by liahgeron » Wed Nov 05, 2014 8:58 pm
As a starting point, I recognize we've strayed far from the initial point of what Parry works on and I apologize for apparently setting that off. Allot of this and my last 2 posts concerns more how items work in Accelerant and Occam's, which I think is pretty important to define, versus the niche situations where an untyped parry lets someone bypass a fight mechanic or trap.
The problem I have with treating items as a grant effect is that none of the offenses are and there is already a separate "grant 1 armor" and "grant 1 protection." This leaves the option of treating it as a grant somewhat odd to me. Additionally, it interacts strangely with passing items since you can pass the item then grant it to multiple others. Plus, it eats up the handful of Grant slots we have, particularly if we count all items as Grants, including plot items.
While we can't currently coordinate crafting enough items to really sway a battle in the same fashion, it might become important if say we have to take down a fully unbound demon or similarly stated field or module boss and our only remaining source of typed damage is from the crafting. Alternatively, if 2 Strain 117 are dueling, crafted Parries can mean the difference between surviving and permanently dying. Knowing how the calls will work can be important here, and these situations will inevitably come up.
As it takes time, planning, resources, and coordination to arrange crafting in these ways, the "don't be a dick rule" also doesn't really apply. The extremes of both possible outcomes to the ruling (counting as a grant or not) don't effect the outcome, just how things are planned out and the calls are made. "just rolling with it" might lead to a break of combat with a "Really, how are you doing that?" unless we do make the clarification. Additionally, whether or not a item is a grant you get when you pick it up versus an item you can carry and issue is EXTREMELY important to define for crafters and people with plot items.
Items are a strange thing in any accelerant game, I agree, but I would like a solid ruling as, in recent years, there has been allot of confusion spread amongst the community by game specific rulings not being described as such. Blocking 1 handed with a staff took years to remind people that it was a skill specific ability, not core accelerant. Similarly, Disengage has been the source of loud, in battle arguments about whether or not one side was using it correctly as a result of one game allowing disengage while agonized. Even within just the core rules, how Maims work has needed allot of clarification recently: A melee maim effects the limb it strikes; a spell or gun maim affects either the limb indicated in the call, or the target can choose a random limb; a melee strike for maim is almost never limb specific; and a torso hit will not cause them to lose a random limb. I'll admit I am very much a stickler for how the rules work because they do work very well if we all have them down pat, but previous OOG arguments I have witnessed in the middle of otherwise epic field fights have convinced me to try and make sure the rules are clear in advance when we do get these nice situations where they can be clarified on a OOG level.
