Rules Refresher

[Coco]

Hello all! We wanted to take a minute to refresh our memories on some of the rules of Occam's Razor based on some confusion mentioned in the PELs.

Firstly,[b] Rappaccinians[/b]. People seem to be confused as to what effects they need to give and take from Rappaccinians regarding touchcasts and surgery. To quote the OR rule book (p 65):

[quote][i]Tainted Love:[/i] Required ... You must add “...and 1 Damage and Agony by Poison” to any effect you touchcast.

[i]Use Protection:[/i] Required ... The first time someone says “Beginning Surgery” you
must call, as quietly as you can while still being heard by the party working on you, “By My Voice, 1 Damage by Poison.” You do not have to make this call if you are not Unconscious.[/quote]

As you can see, there aren't any exceptions. If you as a Rappaccinian touchcast something regardless of whether your character is wearing gloves or some other protective clothing, you must call "...and 1 Damage and Agony by Poison" with the touchcast. (Remember: This is a touch[i]cast[/i], i.e. using a skill. Since there is a "no touch" rule in Accelerant, it doesn't extend to a simple touch in game.) If you as a Rappaccinian are having surgery performed on you regardless of whether the surgeon in question is wearing gloves or some other protective clothing, you must call "By My Voice, 1 Damage by Poison," and the surgeon must take the call, unless they have a skill that allows them to call "Resist."

Secondly, [b]Resting[/b]. There has been some confusion as to what "resting off" an effect entails. From the Accelerant Core Rules provided on our main site (p 18):

[quote]Resting time requires you to be sitting, lying, or kneeling. You cannot walk or run. You can talk and gesture, but you cannot use game skills, used called attacks, or use called defenses while you are resting. You are resting if you are dead, paralyzed, stunned, or unconscious.[/quote]

The part people seemed to be confused about: To rest off an effect in combat, you must take a knee (or sit or lay down if you want, but not recommended) for the requisite amount of time--yes, while combat is happening around you. It may behoove you to move to a safe place to kneel. You can't be standing and count it as rest (unless you're paralyzed).

Thirdly,[b] Binge Drinking[/b]. Many people seemed to be confused when seeing that question on the PEL. Not to fear! It's in the OR rulebook (p 161)! It's a long one so I'm not going to requote it here, but please take a minute to review the section marked "Alcohol." Besides Binge Drinking rules, it also includes rules for having in-game alcoholic beverages to give out (they need to be tagged items).

Thank you for your attention.

[Coco]

Instead of creating a new topic, I'm just going to tack on here:

We've gotten some reports of players approaching NPCs after their monster had turned to Shadow and asking for any item tags they were still carrying. Our NPCs weren't sure what to do and so handed them over. Since it sounds like there's some confusion on both sides of this issue, allow me a moment to clarify. (Rest assured, we will cover this in NPC briefing next time in case they don't read the forums.)

Generally, after an NPC is cut down, they will lie down dead. This is the time where PCs are able to search downed NPCs for items/tags. After a predetermined amount of time, or if it looks like PCs aren't going to search them, the NPCs will turn to Shadow in order to respawn, head back to MC, or do whatever it is they're instructed to do next. When NPCs have turned to Shadow, they "no longer exist" -- there is "nothing there" to search for items/tags. So PCs may not approach an NPC who calls "Shadow" for items/tags.

Hope that clears things up!

[Coco]

And another:

[b]Alcohol & Racial Skills[/b]

A reminder that when restoring Sanity via booze, the call is always unless otherwise noted, "Refresh 1 Sanity by Poison." (We understand this statement might not have made it on to alcohol tags during the first event. Not your fault. We apologize--this will be fixed.)

This is important to note in regard to certain racial skills. Ridden (Legally Dead), Rappiccinians (The Gift), and Fetches (Vicious Realization) all have the option to purchase--or, in the case of Ridden, are required to take--a skill that includes the requirement to call "No Effect" to Poison. When these skills are purchased, players should remember that they can no longer regain Sanity via booze due to the Poison carrier. However, it also allows them the dubious honor of Binge Drinking without the nasty side effects.

Happy drinking!

[Coco]

[b]Photography and Other Recording[/b]

We wanted to refresh players' memories on the use of devices during OR sessions. We've had a number of reports of people answering their cell phones during game, taking photos without being a Journalist in game, etc., and observed some of it ourselves.

[quote="OR Beta Rules, page 7"]No using cell phones, walkie talkies, or any other wireless device without explicit plot permission (it breaks the mood and we don’t want people losing or breaking their smart phones in the woods). For a number of reasons including but not limited to player safety and comfort, in/out of game confusion in a modern setting, risk of device destruction, and possible plot reasons, cameras and other audio/visual recording devices are not to be used during game. The exception to this rule are players who have purchased the "Press Pass" Journalist specialization skill and sanctioned NPC photographers. Flash photography is STRICTLY prohibited.[/quote]

As for photography, it's usually allowed in most games for players to casually carry a camera to take pictures of their friends, and it's obvious the camera is OOG because modern cameras "don't exist" in the setting. Being a modern game built on conspiracy, the sight of a camera is purposely not so casual. If you're looking to take some pics of you and your friends in costume, we encourage you to do so before or after game, or to find a place away from game activity.

A distinction we'd like to make here is between taking some pictures for your scrapbook and taking pictures "to remember IG things" whether the remembering is for in or out of game purposes. What I mean here is using a camera to copy in game documents, photograph PCs or NPCs, record the appearance of props, etc. For many of these things, we permit Journalists with the Press Pass skill to use a camera, who then in turn must submit their photos to plot for "development" (read: interesting IG effects on the photos) per the skill description. Please note that there is no skill in the rules allowing the use of other recording devices, such as voice recordings.

We don't have this limiting rule to be jerks or to make things more difficult on players than they need to be, but more to preserve the conspiracy nature of the game, encourage collaboration, and for the consideration of players who wish not to have their photo taken.

If anyone has any further questions about this, feel free to let me know!