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NPCs come in three types, Minor/Mook, Major and Master Villains.

Minor NPCs or Mooks indeed have 5BP. These represent common people or when adversaries, disposable bad guys that the players are expected to take on by the dozen with ease.

See also Chaff Before the Wind on page 19.

I hope this is helpful.

I have a question regarding Contested Actions, Art of Wuxia, p. 55

The rules for Contested Actions read:
"Some actions, as determined by the GM, may be contested. In other words, your opponent also gets to make a skill or ability check to see if you succeed. For instance, trying to pick a pocket might be detected if your opponent makes a successful LOG check. Trying to wrestle a dagger out of someone’s grasp might be handled by contested STR checks. A chase sequence might be handled by a series of contested DEX checks around critical obstacles. In such cases, there must be a clear winner (so if you both pass your check, the contest continues, turn by turn, until someone fails)."

So if I'm reading this right, if both actions are successful, the players continue rolling off each round until there is a clear winner.

I can see where this might make sense in a grappling (combat) situation, with both characters wrestling for a weapon, or a longer chase scene, but what about a situation where the result should be noticeable in a moment, like the pickpocket example above?

As written, in the pickpocket example:
Round 1: Pickpocket succeeds in check. Crime victim succeeds in check. That means the pickpocket fails and the crime victim fails to notice the pickpocket's failure?
With no clear winner, both roll again in round 2, and then perhaps round 3, round 4, etc.

I think that feels a bit clunky in play.

Perhaps a better way to resolve that kind of contested action is:
If one player succeeds and the other fails their roll, the one who succeeded wins the action. (Obvious.)

But if both players succeed in their rolls, the one with the highest result wins the contest.

Critical successes, however, beat regular successes.

Thus, if in the example with the pickpocket, the pickpocket succeeds by rolling a 54, and the crime victim fails by rolling a 73. The pickpocket steals successfully.

But

Example 2: If the pickpocket succeeds by rolling a 35, and the crime victim succeeds with a 43, then the crime victim wins the roll, because both were successes, but 43 beats 35.

Example 3: The pickpocket succeeds with a 22 and the crime victim succeeds with a 35. The pickpocket wins, because critical successes beat regular successes.

What if both roll a crit? Whichever crit is higher wins.

Just curious how that sounds.

(Of course, you could also rule, I suppose, that in the first "as written" example with the pickpocket, if both succeed, the pickpocket gets what they were trying to steal, but the crime victim also notices the thief and can raise the alarm? So then they both succeed in their objective?)

Hi TorresRoman,

Yes you're reading it right. In the example you give, the pickpocket didn't successfully pick the pocket and if it's important enough to him, he has to keep trying. In role-playing, this means the victim moved away at the last minute, but didn't detect the thief. The thief, believing it important to get what's in that victim's pocket, navigates closer to try again. Yes, it might take a few rounds, but it shouldn't be a roll-off (which would be very uncinematic) but a roleplayed situation (which is very cinematic and tension building).

However, you're right, there are sometimes situations where it doesn't make sense to do it that way. In such a situation, yes, feel free to implement a "rolls highest but still succeeds" solution, which I've used myself on occasion!

@Kevinmcc

Not stupid questions at all. You have questions? We have answers to help make your game better!

1) Yes, the alchemist kit comes with some starter materials. The rest can be abstract purchases at an alchemy or medicine shop. Nothing wrong with saying the player could get 100tl worth of materials as one of their equipment items. An assassin that is into alchemy. Dangerous!

2) Page 11. Step 6 Equipment and Money -

Choose any 6 items from the equipment lists
beginning on page 42: weapons (including ammo),
armor, animals (including a saddle, bag, tack, and
harness), and equipment. You may not select any
item whose value is more than 100 taels (tl). In
addition, you begin play with a coin purse
containing 2D tl.

So, any six. If they take a bow, they get the arrows too. It is pretty generous and is designed to get players what they need and playing quickly.

Totally fine to take those 5 daggers. No problem there at all.

