The Talents, Resources & Flaws FAQ

The Hollow Earth Expedition (HEX) roleplaying game has been in existence for about five months now officially, and there are many elements of the game system that have aspects to them that make the players, and GMs, think a little bit. This Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) page is designed to answer some of the commonly asked questions about one of the more interesting HEX game elements - Talents, Resources, and Flaws.

Talents, Resources & Flaws Frequently Asked Questions

I've witnessed the discussion on the HEX forums about the differences between Motivations and Flaws. So, what are the differences between Motivations and Flaws?

Jeff Combos wrote, ""I really enjoyed the debate on Motivations vs. Flaws that occurred in the HEX forums. It warms my gamer heart to read an intellectual debate on where the two concepts overlap.

"Motivations and Flaws may be whatever players and Gamemasters agree upon. There are some guidelines, however, and there is an important one that I want to reiterate here.

"To a player, Motivations, like Flaws, represent ways to get Style points. They are not synonymous, however, as Motivations reward you for playing your character in a specific way while Flaws reward you for intentionally (or unintentionally) hurting your character.

"To the Gamemaster, Motivations have a different function. They connect the player character to the game and give him or her a reason to follow the plot. Think of it like a carrot and stick. Style points are the carrot, the Motivation is the stick, and the GM uses them both to keep up the game going in the right direction.

"Okay, you probably knew all of that already, but here is where the subtlety comes in. In order for a Motivation to drive a plot or storyline, it needs to work on a higher level. The Gamemaster should be able to pick a Motivation as a Theme for his game. In fact, one could think of Motivations as personal themes for player characters.

"When looked at through this lens, some Motivations will be more useful than others. Justice, Revenge, or Fame are all universal concepts. Fanaticism, however, is problematic, because I can't just say that "Fanaticism is a Theme of my game." It begs the question, "Fanaticism about what?" To my mind, fanaticism is a modifier for a Motivation, useful for religious zealots and vigilanties, and therefore makes a better Flaw.

"All of this assumes, of course, that you're playing with Themes or using Motivations as a guideline for character generation (such as in the sample adventure in the HEX ruleboo, page 233). If none of this appeals to you, or sounds too much like method acting, then feel free to make up whatever Motivations sound good to you. Forget about the stick and just sink your teeth into the carrot!"

When a Talent has a pre-requisite of, for example, "Pilot 4", is this a Skill Level of 4 or a Skill Rating of 4?

The pre-requisite of a Talent is always a Skill Level, not a Skill Rating. Thus, in the example cited above, the pre-requisite is for a Skill Level of 4. In my own HEX campaign and games, I use the Skill Level as the pre-requisite, not the Rating, but most people adhere to the rules on this.

In the entries on Talents, when the Talent refers to a prerequisite Skill (such as Dodge requiring Athletics 4), does the number refer to the Skill level, or Skill Rating?

The number that is referred to in the case of a prerequisite Skill for a Talent is the Skill *Rating*, not the Skill Level. Thus, if a player creates a character with a Charisma of 2 and 2 levels of Intimidation, thus giving the character a Skill Rating of 4, he then qualifies for the Fearsome Talent, which has Intimidate 4 as the prerequisite.

Special thanks to Jeff Combos, Melissa McNally, M. Sechin Tower, and the folks on the Hollow Earth Expedition (HEX) forums for their help in the compiling of this FAQ information.

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