Official Errata: Changes and fixes to the game (Subscription Recommended)

This is like the whole Changing Athelics to Brawn thing... Sure Engery makes more sense then Pips... But we're used to calling them pips... And it's somethign that makes the system feel special.

Feel free to keep calling them pips then, just like Wizard 101 and other games do. However, the rulebooks that explain these things - which are most important for new players - are going to call it Energy. It's more intuitive, makes more sense and is much easier to grok.

Further discussion of this can occur in the Errata discussion/suggestion thread.

Animal Empathy has been removed
Animal Speak has no prerequisite
Animal Kinship, therefore, has been removed from Genetic Engineering, since you can basically just take it for 2 points now

Fact is, talking to animals wasn't worth a whole 2 utility talents, why should we make you go though Animal Empathy to get to talk to animals? It was a needless talent tax for druids and such.

Many of the abilities under "Enchating" have been given time limits, because otherwise you could just give everyone permanent bonuses to climbing and the like.
Also, Spider climb - the enchantment and the racial - have been specified to work with both climbing and "holding onto" surfaces, so it can help with ceiling climbing and things. It's still skill based, however, because not even spiders can just climb on *anything,*

What isn't, however, is the racial "Mimicry," which no longer gives a skill bonus, but just lets you make your voice sound like anything. A +6 bonus brings into question whether or not you can just mimic anything, and if the +6 is to persuasion to convince someone you *are* someone else, or if all the talent does is +6 to mimic. It's more fun and flavorful if it simply gives you the ability to "sound like anything," and whether or not someone falls for your tricks is up to circumstance and rolls.

Crescendo has been overpowered for a LONG time. It both did too much damage AND did crazy multiple hit vulnerability and Duelist triggers. So, it's now this:
[-4] Crescendo - Standard Utility
Target creature gains 1d4+1 hp or 1d4+1 temporary hp
Target creature gains 1d6+2 hp or 1d6+2 temporary hp
Target creature gains 1d8+3 hp or 1d8+3 temporary hp
Target creature gains 1d10+4 hp or 1d10+4 temporary hp
Target creature gains 1d12+5 hp or 1d12+5 temporary hp

However, that leaves a gap in the area of single target damage nukes, and the fun of rolling each die against an enemy. So, we've added the following in its stead:

Sorcerer:
[-7] Electrocution - Standard Attack
Deal 1d4+1d6+1d8+1d10+1d12 to target creature

Discussion:
https://ponytales.forumotion.com/t602-preferences-on-a-new-crescendo?highlight=preferences

IT IS NOT THIS DAY has been too weak. It required a downed ally and gives barely any hp. True, triggering a wild lightning 12 is quite powerful with it, but it's not really abusable since it, well, requires a downed ally. So, at the very least we're making it a minor. We can't really know exactly what it should be until we define the value of crits, but it can at least afford this buff: it is now a minor action. You guys HAVE been wanting more minor actions, after all.

Kindulas wrote:Animal Empathy has been removed
Animal Speak has no prerequisite
Animal Kinship, therefore, has been removed from Genetic Engineering, since you can basically just take it for 2 points now

Fact is, talking to animals wasn't worth a whole 2 utility talents, why should we make you go though Animal Empathy to get to talk to animals? It was a needless talent tax for druids and such.

Why not just make Animal Kinship into a two point racial instead of removing it entirely. That way you don't force people to give up their only use of the extra utility racial to cover for Animal Speech. Particularly if they already had that racial, or both, chosen.

Animal Kinship wasn't Animal Empathy after all, it was Animal Speech. And since you're no longer skipping a utility in the line like with Flight it would fit just fine as a 2 point racial.

Actually, you were always supposed to be able to take Naturally Skilled multiple times. Fixed.

Naturally Skilled (2)
Characters of your race gain an additional utility talent at character creation. You may take this racial trait multiple times.

Stairc -Dan Felder wrote:Actually, you were always supposed to be able to take Naturally Skilled multiple times. Fixed.

Naturally Skilled (2)
Characters of your race gain an additional utility talent at character creation. You may take this racial trait multiple times.

oh, cool!

It occurs to me that with only a single racial point, you cannot have a robot companion without taking the second companion utility. I think maybe you should give companions 2 racial points to start.

That's what the companion upgrade talent is for - for more impressive minions such as the robotic variety. But discuss this in the suggested changes thread.

Ignite has been increased to 1d12. a -2 talent should do 6.5 * 1.66666666 damage, but -with ongoing damage being calculate as 1.5x damage- it only did 5.5*1.5 damage. Now, it's 6.5 * 1.5, so very close to the curve

The sample ponies in the handbook, while they were great help from the community, had gotten so out of date that they existed only to confuse new players. As such, they have been replaced by 4 fresh samples that Lapis and I worked on, styled in the vein of the classic "Rouge, Cleric, Wizard, Fighter" setup.

On that note, there is a second, slightly altered version of the character sheet that Zamuel and I worked on listed - mainly some font changes and a few added tables to list HP, Magic Points and the like. Thought i'd keep the original listed, in case some prefer the old font setup, and considering I hadn't made the original I didn't want to just stamp this one over it, however minor the alterations be.

