Fantasy Craft Q&A Thread!

[Khaalis]

The Medicine(Treatment)  (pg 78) requires a downtime of at least 2 hours.  This creates some strange situations with the one check per downtime rules.  For example, a battle with a Mummy leaves the entire party (except for the Doctor) diseased.  After the fight, there is a week of downtime.  In this week, the doctor can only treat a single patient.  Furthermore, while that patient could theoretically benefit from up to 5 treatment checks, the doctor is only able to treat him once in that week.  In order to treat someone multiple times or to treat the entire party, the doctor needs multiple periods of 2 hours of downtime.

This IMHO would be a DM call where the one check per "downtime" rule is ignored when the doctor has a 'week' of downtime, for the greater common sense. I would personally rule that the doctor can treat people based on the 2 hour segments. I would rule the doctor could treat up to 4 people in a day, but still applying the 1 treatment check per day per target. Looking at it this way, with a week's downtime (10 days), the doctor could technically treat up to 40 people or the same 4 people 10 times. 

[deadwor1d]

Ok. First of all, awesome game, Crafty! I have never played SpyCraft, but have heard good things about it. I dislike 3.x. Pathfinder is neat, but didn't go far enough. I liked 4e, but the magic wore off quickly. FC is what I was looking for. I love the way this thing works. Kudos.

I do have a question, though. And I apologize if this has been asked and answered. 67 pages of Q&A is a bit daunting after spending a week poring over the rulebook.

Edge. How the heck do I use it?

I won't hold it against anyone who points out that the question has already been answered and that I am an idiot, heheh.

[Deral]

Ok. First of all, awesome game, Crafty! I have never played SpyCraft, but have heard good things about it. I dislike 3.x. Pathfinder is neat, but didn't go far enough. I liked 4e, but the magic wore off quickly. FC is what I was looking for. I love the way this thing works. Kudos.

I do have a question, though. And I apologize if this has been asked and answered. 67 pages of Q&A is a bit daunting after spending a week poring over the rulebook.

Edge. How the heck do I use it?

I won't hold it against anyone who points out that the question has already been answered and that I am an idiot, heheh.

It's been asked, but you're not an idiot- this thread is getting pretty sizable, and what's more, the link for that in the Q&A Masterlist is broken, leading to the wrong place, here's the right link:

http://www.crafty-games.com/forum/index.php?topic=2837.msg49331#msg49331

But right now, edge is something relegated to just a few feats, most of them giving you their own way to spend and gain edge. So, basically Pg 94 has almost all the rules for edge, as each feat that uses it gives it's own stuff, there rest is really just the note on pg 84, but I'd expect to see more stuff that uses it down the line.

[deadwor1d]

Ok. First of all, awesome game, Crafty! I have never played SpyCraft, but have heard good things about it. I dislike 3.x. Pathfinder is neat, but didn't go far enough. I liked 4e, but the magic wore off quickly. FC is what I was looking for. I love the way this thing works. Kudos.

I do have a question, though. And I apologize if this has been asked and answered. 67 pages of Q&A is a bit daunting after spending a week poring over the rulebook.

Edge. How the heck do I use it?

I won't hold it against anyone who points out that the question has already been answered and that I am an idiot, heheh.

It's been asked, but you're not an idiot- this thread is getting pretty sizable, and what's more, the link for that in the Q&A Masterlist is broken, leading to the wrong place, here's the right link:

http://www.crafty-games.com/forum/index.php?topic=2837.msg49331#msg49331

But right now, edge is something relegated to just a few feats, most of them giving you their own way to spend and gain edge. So, basically Pg 94 has almost all the rules for edge, as each feat that uses it gives it's own stuff, there rest is really just the note on pg 84, but I'd expect to see more stuff that uses it down the line.

Excellent! Thank you.

[ztidwell]

Miscellaneous Questions

On 63, in the section "Activate an Opponent's Error" it says "the choice to activate must be made before additional dice are rolled...".  Does this mean you cannot use action die to boost a check if you roll a number in your natural error range?  For example, if my medic can only fail a stabilize check on a natural one and I roll a natural one, can I use an action die to boost the check and thus avoid the error?  Likewise, if I have an ability that allows me to reroll (such as Exceptional Skill Mastery), could I use that to potentially avoid the error?

The Sage's Assistance ability (pg 47) is not a per session/scene/etc resource, and I can not seem to find anything that prevents it from being used in Downtime.  Can Assistance be used to speed up downtime checks?  If you use it to speed up a craft check, what happens?  For example, if a Sage uses Assistance I to speed up a Keeper's downtime craft check, and they have 1 weeks worth of downtime, can the Keeper craft as if the downtime was 2 weeks?

The Fitted armor upgrade (pg 174) has a cost of +100%, and says "the armor is precisely fitted for 1 character...".   It seems unlikely that a character would be able to find a set of armor fitted specifically for them on store shelves, suggesting that the armor would have to be commissioned (pg 168), which doubles the item's price.  This makes the fitted upgrade very, very expensive.  Is this the intention?  Or does the +100% price already cover having a stock set of armor adjusted for the character in the store?


