Ask a Simple Question - Get a Simple Answer

It's just an initial enchanting range. The object can go as far as you want. I was just worried about being able to "see" an object from an object with Echolocation, enchant that object, then see something from that objects, and continue to chain around an entire building that way. But once something is enchanted, it can be anywhere.

And if the change is supposed to last until the sound dies away, then yeah you can change the ringing. With no prep time I might want to change that to the idea that it stays changed as long you're using the spell on it, but it's not a big enough deal to change at this point.



Also, to bring back the unfinished discussion on Grandeur stacking, no I'm not saying it's necessarily okay to stack x3. It might be, but I also can't confidently say that it is. Therefore, because I know we need a rule against the same talent stacking in general, there isn't enough reason to make a special exception if it might be overpowered.

so, new pony handler, and I'm sure I'll just play fast and loose, but I want to know the "official" answer ...

If an NPC got hit with memory-to-mist last year, is there an established way to recover the memories?

If, say the party were to split, and I throw a swat-team of PH-PCs at one half, and stop the battle that way, so that when the party gets back together all half of them know is their stuff is missing, on so are half their hit points ... is there a talent you know of right off hand to undo that "easily", or are we necessarily delving into campaign-quest material to try to fix their problem?

SparkImpulse wrote:so, new pony handler, and I'm sure I'll just play fast and loose, but I want to know the "official" answer ...

If an NPC got hit with memory-to-mist last year, is there an established way to recover the memories?

If, say the party were to split, and I throw a swat-team of PH-PCs at one half, and stop the battle that way, so that when the party gets back together all half of them know is their stuff is missing, on so are half their hit points ... is there a talent you know of right off hand to undo that "easily", or are we necessarily delving into campaign-quest material to try to fix their problem?

Hello cat-man! *highfives*
1) No, but as DM you can plot-up anything pretty much. Say there's a spell for it, there's no abuse of power in that, it's perfectly believable that if memory magic exists, there are reversals.
2) Could you restate that?

Kindulas wrote:
2) Could you restate that?

I'm perceiving two states of memory recovery. One is, "it happened a long time ago" ... I'd pretty much guessed that would be campaign specific but thought I'd ask.

The other is "it just happened" ... My gut instinct is, if the element of loyalty triggers his/her element right after the spell, the target either doesn't lose their memory after all, or regains part of it, or something ... that there is a brief time wherein the spell hasn't 'gelled' yet. I'm just curious how long other DMs / game designers think that delay could/should be ... minutes? hours? a few days?

edit: *high-fives* back

SparkImpulse wrote:

Kindulas wrote:
2) Could you restate that?

I'm perceiving two states of memory recovery. One is, "it happened a long time ago" ... I'd pretty much guessed that would be campaign specific but thought I'd ask.

The other is "it just happened" ... My gut instinct is, if the element of loyalty triggers his/her element right after the spell, the target either doesn't lose their memory after all, or regains part of it, or something ... that there is a brief time wherein the spell hasn't 'gelled' yet. I'm just curious how long other DMs / game designers think that delay could/should be ... minutes? hours? a few days?

edit: *high-fives* back

MtoM is instant, so the idea is the memories are flashed away and the person is probably in a bit of a daze for the next minute while the spell continues to erase their memories as they are recorded (that "and the next one minute" clause, which in a way can kinda be that "gel" time you're talking about - though the last 10 are still gone in a flash) If you're talking about Memory to Mist being fired on the players, then Loyalty could basically be used in response to memory effects like that to nullify them.
"Alright, they cast a memory spell on you and you forget the last 10 minutes"
"Nope, magic point, I remember again."
You *could* rule that, as a memory effect, they might not know right away that their mind was affected and they'd have to find some way to justify why their character would know to use the ability... but I heartily recommend not bothering, since it probably won't result in anything but an obnoxious discussion with little to no difference in end result... or a miffed player who didn't get to use their power for a reason that will look mostly like "The DM said so."

NOW, if they don't *want* to use it right away or don't have the magic point until later, then once they do the memories simply return. They aren't catapulted into a frame of mind where those forgotten 11 minutes seem like they happened in the last 11 minutes, but they're able to recall the lost time as having happened, well, when it happened.

Of course, if you're wanting to hit your players with some kind of memory thing from an NPC... NPCs don't get abilities from the handbook. It's not D&D 3e where the spellbook lists every spell that exists in the world, NPCs have whatever you say they do, and you can rule they work however you want. Granted, what I said about using Loyalty you should probably keep to in any case.

Does that help?

