AP.
They get a success against the Dara Happan failure, dropping the hoplites to 8 AP. The Dara Happans, knowing they have to
close the distance or be butchered, decide to charge into the Tarshite axemen. The narrator rules this is a determined
action, and will require that they bid all 8 of their remaining AP - meaning they'll be out of the fight if they fail. The
hoplites risk it, and use their March skill augmented by their Unit Mass Combat to attack the Tarshites, who
use their March to resist.
The Dara Happans get a success against the Tarshite's failure, getting 8 AP back and closing the distance so that the fight
now becomes melee on melee, putting the Tarshites at a disadvantage.
Alternatively, if the Dara Happans had gotten a tie with the Tarshites they wouldn't have gained or lost any AP, and so
wouldn't have closed the distance. They charged forward, but the Tarshites fell back. The Tarshites could continue to
attack the hoplites without the hoplites being able to attack back.
If the hoplites had failed, they would have been crushed under a hail of Tarshite axes, and been forced into an ignominious
retreat. Maybe that night they could realize they could make slings, and then the next time they meet the Tarshites they'll
be the ones with the range advantage...
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That is the way to make extended contests and missile vs. non-missile combats work dynamically. AP bids and the fall of the
dice should change the course of the conflict, the skills used in the conflict, and be something more than a game mechanic
that has no relation to the course of the fight. Using AP bids in this manner will generate more creative, dynamic, and
interesting conflicts and will stop a lot of headaches about how to resolve missile combats and similar problems.
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