Damage Questions
Q: Knockout
Please re-explain how knockout works.
A: Normal incapacitation means that an immortal cannot get
up and move around under his own power, and a mortal is most likely
dying. It does not mean he is unconscious however. In
order to render someone unconscious without potentially killing them
requires stunning them into incapacitation. Simply put, if the
character reaches the incapacitation limit but has at least half of
his health boxes marked off with the stun notation, he is
incapacitated by being knocked unconscious instead of from real
damage. If less than half the boxes are marked with the stun
notation the character still runs the risk of dying if mortal.
For an immortal becoming unconscious isn't much different from
normal incapacitation, though the immortal can no longer sense what
is happening around him obviously. For a mortal though, it is
quite different since it means the difference between simply being
knocked out and possibly dying.
Q: Panacea
Does the Panacea work while an immortal is incapacitated or
knocked out?
A: Yes, though its effectiveness may be adjusted for
factors such as Massive Truama (TM) damage.
Firearms Questions
Q: Full Auto
Doesn't the -2 to hit and the +2 to damage make full auto (as
defined on page 241 at the bottom of the chart) the same as regular
fire?
A: Yes and No. It makes it harder to hit your target,
but the base value of the damage goes up. When combined with
advanced and optional rules in Narrator's Guide such as Bracing,
Armor Piercing and High Explosive Rounds it alters not only your
chances to hit, but it does make the autofire different from regular
fire. When using only basic rules there is little difference
for immortals due to the Panacea.
Q: Range
Why are the penalties in the Player and Narrator Guides for range
different?
A: Because the Narrator's Guide uses several advanced and
optional rules that are not made use of in the Player's Guide.
If not using the advanced and optional weapon rules from the
Narrator's Guide, use the range penalties as presented in the
Player's Guide.
Q: Recoil
Where are the rules for recoil?
A: The recoil rules are simply the Full Auto rules
presented on page 241 of the Player's Guide as noted above.
Held Action Questions
Q: Parry with Riposte
When does the -2 penalty as described on page 205 of the Player's
Guide take place when riposting?
A: It doesn't take place at all. Parrying as
described on page 205 of the Player's Guide is part of a normal
passive defense roll, trading off a -2 on the next attack or defense
in the round (see errata above) for
the immediate defensive bonus. Parrying with Riposte is a
different maneuver -- using a previously held action -- so it does
not take a -2 penalty nor is one applied to any future attack or
defense roll since it is using a standard action (the one being
held).
We acknowledge that Parrying and Riposting is normally considered
(though not with all styles of fighting) a two-weapon function, but
to better mimic popular media, written fiction and other sources,
the statement was omitted to allow for more dramatic fights in the
game.
Himsati Questions
Q: Aura Shifting
There are two versions of Aura Shifting (page 144 of the Player's
Guide and page 237 of the Narrator's Guide). Are these
different abilities accidentally given the same name?
A: No. The Aura Shifting ability listed on page 237
is only available in full himsati at no immaculum cost. It
provides the same effect as shifting auras using immaculum (page 144
Player's Guide) and is an alternative method usable only in full
himsati and only if the Narrator decides to use this optional rule.
The optional rule on page 237 is just another way to accomplish the
same thing as presented in the Player's Guide on page 144 (but again
only in full himsati).
Movement Questions
Q: Combat Movement
How does combat movement work? If someone uses all their
combat movement in the first action, what happens in other actions
during the round?
A: Combat movement is simply a rough measure of how much
"dancing around" a character can do in the middle of combat while
performing other standard actions over the course of a round; combat
movement is not a standard or passive action and doesn't even exist
outside of measured combat time. If a character wants to use
all his combat move in the first action, he is obviously crossing a
large distance in comparison to his AGL, so he is now running and
cannot engage in combat. On his next action he can slow down
and enter into combat with his combat movement or even continue
running to go even further. This does mean a character with
three actions (6 SPT) can run on the first two actions, and then
still have his full combat move available on the third action.
