In reply to Player 2 (msg # 49):

I'm looking to go mind/sense.

He's staying alive by being smart and one step ahead of trouble.

In reply to Player 3 (msg # 50):

I cannot see anyone else's character sheet (which is fine), but it sounds like we have a LOT of redundancies here. Can any of you come out of a 2v1 alive? I certainly can't. Not in melee anyway.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:45, Tue 25 Nov 2014.

In reply to Player 3 (msg # 50):

Jack of all Trades' limit applies only to skills, not Attributes (body, mind, etc.) and yes it applies to all skills.

The idea is from the core of the rhyme:

"Jack of all trades,
master of none,
better at least
than master of one."

Just as 5 represents that absolute pinnacle of human capability in attributes, so too it represents the absolute pinnacle of mastery in a skill.  So no 5's with Jack of All Trades and keep in mind it DOES NOT apply to: Alchemy, Language (Fell), Martial Arts, or other skills limited by class.  It DOES apply to things like melee, ride, archery, most brains skills, etc.

In reply to Brennan Otthild (msg # 51):

I set up a 2v1 to demonstrate some principles of combat, it's not an easy situation for anyone especially when it's equal footing arms/skill-wise.  The lesson: don't get ganged-up on.

Those guys were armed the same as you and had 3d Body 3d Melee.

In reply to GM (msg # 53):

Character sheets have been updated to make them more beautiful.

If you have issues with using the tables please let me know.

In reply to GM (msg # 54):

Can I have the ability to edit my character sheet? :p

In reply to Player 3 (msg # 55):

If you say "please"...

Sure.  Done for all players.

In reply to GM (msg # 56):

Now that I think about it, Brennan's tall tale to the assistant should more likely have been Empathy + Bluff rather than Empathy + Persuasion...

There's some flexibility, but in this case Brennan was flat out lying to get him to do something, not using arguments to convince him.

In reply to GM (msg # 57):

Jon- On your ruling about the first die determining hit box. This seems to unduly influence the potential for a called shot. As I read the rules, for a called shot you drop 1 die and then you need to roll the given pair.

So a called headshot would be Body + Archery - 1, requiring a pair of 10s. A pair of 3s would hit something else.

If you've got 6 die, the odds of rolling 2 10ds is less than 1%.
That number jumps to a full 10% if it's just the result of the first die.

I won't be a combat monkey, but if I'm reading this right, that's a big swing.

In reply to Player 3 (msg # 58):

A called shot, I thought, would turn that pair of 3s INTO a pair of 10s. Because you'd hit them in the head with a pair of 10s either way, under the rules that the height determines what you hit.

In reply to Brennan Otthild (msg # 59):

The modified damage rules changes how called shots work:

From the .pdf:

Called Shots: Because Height now determines damage,
not hit location, we must slightly alter called shots. To make
a Called Shot, just drop 1 normal die from your pool and roll
the rest. You do not set 1 die to the number you are aiming
for, or need to match it with your other dice, such as 10 for
the head (because doing so would affect the damage of the
attack).

Instead, if the attack hits, you may bump the number
showing on the Hit Location die either up or down, by an
amount equal to the roll’s Width. So, if you hit the Torso
with a roll of 3x7, you could bump it up to the head (location
10) or down to either arm (locations 4-6), but you could not
hit the legs.

In reply to GM (msg # 60):

Thanks! Trying to wrap my mind around the system this time BEFORE we actually start playing.

In reply to Player 3 (msg # 61):

Good idea, especially here because combat can be very unforgiving.

In reply to GM (msg # 62):

Honestly where I'm struggling the most, especially since blocking isn't automatic. It almost feels like you have to decide up front whether you're attacking/defending.

In reply to Player 3 (msg # 63):

It can be that way, yes.

The idea is to harshly differentiate between those with formal combat training and those without because Martial Arts makes it much easier to do both.

However, when you do a multi-action you can always choose which one fails/succeeds if you get only one match.  So for example, you can try to do both but if you only get a single match, elect to block and try again next round.

Larger shields also provide a baseline protection to certain hit locations even if you don't block.

There is also a lot of benefit to initiative here.  I'm ignoring the "height for initiative" thing so width dictates and many hits will happen at the same time.  If you hit your opponent first, however, you will likely ruin his set and prevent him from defending/attacking.

Either rolling wide or having the benefit of a reach weapon is a way to do this.

In reply to Player 3 (msg # 63):

Well, you can see how not defending works. I never missed and still lost badly.

I'm not sure I understand the modified damage system. The only thing I control about the attack roll is the dice pool, which means the only thing I can really stack is the width.