Do armor fittings (pg 173) add to the base cost of armor for the purposes of upgrades?  For example, if I have Lightweight Hardened Leather with Light Fittings, does it cost (250+30) * 1.5 = 420s or (250*1.5) + 30 = 405 s?


In the description of the followers feat (pg 98), it says that "followers act as a group, and share the same statistics".  What does this mean exactly?  Does each follower get a separate action in combat?  Can I direct each of my followers to perform a different task?  For example, could I direct one of my followers to make a cooperative Medicine check while another uses his Class Ability(Best of the Best 1/scene) ability?  Does "share the same statistics" mean the followers must all have identical (but separate) stat blocks, or that they share a single stat block.  For example, if my followers have Class Ability(Best of the Best 1/scene), can each of them use that ability once per scene, or can only one of them use that ability per scene.

edit:  A couple more...

The Path of Good I ability (pg 312) says "You gain a bonus to cooperative checks equal to your Good Step."  Is this bonus added only to the Helper's check (DC 15, pg 66)  or to the entire cooperative skill check (the leader's check).  Does it matter if the person with Good I is the helper or the leader?

Does each helper in a cooperative check need their own kit?  For example, if I have a masterwork crafting kit, do each of the characters helping me with this check benefit from the reduced error range, or must each of them have their own masterwork kit?  What if we are using a Workshop?  Does each helper benefit from the +3 threat range, or must they (somehow) all have their own workshops?

[Deral]

Does DR apply normally to abilities like Grueling Combatant (pg 233)? And, how does DR factor into Battering (pg 231) when you deal lethal damage, does it apply separately, not at all, or somewhere in between?

[MDL]

Is Damage Resistance affected by AP or not? 

I'm assuming that if it is affected by AP, then it works in a 'rollover' fashion (aka, if you have Damage Reduction 2, and Damage Resistance 4 against an attack, and the attack has AP 4, do you wind up with Damage Reduction 0 and Damage Resistance 2, or Damage Reduction 0 and Damage Resistance 4)

[Crafty_Alex]

Does DR apply normally to abilities like Grueling Combatant (pg 233)?

It does not say that Grueling Combatant ignores DR, so I would say yes, DR applies.

And, how does DR factor into Battering (pg 231) when you deal lethal damage, does it apply separately, not at all, or somewhere in between?

It applies simultaneously. The attack inflicts an additional 2 points of subdual damage. So DR would apply to the entire attack, and a standard character suffering that damage would not make 2 saves against each chunk of damage. I would rule the GM determines what happens if the standard NPC fails a save against a battering attack (ie whether the NPC is knocked out or killed). 

[Crafty_Alex]

Is Damage Resistance affected by AP or not? 

No. Per page 208, AP only affects Damage Reduction.

[Crafty_Pat]

On 63, in the section "Activate an Opponent's Error" it says "the choice to activate must be made before additional dice are rolled...".  Does this mean you cannot use action die to boost a check if you roll a number in your natural error range?  For example, if my medic can only fail a stabilize check on a natural one and I roll a natural one, can I use an action die to boost the check and thus avoid the error?

No, you may not.

Likewise, if I have an ability that allows me to reroll (such as Exceptional Skill Mastery), could I use that to potentially avoid the error?

Yes, you may.

The Sage's Assistance ability (pg 47) is not a per session/scene/etc resource, and I can not seem to find anything that prevents it from being used in Downtime.  Can Assistance be used to speed up downtime checks?  If you use it to speed up a craft check, what happens?  For example, if a Sage uses Assistance I to speed up a Keeper's downtime craft check, and they have 1 weeks worth of downtime, can the Keeper craft as if the downtime was 2 weeks?

By the RAW those would become result multipliers (x2 for I, x4 for II, and x10 for III). We'll be looking at that one when we get the errata doc together, however.

The Fitted armor upgrade (pg 174) has a cost of +100%, and says "the armor is precisely fitted for 1 character...".   It seems unlikely that a character would be able to find a set of armor fitted specifically for them on store shelves, suggesting that the armor would have to be commissioned (pg 168), which doubles the item's price.  This makes the fitted upgrade very, very expensive.  Is this the intention?  Or does the +100% price already cover having a stock set of armor adjusted for the character in the store?

The +100% is the cost of commissioning a custom-fitted set of armor. No additional costs is incurred.

Do armor fittings (pg 173) add to the base cost of armor for the purposes of upgrades?  For example, if I have Lightweight Hardened Leather with Light Fittings, does it cost (250+30) * 1.5 = 420s or (250*1.5) + 30 = 405 s?

420s

In the description of the followers feat (pg 98), it says that "followers act as a group, and share the same statistics".  What does this mean exactly?  Does each follower get a separate action in combat?  

If they're combatants (which is pretty rare), then yes, but they must all perform the same attack action on the same target. This is to keep use of the ability simple and non-obtrusive. Your GM may lift the restriction but I wouldn't do so at my table unless every other player had signed off on it (as even a single mob of followers can bog a game down and focus a disproportionate amount of game time on a single player).

