Rules Questions

[Tesla]

Ok, since the Alpha rulebook has been posted. I think there will be a lot of questions. I started this thread so they can all be in one place instead of scattered over 3 or 4 other threads

[sndwurks]

** Moved from the Archetypes post**

Fetch Questions -
1) Broken Psyche - When it says "You cannot regain more than 1 Sanity per reset through any other means.", does that include going from 0 Sanity to 1 Sanity after your 5 minutes of being crazy? I.e. If you hit 0 Sanity the first time per reset, Defense Mechanism for 5 minutes, restore 1 Sanity, and then lose that 1 Sanity again, are you stuck in your Defense Mechanism / 0 Sanity until you restore?

2) Dead Wood - Can you clarify "The first time you are hit by an Agony effect or an effect with the Pain trait you must call “Resist.”"? Does that mean if someone swings an Agony into you, you can call Resist on the first one, but not on the second one? Or do you have to be hit with a Double Agony or Double X by Pain to take it? Alternatively, is it only at the second call of Agony by Cold by eating too much ice cream that you get brainfreeze?

2b) How does this interact with powers that Reduce calls to Agony or Absorb calls to Agony?

3) Hollow Man - Does the Animate trait mean that they are not Living? And thus, cannot be eaten for sustenance by the Ridden, etc?

4) Tough as a Pine Knot - How much does "Heal to Self" heal? All Vitality? Or just 1?

General Questions -

5) Just making sure regarding guns, but it costs either F or a Marksmanship to fire a gun, period? So, if a character has no Marksmanship and no F left, what happens when they fire a gun? Do they call "Harmless" or "No Effect" to indicate that they missed?

6) Does Void cost the same as any other Attribute? And is it fair to put that as your bonus point that gets mentioned in the rules? In specific, does it cost only 7 CP to start the game with a Void of 4?

[Tesla]

I'll start it off

Basic question. Will credits have a physical form, paper scrip, coins, ect.?
Credit sounds like it would only be Electronic. I ask because I was wondering if money will be stealable or be found as treasure/rewards.
Non-physical means only a hacker could steal it, but harder to make small purchases at a low tech store/between players. Both options have pluses and minuses, just wondering which it will be.

Upkeep and Well Fed
Question 1) Can you Pre-pay Upkeep and/or Well Fed. Say my character comes into a bit of credit. Instead of letting it hang around where it may be stolen, can we pay ahead, say 3 or 4 events. That way we don't have the credits to steal, but we also don't have to worry about starving.

Question 2) Some specializations say that the player does not have to pay an Upkeep cost. If that player wants to be "Well Fed" would he have to pay the full 10 credits or would he only have to pay the difference of 5 credits? I personally think having to pay the full amount makes those specializations less desirable and it would be better to just take a specialization that generates credits

[Jacob]

Answers:

Fetch Questions -
1) Broken Psyche - When it says "You cannot regain more than 1 Sanity per reset through any other means." it does not interfere with your ability to regain a single point of Sanity after triggering your defense mechanism. I apologize for not making that clearer. You only go temporarily mad. You're just easier to push back over the edge.

2) Dead Wood - "The first time you are hit by an Agony effect or an effect with the Pain trait you must call “Resist.”"? It should be that each reset you can/must shrug off the very first effect that hits you that is either an Agony or has the Pain trait. So--Agony, or Agony by Brainfreeze. The first one is free. Same with a Maim by Pain. On the other hand, if someone hits you an instant later with another Agony, or a Drain by Pain, you're out of luck. And double eats that resistance like it's candy.

2b) How does this interact with powers that Reduce calls to Agony or Absorb calls to Agony? Well, if you found a game breaking loop, I hope you'll tell us. In general, though, that would use up your resistance, assuming it's the first one. It's a dumb defense (must be used against the first instance, as opposed to a smart defense which you choose when to use).