While rolling more dice has a dramatic impact on my odds of rolling more matches, it does comparatively little impact on my odds of rolling HIGHER matches (odds of rolling a given number is still 1 in 10 per die, no matter how many of them I roll).

What I demonstrated earlier was your odds of getting any pair at all. Here's the math behind figuring your odds of getting a SPECIFIC pair of a certain minimum height:

Chance of Rolling 1 Pair of Any Given Minimum Height



I've colored in red the point at which the chance of getting at least a certain height exceeds 50%.

Example on reading the chart: If you're rolling 4D, you have a 50% chance of getting any pair at all (that's the top row across the board, really), a 26% chance of rolling a pair with a height between 1-6, and a 5% chance of that pair being exactly 10.

I need to refine the table a bit; work in progress. I may make some modifications down the line to make this more useful.

BUT, what Player 3 is saying is pretty accurate. Under the "Height = Targeting" system, a guy with 4d10 is only going to strike someone in the head 5% of the time, while an expert with 8d10 has a 19% chance of doing the same.

Under the "first die" system, that's 10% across the board, no matter your skill.

Still, this table is helpful for predicting how likley you are to cross certain thresholds. Hope you like it!
This message was last edited by the player at 22:55, Tue 25 Nov 2014.

In reply to Brennan Otthild (msg # 65):

This is true.

What I could do is allow you to adjust your 'target die' by sacrificing power (height) OR by rolling extra sets.

Example, if I roll 4, 6, 6, 7, 8: that's a hit to 4 with height 6.  I could let you adjust the hit location by 1 notch per 2 height reduction.

Thus you could hit 4 for 6 height, hit 3/5 for 4 height, hit 2/6 for 2 height.

For each extra set you roll but don't use, I'll allow another 1 bump to the target.

This allows martial arts masters to still be superior, but lets you make some decisions.

In reply to GM (msg # 66):

If I fail my sight roll am I able to do a hearing check?  or is it you choose which and go with it?

In reply to Player 2 (msg # 67):

It depends how much time you have.  In this scenario, choose 1.

This message was deleted by the player at 22:54, Tue 25 Nov 2014.

In reply to Brennan Otthild (msg # 69):

This is the part where I throw a pokéball at the deer, right?

In reply to Brennan Otthild (msg # 70):

Totally.

Based on some Private conversations, I should clarify a bit about Empathy/Leadership skills.

Things like Persuasion, Negotiation, etc. are slow to use.  These are skills that operate on the scale of minutes (a rule of thumb is 5-width in minutes) and thus will not work in combat.  You can certainly shout "I'll give you a BJ if you stop attacking me" but that's not a skill roll, that's just something you say that the enemy may take you up on.

What Player 2 did in the arena would work because they were not fighting him and were not actively hostile toward him.  He also had all the time he wanted to talk.

Leadership is used when you are convincing/leading a group OR people who are naturally part of your command or are subservient to you based on station (for example, a Lord can command commoners).

Such skill are also not mind control.  If a thief wants money because it's his way of making a living and he'll starve without robbing people, he's not going to just let you go no matter what you say.  It MAY be possible to dissuade him from fighting because he is outmatched, or you can give him something more valuable than your gold, but you won't convince him to give up thieving and let you go because you're too awesome to rob.  Intimidate might work in this situation, but again it would have to come with at least SOME possibility that you have force to back it up.  No matter how well your roll, a lone man cannot intimidate 10 armed thieves.

If there's anything else I can clarify, please let me know.

In reply to GM (msg # 71):

So in taking extraneous pairs and applying them to the location, is that something you can do anytime or do you have to call your shot for that?  Same with lower height?

In reply to Player 2 (msg # 72):

Dmitri Umbra stat/build submitted for initial GM approval.

Haven't geared him yet.

Nick seems to have green, Aaron's got yellow. Without Zuriel, does this mean all colors are open? Does GM have a particular one he wants to reserve?

In reply to Player 3 (msg # 73):

You can spend extra sets or reduce the height of your set to adjust hit location anytime, not just with called shot.

The GM reserves Red.  Otherwise go for it.

I have amended the character creation section to show (in the example sheet) which skills are trained and which are not.

Another note about skills:  since number of dice reflects your training level in the skill, sometimes having one or more dice will allow you to 'bypass' even rolling.  ORE is built around avoiding dice whenever fesible.

As an example:  If you have no dice in Ride, you'd need to make a roll with Coordination to even climb on the horse.  If you have 1d, it's assumed you know enough to climb on and maybe trot around without even rolling.  At a higher level, you wouldn't even need to roll to trot over difficult terrain or run over easy terrain.

when attempting multi-actions, you ALWAYS roll no matter your level of training.