Re: [HoE] Seeing mutilated bodies

[Rich <toadpooka@usa.net>]

If you assume that a character who's been around dead bodies a lot doesn't have to make Guts checks
when he sees more, why not say that one who's been around abominations a lot doesn't have to when he
runs into one?  Or one that's used to being in staredowns doesn't have to make checks when he's
being Overawed?  How about someone who's gotten shot at a lot not having to roll Dodge?  Or an
expert gunslinger not having to roll Shootin' to hit a person?  I think it's obvious where I'm
heading here...
If you've been around the wastes for a long time, you should be able to handle seeing a corpse
because you should have a high enough Guts to manage to pass the check.  If you don't, then I guess
the character was just lucky all those times before you started playing.
What I think is appropriate is to only require Guts checks for particularly mutilated bodies,
decapitations, or corpses that have been rotting in the sun for a while, etc.  Either that, or not
allow aces on the Scart chart for that stuff.  That way, there's usually some sort of reaction to
the scene, rather than just saying, "Oh, boy another dead body..."

bax wrote:
> A green kid out in the wastes for
> the first time?  Sure, have 'em make a Foolproof guts check.  A waster
> who's been around a while, blowing away trogs and wading through hip-deep
> gore in their quest for justice?  Don't make me laugh- they'd be too busy
> seeing if they could salvage the hide for a pair of pants to go weak in the
> knees.
>   When I'm Marshal, I only call for guts checks when I can justify it to
> the character- green characters have to make them more often, experienced
> characters less often, as it should be.

-- 
And so ends the case I call "The Case Of The Guy Who Was So Stressed-Out About His Lost Keys That He
Eventually Had A Heart Attack, And It Turned Out They Were In The Sofa The Whole Time.

Richard A. Ranallo,
The Man They Couldn't Hang