3) Hollow Man - Does the Animate trait mean that they are not Living? And thus, cannot be eaten for sustenance by the Ridden, etc? "Living" is a funny thing in Accelerant. 99.9% of things are "Living" just because they aren't "Dead," which is a specific game mechanic. Different games deal with things differently, but I've seen Living undead. Unless it specifically says "you lose the Living trait," you have the Living trait.

4) Tough as a Pine Knot - How much does "Heal to Self" heal? All Vitality? Or just 1? Just 1. Heal, Grant Protection, etc., all do 1 point unless a number is specified.

General Questions -

5) Just making sure regarding guns, but it costs either F or a Marksmanship to fire a gun, period? So, if a character has no Marksmanship and no F left, what happens when they fire a gun? Do they call "Harmless" or "No Effect" to indicate that they missed? You really shouldn't pull the trigger on that last shot, but if you do (no big deal, it happens), just tell the target "Sorry, don't take that," or "Clarification: that was a miss." 'Harmless' isn't an Accelerant term, and No Effect is what you call when YOU get hit with an effect and would likely just confuse the poor target.

6) Does Void cost the same as any other Attribute? And is it fair to put that as your bonus point that gets mentioned in the rules? In specific, does it cost only 7 CP to start the game with a Void of 4? The pertinent wording is on page 32, which states in pertinent part "Starting characters also receive one free point of Earth, Air, Fire, or Water, which must be selected before any other CP is spent." So no, you can't pick Void as your freebie. That said, Void DOES cost the same as other attributes, so yeah, feel free to spend 7 CP and start with 4 Void.

Also: Welcome Aboard!

[Jacob]

Basic question. Will credits have a physical form, paper scrip, coins, ect.?
There will be a barter system of some kind, possibly somewhat shady. Hard currency isn't common, but it's hardly rare, either, and you guys will have the option of storing Credits on line in a bank or keeping money or items of specified value on hand.

Upkeep and Well Fed
Question 1) Can you Pre-pay Upkeep and/or Well Fed. It's never really come up. I'd say that you can't really pay upkeep ahead of time, for a number of reasons that aren't worth getting into on this forum. Good question, though.

Question 2) Some specializations say that the player does not have to pay an Upkeep cost. If that player wants to be "Well Fed" would he have to pay the full 10 credits or would he only have to pay the difference of 5 credits? Generally speaking, not having to pay upkeep to avoid starvation is different from getting 5 credits that can be spent how you like. Avoiding upkeep might mean anything from dumpster diving to corporate housing to access to the much maligned cafeteria food at a school. Regardless, avoiding upkeep just means you can keep body and soul together without too much trouble. Being Well Fed, on the other hand, means you are really putting time and effort into being in good shape in one form or another. In pure game mechanic terms, it nets you 50% more health than a normal person. Which is kinda crazy. Anyway, you have to pay full price for such a luxury. It's why some people get cash (they likely have a job) and some people know how to live off the land (they don't have to pay upkeep).

[sndwurks]

[cathy]

On the topic of my non-combatness I saw the paragraph on Halos and having the 'Halo' trait.

Will there be strict color requirements for the physical glowing halo?

(I wanted to build a hat that has the glowing ring be my corporate colors so I can play it off as part of my uniform)
_______

[Jacob]

Sorry, Cathy, but the point of the halo is to be obviously Out of Game. It needs to clash to stand out as a warning. If it looks like it's part of your normal costume, it doesn't serve its purpose. That are anything with glow bits becomes immune to melee, and I don't think you PCs want that...

[cathy]

Can Halos be a specific color, (Maybe white or Orange) that way they will still stand out by color but they won't distract from the atmosphere of the game? I really want to look good and serious in my costume.

[gaelicwolf]

On a side note: Are Strain 117 and Psychics considered human?

aka if someone were to release a drug that only affects humans, paralyzing them let's say, then does it affect Strain 117 and Psychics? (In effect, do they have the Human trait as well as their individual Race traits?)