[HOE] Strain question

[Andrew Ross <arosslaw@earthlink.net>]

I'm looking through my newly-arrived copy of Waste Warriors and it
brought back to mind some questions I had about Strain. Simply put, is
strain equal to vigor-die type enough for a character to be effective in
more than one fight per session? And are the martial arts strain costs
too high?

Case in point, the Monkey Goes to Mountain ability costs 3 strain per
use. That seems like a lot for something that is pretty much an
automatic ability for most cinematic martial artists. The others cost
1-2 per use or per round used, meaning most people are good for 8-10
rounds of combat, then can't use any special abilities for several
hours.

Now, when you're talking about a doomsayer who can take out a tank
singled-handedly, putting some limits in place makes sense. But the
martial artist abilities don't seem anywhere near as overpowering as
most mutant or syker powers.

Maybe its my unfamiliarity with using the rules in play, but this is the
impression I get from reading it. I'd be interested in hearing views of
people who've used the strain rules a lot.

Thanks.

Andrew Ross (arosslaw@earthlink.net)