Kindulas wrote:

ZamuelNow wrote:

Kindulas wrote:I do like this idea. The 'energy' based ones of fire and lightning would go by totally different rules than mass-based objects, though, and if we go by volume for mass based objects then you give the idea that there isn't a force limit to the power, and players could argue they could do all sorts of crazy things...
And frankly, once we have Fireborn and Thunderborn, how useful would fire-lightning manipulation be outside of combat? And that isn't rhetorical, I'm wondering if it is, because I can't really think of many situation except style-points where anything more powerful than the 1 point racials would be useful, but are there many I'm missing?

Let's take fire as an example:
Fireborn allows you to breathe small flames and withstand extreme heat.  Pretty basic and allows you to make fire dragons or the G1 villain Lavan.  This utility talent allows you to build something like Zuko from Avatar or Pyro from X-Men.  You can be hurt by fire but you can manipulate the movement of large swaths of flame or even extinguish them if the GM allows.  Fireborn is good individual survival while this utility proposal is better for a team player who wants to direct a flame.

Yes, but save possibly for extinguishing, that's combat stuff. You can make Zuko in this system - with combat talents. What's useful about all that if you can't hurt people with it, and if there are a few small uses, is it worth adding what would be one of the most awkward "Um... you can't use this in combat... b-because, I guess..." talents in the system?

For ease of use, I guess it probably would be best to simply stick with solid/liquid matter rather than energy so it's less of a GM headache. While I could see things like strategic forest burning then putting it out or powering only specific rooms in a building having their uses, most probably would simply make the combat argument and make it harder for the GM (despite the fact that they could just reflavor their combat talents). An entirely separate "energy control" should probably be brainstormed at another time since the base rework is still a needed buff.

Kindulas wrote:
NOW, if they don't *want* to use it right away or don't have the magic point until later, then once they do the memories simply return. [...]

Of course, if you're wanting to hit your players with some kind of memory thing from an NPC [...] It's not D&D 3e where the spellbook lists every spell that exists in the world [...] Granted, what I said about using Loyalty you should probably keep to in any case.

Does that help?

Yes, thank you.

And it's actually NPC vs. NPC, with the possibility that the players will interfere with my meticulously crafted plot-arc. My fault for allowing magecraft I suppose but I thought I should get official input on memory wiping arcanology, the moreso if the party split thing happens.

My NPCs from this campaign are very ... protective of their secrets.

SparkImpulse wrote:If an NPC got hit with memory-to-mist last year, is there an established way to recover the memories?

There are pretty much no pre-established ways things have to work in your world for the powers, abilities or effects of the NPCs or Pony-Handler stuff.

The PH's powers are anything you can imagine. If you don't want the memories recovered, invent a reason they can't be that makes sense in your world. If you want them recoverable, figure out some way they *can* be recovered - whether via ancient artifact or arcana check or finding an important relic from the NPC's past - and go with it.

Just to confirm cause I can't find it anywhere and I enjoy stupid questions.

You can only take one racial once right? No, multiple Cms or Multiple Spider Climb(That if you can hopefully stack like crazy)

Yep, unless the trait specifically says otherwise. That's the rule for pretty much everything in the system.

There goes my 4 cutie-marked unicorn idea

If you're under the effects of Dream Stride do you still make sounds? If not, can you opt to make sounds?

Dream Stride:

So this came up in one of the threads: for the purposes of "Oh... Sorry! Didn't See You There!," does the ally affected actually have to take 5 HP of damage for it to trigger, or will it trigger if some or all of the damage is absorbed by Resist? For instance, suppose you had both Friendly Fire (which grants 5 Resist to your allies against your attacks) and O...S!DSYT!. Say you do 6 damage to an ally. 5 of the damage is absorbed by Friendly Fire leaving only 1 left to actually change their HP, so does O...S!DSYT! trigger, or not?

Traits in Question:

I guess more basically, does damage "count" even if it's absorbed by Resist? Which could affect combat talents like Overload as well...

To my understanding you don't auto heal after combat. That said, how is out of combat healing usually handled?

Actually yes, you do auto-heal after combat given 1 hour of rest. We've been playtesting with changing it to 5 minutes actually, which we so far like a bit better.

Hmm...I guess it would depend on if it was just mild injury or a KO (or worse). Either way, probably needs to be explicitly noted in either the player and/or GM guide.

I'm not sure if this it the right place for this but is there any place to go if someone feels like there has been an abuse of power by a moderator or an admin? Yes I know that the rule post says to send a PM to an other moderator or admin but well it certainly appears to me that all of the active ones are rather close knit which is good for development but just not that good for moderation...

Actually, no there isn't. I'm not sure whether having such a thread will just inflame conflicts beyond the necessary and be a foundation for drama regarding routine rules citations. I'm also concerned that if a moderator does make a genuine mistake but before it can be corrected people shout about it in a forum thread - then it'll create the illusion that rules violations can be removed via popular demand. Also, as many of these issues are private, attempting to discuss them in the public space can be difficult or add to humiliation.

