RGS FAQ

[richard smethurst]

Hi Andrew,
Really enjoying the book.
It has a great feel, and the runes are just such a good fit for the background.
Artwork is also stunning.
I'm definitely looking forward to the new books.

As issues are picked up, is it possible to update the PDF?
I dont have the PDF yet (I wanted to read the book before deciding) but now I'm happy its a game I want to run, it would be nice to know there is somewhere to go for up to date rules.

Might be worth starting a "living" errata on the forum/downloads that could easily be printed that just the admins can access?
Likewise, a printable Index would be very good, and could be included in the PDF?

Rick

Otherwise having a good read?

[Taleweaver]

The following question is probably interesting enough for all to go into FAQs:

If I use an active power that does an Attack with +4 Pierce, and my weapon has a +2 Pierce by itself (say, a battleaxe), the final attack is at +6 Pierce.

If I Amplify the attack once, will I
a) have an attack at +8 Pierce and then add the +2 Pierce from the battleaxe for a final +10 Pierce, or
b) have an attack at +4 Pierce +2 Pierce from the weapon, doubled to +12 Pierce by the Amplify?

Also, if my weapon gives my Attack +2 Pierce, and it's a Weak attack, is it downgraded to a Weak Attack +1 Pierce (due to the "halve effect" part of the Weak)?

[Talaris]

Also, if my weapon gives my Attack +2 Pierce, and it's a Weak attack, is it downgraded to a Weak Attack +1 Pierce (due to the "halve effect" part of the Weak)?

I'm also interested in this, as the only explanation for weak actions that I've found in the whole rulebook just states:

Some generic actions are "Weak". This means that the final numerical value of the action after all modifiers have been accounted for is halved (round up fractions). A Weak Attach action, e.g., deals half-damage.

I would assume that you halve the damage as stated, but you also halve the pierce - and probably would also halve some effect like "Degenerate +2", too - if there were any such actions.

Perhaps the definition quoted above just holds true for generic actions though, so I'd be happy to get a clarification, too.

[Taleweaver]

Hey, thanks! You actually answered the questions I had, even those about Amplify!

If all Weak does is half the final effect of an action (which, in the case of an attack, is damage), then:
Attack +2 Pierce, if weak, becomes Attack (half-damage) +2 Pierce.

Attack +4 Pierce with +2 Pierce Weapon, if Amplified, becomes an Attack (double damage) +6 Pierce.

[bethroth]

Yeah, moderators, you need to sticky the errata and FAQ threads please.

Well I think there are two schools of thought on this one. It's pretty clear that any values in the text description of a power get amplified (x2, x3, etc), however for the weapon attributes, I think there are two approaches. Some only add the DF into the Amplify, and others add Pierce as well. By the logic, there may be some that add reach into the equation, but I haven't seen that in any play groups. We used to add Pierce, but found that defence became hard to stack, so now we only add DF into the Amplify math. I agree, I can't find specifics for this one, would be nice to get the official ruling, but I think you can go with the approach that makes sense for you.

Amplify basically removed the Weak descriptor as they cancel each other out. Whatever you double in Amplify you should halve when you do Weak.

[Talaris]

Hey, thanks! You actually answered the questions I had, even those about Amplify!

If all Weak does is half the final effect of an action (which, in the case of an attack, is damage), then:
Attack +2 Pierce, if weak, becomes Attack (half-damage) +2 Pierce.

Actually, I meant that you halve all numerical values of the action itself. So in your example Attack +2 Pierce becomes Attack (half-damage) +1 Pierce.
That way it would work exactly as the opposite of Amplify, as Attack +2 Pierce becomes Attack (double damage) +4 Pierce when amplifying an action.

Like bethroth pointed out, that also results in Amplify and Weak effectively "canceling each other out", staying true to the smooth and simple calculating system of the game where you don't need any pocket calculators just to play a few combat rounds

However for the weapon attributes, I think there are two approaches. Some only add the DF into the Amplify, and others add Pierce as well. ... We used to add Pierce, but found that defence became hard to stack, so now we only add DF into the Amplify math. I agree, I can't find specifics for this one, would be nice to get the official ruling.

Page 105 of the rulebook mentions that the sole item attributes that will be included in the Amplify modificator (= gets doubled, tripled etc.) are DF and Parry, so I hope that should clear up that part of the FAQ.


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If I think about the way how Amplify does double an Action's inherent Pierce value, but does not double any Pierce values granted by Weapons and if we stay true to the idea that an Amplify'ed Weak should result in a normal Action, then I'd say that performing a Weak action with a Weapon that has Pierce +2 should NOT reduce the Pierce of the Weapon itself.



Or to simply answer the examples above:

If I use an active power that does an Attack with +4 Pierce, and my weapon has a +2 Pierce by itself (say, a battleaxe), the final attack is at +6 Pierce.

If I Amplify the attack once, I have an Attack [double damage] at +8 Pierce and then add the +2 Pierce from the battleaxe for a final +10 Pierce

Also, if it's a Weak attack, it is downgraded to an Attack [half damage] at +2 Pierce and then add the +2 Pierce from the battleaxe for a final +4 Pierce.

[Taleweaver]

I don't quite remember where... but didn't the rulebook also say that if you Amplify any skill containing a Generic Action (such as Attack, Defend, Move...) all the Amplify does is double the final effect of the action? Pierce is not the effect of an Attack action, the effect of an Attack action is damage.

Andrew, if you're reading this: clarification, please!

[andrew]

I don't quite remember where... but didn't the rulebook also say that if you Amplify any skill containing a Generic Action (such as Attack, Defend, Move...) all the Amplify does is double the final effect of the action? Pierce is not the effect of an Attack action, the effect of an Attack action is damage.

Andrew, if you're reading this: clarification, please!

Heya guys, a good discussion going on over here! Page 105 should answer the question without ambiguity.

Well let's take an example of Precision Attack with an amplify
Precision Attack grants you an attack action, +1 DF and +2 Pierce
Let's say you have a weapon that has DF 2, Pierce 2
Without the Amplify, you would be dealing 3 damage with pierce +4
With an Amplify you would double the outcome of the Active power: 6 damage with Pierce +6

Amplify only multiplies DF and Parry from an item's list of attributes (actually Evade should be added to an errata for this as the DotN book adds items with Evade as an attribute)
So all active power numbers get multiplied (including DF) and then you add the Pierce of the weapon

2 Amplify metas would result in 9 damage and Pierce +8 (all df x3 and pierce from active x3 and then +2 from item)

Hope that helps!

[Taleweaver]

Ah, so all modifiers from active powers are affected by Amplify, even if the power contains a generic action. Thanks!

[Fi'Irdray]

Going through the rulebook now, and I have a question about sacrifices (might be answered later in the book, so sorry if this is redundant).

So, I use an action that requires a moderate sacrifice, and I amplify it so that it's moderate sacrifice +2. Does that mean I move 2 rune stones into the middle wound-track spot (with the 2 blood dots)? Or do I put one in the wound track spot and one before/after it?