Remember that combat move is basically the equivalent of a slow
casual walking speed. A 2 AGL gives a character 2 yards per
round (6 feet in 3 seconds) which is a little over 1/2 mph (roughly
1 kph). Even a character with a 5 AGL (max human) only moves
15 feet in 3 seconds for a combat move. If something is going
to take up all the character's combat move to reach in a single
action, he isn't casually or carefully moving about any longer, he's
running. This is why it takes an a standard action to switch
opponents that are not in close proximity because you are going to
have to take the time to move from one opponent to another quickly
and it uses up an action (since you cannot engage in any standard
combat actions while running).
Offspring (Trysts, Chimera, Dopplegangers)
Q: Madonnas
Can two immortals produce an offspring if neither is a madonna,
how rare are madonnas?
A: No they cannot, immortals are not sterile but their
genetic code is malleable and has difficulty combining with another.
Combined with the fact that immortals are not humans, but actually
creatures of varying species (and sometimes even plant and
elemental), this makes it impossible to foster a child together.
The exception are madonnas, very rare immortals who physically can
pass a bit of their own shard on to their immortal mate, thus
melding the two genetic codes together to create a Chimera.
Some of the Tribes have ritualistic serenades they can use to prove
whether or not someone that is suspected of being a madonna really
is or is not, but it takes days and involves great amounts of
immaculum to perform.
Q: Offspring combinations
Which combinations of immortal(s) and human(s) produce which
types of offspring?
A: Remember, the odds of successfully conceiving a child
even when purposely setting out to do such are very low. There
are only a few exceptions in immortal history where the odds were
reversed (which resulted in a great number of offspring being born
such as the Garm of the Eremites or the Toys of the Peri). But
here is the quick chart:
- Any immortal (even a madonna) casually mating with any human
= No child
- Any immortal (even a madonna) purposely mating with a Bright
Blood human to conceive a child = Tryst
- Two normal Immortals mating (casual or purposely) = No child
- A madonna and a normal immortal mating (casual or purposely)
= Chimera
- Two madonnas mating (casual or purposely) = Doppleganger
Serenade Questions
Q: Anthems and Ripples
Exactly how far away are anthems and ripples heard?
A: When an immortal is in the presence of another immortal
singing a serenade, he can hear the singer's anthem via the rules on
page 183 of the Narrator's Guide. An anthem can only be heard
in the immediate area, typically this should be determined using the
singer's SPT at a Level 2 AOE (Level 1 if the serenade is being
hidden in any way, Level 3 if it is sung rather loudly, part of a
meld, etc.). Penalties can be applied if it is part of a
chorus or if many serenades are being sung in the area at the time.
A ripple occurs when the serenade is horribly misplayed (critical
failure or judgement call by the Narrator if those optional rules
are not being used); and the serenade is played against someone or
something aside from the character's own self. The ripple
carries the anthem far further than normal, for example: a
character with a 5 SPT causes a ripple, that is a Level 5 AOE (Meta
AOE) equal to a large region that might possibly hear it. Of
course this doesn't mean every drove in a small country will hear it
as other magical effects, serenades and such being played throughout
the region will obviously make it harder to hear the further away
one is from the source. But since the target number starts at
only a 6, very perceptive drove predators, immortals and other
supernaturally aware creatures still stand a chance of hearing it at
such great distances.
Tribal Law vs. Dragon's Rule will also cover the thinning of the
barrier between Earth and other realms that allows more heavily
tainted creatures to quickly cross over through the immediate area
at the source of a ripple. This is a primary reason why the
Law of the Silence exists as detailed in the upcoming Tribal Law vs.
Dragon's Rule book.
Success and Failure Questions
Q: Critical Failure vs. Serenades
Serenades always work with a focus, how can someone critically
fail and gain taint?
A: When working with related and unrelated foci, the
character is no longer working in their actual focus, thus they only
roll one die. Thus if they roll a one on the die and fail by 2
or more points (which can happen in a contested roll quite easily),
they critically fail and gain a point of taint. For example:
a character with a fireball serenade (motif of fire, attention of
destruction, focus of a large ball of fire) decides to instead make
a fire-spear, he is now susceptible to critical failure.
A large amount of the sample serenades in the Player's Guide are
meant to reduce the chance of such failure for basic game play based
on simple foci that characters will rarely use with related and
unrelated foci. As characters start developing their own
serenades you'll find lots of opportunities for critical failure.
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