The advantage of a discussion thread is so that people can make their voices heard so they can dispute decisions. However, checking rules violations probably shouldn't turn into a popularity contest. People with a large network of friends would have a huge advantage over newcomers and inviting one form of bias to counter perceived bias probably isn't a good idea.

My initial reaction is to make such a thread in off-topic, but keep strict rules in the thread to be civil and disagree respectfully - to set an example in polite discourse and not use such a thread as a soap box... But if such a thread complaining about administrative action were to result in even more warnings - with moderators having to correct people constantly about how they're speaking... That sounds like it might snowball pretty quickly.

Frankly, we are probably better just sticking to PMs. Feel free to PM every member of the moderator and administrative staff if you have an issue. You can speak more freely and not worry about the reactions of crowds. If we have an issue or disagreement, let's try to resolve it and move on as quickly as possible. The last time someone complained about administration in a public forum, it turned into an extraordinary affair that spilled onto the comments of friendship is dragons. Things like that just make it harder to resolve conflicts.

hm seems to be reasonable enough... just one thing if PMs are sent and action is taken in private between mods but no response is given combined with the tracking bar the main thing that allows people to their status apparently being manual change only makes the whole appeal process seem pointless.

tygerburningbright wrote:hm seems to be reasonable enough... just one thing if PMs are sent and action is taken in private between mods but no response is given combined with the tracking bar the main thing that allows people to their status apparently being manual change only makes the whole appeal process seem pointless.

Great point. I always respond to PMs unless I miss them for some reason and I'll emphasize to all other moderators that they should too (if they don't already). If you ever don't get an answer from me or another mod, feel free to send another PM after a day or so - it's completely possible we just missed it or a reply didn't go back, or maybe just forgot.

Quietkal wrote:If you're under the effects of Dream Stride do you still make sounds? If not, can you opt to make sounds?

Dream Stride:

Philadelphus wrote:So this came up in one of the threads: for the purposes of "Oh... Sorry! Didn't See You There!," does the ally affected actually have to take 5 HP of damage for it to trigger, or will it trigger if some or all of the damage is absorbed by Resist? For instance, suppose you had both Friendly Fire (which grants 5 Resist to your allies against your attacks) and O...S!DSYT!. Say you do 6 damage to an ally. 5 of the damage is absorbed by Friendly Fire leaving only 1 left to actually change their HP, so does O...S!DSYT! trigger, or not?

Traits in Question:

I guess more basically, does damage "count" even if it's absorbed by Resist? Which could affect combat talents like Overload as well...

These questions got skipped...

Thanks!

If you're under the effects of Dream Stride do you still make sounds? If not, can you opt to make sounds?

Currently, according to the text, you can. However, that's pretty weird for the flavor... Should we change this so that you can't make sounds, smells and similar?

I guess more basically, does damage "count" even if it's absorbed by Resist? Which could affect combat talents like Overload as well...

Sadly, resist prevents damage in the first place - which is could when you're worried about vulnerability but not so good when you have effects that get bonuses for dealing damage. Those traits are extremely bad together - they aren't intended to both be taken on the same build. It's two different ways to make hitting your allies less of a bad thing.

Ahh, ok, so I was completely backwards on interpreting them then.  I though they were the perfect complement – do 5 or less damage and your ally takes no damage, do more than 5 and they have a chance to gain PiPs.

Philadelphus wrote:Ahh, ok, so I was completely backwards on interpreting them then.  I though they were the perfect complement – do 5 or less damage and your ally takes no damage, do more than 5 and they have a chance to gain PiPs.

No, You'd have to deal 10 damage in an attack with that five resistance to be able to trigger that second trait's free pip gifting, sture the total damage would only be of 5 overall. If I'm reading Dan right.

Post of new questions: How does the following two attacks combo with any types of attack boosters?

combat talent doc wrote:[+1] Piercing Shot - Standard Attack
Deal 1d8 damage to target creature. This attack ignores resistance.

&

[+1] Hand of Death - Standard Attack
Target creature loses 1d10 hp

NOw I'd assume that for Piercing Shot, any extra damage from like duelist, Wild Abandon, or Crazy Concoction would also bypass the enemy's resistance. But for Hand of Death, any bonus damage would be damage, therefore would have to get through resistance/temp-hp unlike that one's d10 roll...

So like if you had Berserker’s Rage active and used Hand of Death, the enemy would loss 1d10 HP and get an extra 3d6 damage (would have work though resist) in the single attack.... Or what?

attack booster talents and traits for ref: