Topic: HARP D20-Fied Revisited

[pastaav]

If it took "forever" learn Monopoly would it be as big a game as it is? I don't think so.

*smiles*
I think this is pretty interesting example actually. Monopoly is a game that just about anyone can play after minimal instructions. On the other hand the market success of Monopoly is all about clever advertising and not because the game itself has merit. The world is filled with people that despise board games and refuse to play such since they have been forced to play monopoly. To put it simple Monopoly is probably the most boring boardgame I ever has played. There are loads of good games that does not only depend on pure luck and actually have a setup when the designer of the game handle the complexity instead of simplifying things down until nothing substantial remain.

If we shall make board game comparison I think that Advanced Squad Leader is more on topic.
RM is basically a game that at the core is simple, but have rules that is written in the ASL fashion.
D&D on the other hand is very complicated beast with loads of rules of exceptions, but since the game rules is written to present the game as simple and smooth your typical customer don't feels like it is complicated.

HARP is most aspects just as complex as RM. If looking at stuff like combat I would argue that for instance damage caps that sometimes can be removed is a more complex rule mechanics than the RM counter part. Likewise the concept of tiny attacks that is scaled to do more damage at the cost of more power points and a penalty is also something that really is very complex compared to RMs list concept that does separate the casting of the more powerful spell from the effect. What makes HARP a more simple game is IMHO that the added complexity is mostly on the designers end. The rules presented to the player is streamlined and is closer in style to D&D than ASL.

  I wanted to run quick Harp game while the GM is recovering from H1N1 to keep the group alive, and chose a very Heroic scale (2d10) to attract interest and make a 2-3 session game memorable.

Maybe I am not been paying attention...but for me 2d10 does not seems like a heroic scale since dice pool mechanics by nature enforces averages.

In what ways does you think 2d10 is more heroic than 1d20?

[RandalThor]

Your personal opinions aside, Monopoly is a successful games, as it has been around for a very long time and is still selling every year and being played everyday (somewhere). The fact that just about anyone can play it will minimal instruction proves my point that easier to learn games* are more broadly appealing and will, hence, be more successful economically.

I agree that the spellcasting aspect of HARP is more complicated than RM, what with the scaling options and scaling modifiers, but that is really the only part of that game that I have found to be so. Even then, I prefer it to the spell list system, which is something I was constantly battling with - just have never really cared for it much. Some would argue that the list system is more complicated in the way you have to keep track of all the different lists you have to what level you have them at. Sort of problematic also when you constantly have to deal with cross list spells that are the same, yet not. Keeping track of all of that can be confusing, I imagine.

I can't comment on the "designer's end" as I wasn't in the room when they made the decisions to go one way or the other with a particular rule. Who knows, maybe they flipped coins to determine what way to go. Maybe they used quantum mathematics. I don't know. I just know that when I sit down to learn HARP it is much, much easier to do than RM.

*Not to say master, which is different. Chess is easy to learn, but very difficult to master.

[ArmoryDave]

I have to agree with RandalThor for the simple fact that I'd much rather introduce a new gamer to HARP spellcasting than RM spellcasting. 

I consider it an appealing side of the HARP system that no two spellcasters are going to be the same, with ranks of this spell and that spell having the potential to be completely different even on magic users with similar builds.