And on top of that, I've gone ahead and linked a version of the Word template I use. It's not as easy to work with due to the formatting tricks that can be... finicky, and google docs are a lot easy to link people, but it's good for cramming page-space in case you're actually playing a live game, or just want fewer pages to scroll though (yay columns!). So, eh, why not?

A Few changes to the Shield of Valor. Aegis costs more, but gets reductions for marked allies. Shield bash crits. The mark can only do one block, but carries the value of 1 pip - the +3, then is more balanced than before, and Stand Tall is now +2, (because it's a +1 move with a mark added to it, and if a mark counts as 1 pip, it should still be 1 additional pip in + value to equate the +2 that a conjured weapon should have).

[-7] Shield of Valor - Minor Utility [Inspired by Fury of the Tempest]
You conjure a Shield of Valor in your hands. You can dismiss the Shield of Valor as a free action. While you are wielding a Shield of Valor, you cannot use your normal combat talents. Instead you may use the combat talents below.

Guardian’s Oath - Trait
You may use “Guardian’s Duty” without paying its energy cost if the ally targeted by the triggering attack is subjected to your “Guardian’s Oath.” Then remove the “Guardian’s Oath” from that ally.

[+3] Guardian’s Vow - Standard Utility
Up to two target allies are subject to your “Guardian’s Oath” until the end of your next turn. You also gain 1d4 temporary hp.

[+2] Stand Tall - Standard Utility
You take half damage until the end of your next turn, and target ally is subjected to your “Guardian’s Oath” until the end of your next turn.

[+2] Shield Bash - Standard Attack
Deal 1d8 damage to target creature, and it takes a -3 penalty to damage until the end of its next turn.

[-2] Guardian’s Duty - Immediate Interrupt
Trigger – An ally is targeted by an attack.
Effect - The triggering attack hits you instead.

[-4] Under the Aegis - Immediate Interrupt
Trigger - Multiple allies would be hit by the same attack
Effect - The attack hits only you instead. The Shield of Valor vanishes. This talent costs 1 less energy for each ally targeted by the triggering attack that is subject to your “Guardian’s Oath.”

The regeneration armors, Lifebound and Heirophant, have had their prices reduced to 1000 and 2000, respectively.

1 action of healing is 1.5 times the normal 6.5 of damage, which is 9.75, or about 10. Regen 2 for 5 rounds is 10 health is 1 action is 1000 gold. Simply enough, Heirophant is double that.

By popular demand, the racial trait Spider Climb has been changed to actually specify you can stick to surfaces, rather than being a skill bonus:
Spider Climb (1)
You can adhere to surfaces for the purpose of climbing and hanging, though if the surface is smooth or slippery you may need to make an athletics or acrobatics check.

Before, climbing on a ceiling of something seemed silly if you were just a guy with a climbing bonus. Now you can do all that stuff.

I applaud this change. Now the racial Spider Climb actually gives you a qualitatively different ability than the Enchantment Spider Climb - and they both still stack.

Why do those racial/enchantments still have the same name, by the way? They don't do the same thing (not that they ever did), and it's just confusing (especially if both are used by the same person, which is actually expectable given the synergy). Maybe rename that enchantment to something like:

Goat's Hooves
Hookshot
Power Grip
Climber's Contrivance

A rule has been added to the trait docs explicitly stating the unspoken rule that you can't take the same trait twice, unless otherwise specified. This means that the "Training" items that give your traits no longer specify they can't give you the same trait, which means that you can take traits like Sneak Attack repeatedly with these items, as you should have been able to, undone by a technicality.

The enchantment Spider Climb has had it's name changed to "Climber's Grip"

the combat talent "Leaping Lightning" has been altered to deal 1d12 on both hits, as that's the appropriate damage for a -3 - it had been 1 point of average damage too weak

Expert Duelist's wording has been edited for clarity:

Skype:
Duelist
You deal +1 damage on on single target combat talents.

Expert Duelist
Prerequisite: Duelist
You lose the benefit of “Duelist.” Instead, you deal +3 damage on single target combat talent

Tabletop:
Duelist
You deal +1 damage on combat talents that deal damage to only one creature.

Expert Duelist
Prerequisite: Duelist
You lose the benefit of “Duelist.” Instead, you deal +3 damage on combat talents that deal damage to only one creature.

Firstly, it's extra clear that they stack. Secondly, the skype version has been changed to use the "Single target" terminology, and the board version - which doesn't use that terminology - to specify "Creature" not "Target"

In light of the word "target" possibly being unclear, I've added a rules clarification on the term "single target" in the Skype talents doc

“Single Target” talents - Some abilities refer to “Single target” attacks or talents. This doesn't only mean that talent “targets” a single creature, but it means talents that only affect a single creature other than you, in any way - for instance, “Fireball” deals damage to “Target creature and each creature adjacent to it.” While this only lists one “target,” the attack affects up to three enemies, and is therefore not a “Single target attack.” However, talents which affect another creature and have a side effect on the user - such as “Blood Slash” - are still considered single-target.