Can I direct each of my followers to perform a different task?

Per the RAW, no, you may not. See above.

Does "share the same statistics" mean the followers must all have identical (but separate) stat blocks, or that they share a single stat block.

They each have their own stat block but each of these stat blocks is identical.

For example, if my followers have Class Ability(Best of the Best 1/scene), can each of them use that ability once per scene, or can only one of them use that ability per scene.

Technically, yes, but as in the RAW they must all act together, it's irrelevant.

The Path of Good I ability (pg 312) says "You gain a bonus to cooperative checks equal to your Good Step."  Is this bonus added only to the Helper's check (DC 15, pg 66)  or to the entire cooperative skill check (the leader's check).  Does it matter if the person with Good I is the helper or the leader?

It applies to the Aligned character's part of the cooperative check (i.e. his leader roll or his helper roll). It does not apply to the full cooperative check result.

Does each helper in a cooperative check need their own kit?  For example, if I have a masterwork crafting kit, do each of the characters helping me with this check benefit from the reduced error range, or must each of them have their own masterwork kit?  What if we are using a Workshop?  Does each helper benefit from the +3 threat range, or must they (somehow) all have their own workshops?

Each character benefits from a kit/workshop independently. Thus, each character must have his own kit to get that bonus, while any number of characters could benefit from a workshop (within reason).

[Sletchman]

Priest Spellcasting: At present, the official "errata" (clarification) will be that every time a spell requires a Spellcasting result for any reason, the lowest possible successful result will be used (though some spells, like the Disguise one, will also apply minimums). This mirrors the previous ruling about Priests and attack spells.

Does this mean a priest cannot affect a create with Spell Defence 20 with spells of up to and including 2nd level?  If they are priest spells [ie. not path of magic cast with a spellcasting check spells].  I'm assuming yes, but lowest possible successful result also sorta suggests that "successful" means "passed spell defence".

Second Question: Is there any inheriant risks in doing up some 0pt regional origins?  I plan on avoiding stat boosts, to avoid a dwarf of +6 con.  The intent is they stack with a talent / race and speciality.

Edit: Third: Is Undead type roughly equal to Construct in terms of points for origins?

[Crafty_Pat]

Priest Spellcasting: At present, the official "errata" (clarification) will be that every time a spell requires a Spellcasting result for any reason, the lowest possible successful result will be used (though some spells, like the Disguise one, will also apply minimums). This mirrors the previous ruling about Priests and attack spells.

Does this mean a priest cannot affect a create with Spell Defence 20 with spells of up to and including 2nd level?  If they are priest spells [ie. not path of magic cast with a spellcasting check spells].  I'm assuming yes, but lowest possible successful result also sorta suggests that "successful" means "passed spell defence".

Sorry, can't parse that. Can you rephrase the question?

Second Question: Is there any inheriant risks in doing up some 0pt regional origins?  I plan on avoiding stat boosts, to avoid a dwarf of +6 con.  The intent is they stack with a talent / race and speciality.

Probably doable in a vacuum but I'd be careful - it's very easy to create seemingly zero sum character options that... aren't.

Edit: Third: Is Undead type roughly equal to Construct in terms of points for origins?

The NPC Types don't scale like character options. We apply them to PCs very selectively and it's more art than science.

[Viperion]

Does this mean a priest cannot affect a create with Spell Defence 20 with spells of up to and including 2nd level?  If they are priest spells [ie. not path of magic cast with a spellcasting check spells].  I'm assuming yes, but lowest possible successful result also sorta suggests that "successful" means "passed spell defence".

Sorry, can't parse that. Can you rephrase the question?

I think he means:

"Does this mean a Priest can never affect a creature with Spell Defense 20 with his 0th, 1st and 2nd level spells, since the minimum result always returns a "result" of 13, 16, and 19 respectively?"

Viperion

[Crafty_Alex]

Does this mean a priest cannot affect a create with Spell Defence 20 with spells of up to and including 2nd level?  If they are priest spells [ie. not path of magic cast with a spellcasting check spells].  I'm assuming yes, but lowest possible successful result also sorta suggests that "successful" means "passed spell defence".

Sorry, can't parse that. Can you rephrase the question?

I think he means:

"Does this mean a Priest can never affect a creature with Spell Defense 20 with his 0th, 1st and 2nd level spells, since the minimum result always returns a "result" of 13, 16, and 19 respectively?"

Viperion

That is correct. The priest generates the minimum result needed to get the spell off. The advantage is he never has to roll, and often get that spell MUCH earlier level-wise than an arcane caster.

[Daedalus]

I have a question about Best of the Best. (p. 47)  Does this give the character that benefits a "trained" benefit in the skill, or merely the arithmetic bonus? 

In the former case, it becomes extremely useful for the whole party, but in the latter it seems that the Sage is better off most of the time using it for themselves with their "at least 1 rank in every skill" conceit.  Thanks in advance!

Bump.  Sorry, but this becomes pertinent in my next session, and I was wondering what you guys thought about it.