Re: [HOE] Hinderance

[Lister2500@aol.com]

<<The big question is, does it make sense that BlackTome is a better 
gunslinger 
than John because he has nightmares?  Those night terrors do nothing 
practical to make his gunslinging better, but in HoE, the five points you get 
for taking them REALLY makes you a better slinger>>

Okay, yeah, BlackTome's got Night Terrors. But maybe good ol' John's pretty 
Loyal to his friends and happens to enjoy being Heroic. Well, there's eight 
points right there. That's even better than the Night Terrors. But does does 
being Loyal and Heroic make you a better gunslinger?

Answer: It doesn't. You're looking at the edges and hindrances system WAY too 
mechanically. While it could be said that, since the points from hindrances 
immediately transform into points for skills or edges, that the hindrances 
themselves are the cause of the increased power. But it's not. It's simply a 
little more realistic. Everyone's got little quirks about them, even the 
great ones. In reality, Caesar was epileptic, Billy the Kid was one ugly 
sumbitch, and FDR was pretty much crippled from polio. In fantasy fiction, 
Elric was depressed and sadistic, Rand al'Thor is slowly going insane, and 
Rincewind from Discworld is a complete coward. 

But all these people and characters have stuff to balance them out, and 
that's what makes them heroes (well, mostly - if I'm not mistaken, Billy the 
Kid was a murderer). They overcome their shortcomings, and are even BETTER at 
what they do than the average guy. It's a much more interesting story that 
way, in my eyes. And that's why the points are there for hindrances: to 
encourage people to make better characters. If your gunslinger REALLY needs 
that fifth level in quick draw, but you're out of points, then maybe you give 
him a hankerin' for alcohol. But, the Marshal says, why's he got that? Now 
you have to come up with a story for the character, a reason for this to have 
happened to him, and suddenly the character's better than he was a second ago.

I know plenty of people would take hindrances for that express purpose, but 
they are the minority. Most folks just get 'em for the points, but, in the 
long run, that makes their characters better. Without getting points for 
gimping your character up, a lot of people who just forget about them 
altogether, and have an endless stream of Normal Folk. And that ain't a very 
fun game.