The character did take the Flying Daggers Style so either they are a member of the White Lotus Assassins or they will be hunted by them. Never let them forget that. :)

Possible errata:

Page 31 under Technique Collector, it states that the cost is 10 CP to learn a technique outside your style (plus a teacher and maybe a favor, or training manual)

Page 46 under Kung Fu, it states the cost to learn a technique not in your style is 5 CP (plus a teacher or secret manual)

Page 46 is correct. Our edit fu was not able to overcome the mistake on page 31.

Also note in the example on page 10 where Jack chooses the Wodan style because it has the vivacity technique. Jack was confused. Jack meant to choose the Ten Styles of Life Taking Swift Sword style.

We played through a short scenario last night involving Hopping Corpses and a Hopping Vampire. We noticed that the HV has a Fear Aura (10 spaces, resist -20 WIL), but we couldn't find anything about the effect of failing.

We decided it meant that you couldn't approach within the Fear aura range (i.e. 10 spaces) in this case (so you could stay 10 spaces away and use missiles). Is there anything explicit about it (searching for Fear in the pdf didn't turn anything up), but we could have missed it!

That is a good way of handling fear aura of the HV. If anyone critically failed their WIL resistance you might pile on one or more conditions such as Dazed, Immobilized, Paralyzed, or even weakened. Dazed and Weakened could even be used as a condition of entering the fear aura without a successful WIL resistance.

Ok, a few more questions after tonight's session:

- Leader/Battle Commander/Inspire : do the inspired allies need to be next to me in the Initiative phase or in the action taking phase? (We thought the Initiative phase). Do the to hit/damage bonuses apply to missiles and spells?

- Leader/Warlord/Tactical Strike : This applies to every attack - if more than 2:1 does it apply to more people or just one? Can it apply to me and another, etc?

- More than one Kung Fu style (p32) : how do multiple styles work with differing weapons? I can use my highest Warrior skill and mix and match techniques, but how does the minimum kung fu damage work if the styles have different weapons?

- Sorceror/Low Sorcery : Create 5 space globe of light - is that 5 space radius or diameter (sounds like diameter). Does it have to be near the sorceror or can it be further away? Does it move?

Leader/Battle Commander/Inspire: The adjacency is needed when you make the skill roll before initiative is rolled. The to hit/damage bonus applies to any kind of attack.

Leader/Warlord/Tactical Strike: the Leader is coordinating with one ally. So either the leader or the ally gets the benefit.

More than one Kung Fu style: use all benefits together at best effect. If you run into a situation where you must only use one kung fu style, then resort to only that style, it's weapons, weapon damage, level of effects and techniques etc. Otherwise, reap the benefits of your diversity.

5 Space globe of light: we've treated it as radius centered on the sorcerer (bright globe above the sorcerer's head or in their hand). As a GM I allow the player to describe their particular use of it and how it looks. The specifics are really left up to how groups want to manage it. I could easily see it as diameter but then allowing it to be moved around but stay with a certain range of the sorcerer if that works for you. Say it can move 5 spaces per turn but the sorcerer must maintain concentration on it and keep it within sight or it will move back to hover near them. Something like that sounds fun and completely reasonable.

Hope this helps.

Thanks once again!

I have two questions about any of Diseases on Page 78

1. Does the Alchemist make a group check or individual check for Duration?
2. Does the Alchemist make a group check or individual check for Diagnose?

Two more questions

If a character is possessed by a hungry ghost and the rest of the party attack it, does the damage apply to the ghost (so when it gets to zero BP, it is expelled from its host) or the host (so the host BP get reduced, and when it gets to zero, that body collapse and the ghost can try and possess someone else?

If a ghost is reduced to 0 BP, what happens to it?

The GM makes the roll to determine the duration of a disease. Successful treatment by an alchemist could lesson or even end the duration depending on the disease.

An alchemist makes a roll to diagnose the disease. If this is obviously a disease that is affecting a bunch of people in say a small village it would make sense they all have the same disease.

I hope this helps.

The key to adjudicating the possession by a hungry ghost is to look at the dominion spell for guidance. Damage applied to a possessed person damages that person, not the ghost. Note that making the person do things against their morals can allow them another chance to fight the possession. Spells such as Purify and Dispel can be helpful. Tying the person up forcing the ghost to release the person all all viable methods for dealing with this dangerous power.

As for what happens to a ghost when it reaches 0BP, by the RAW the ghost would be destroyed. But if there is more to the story, such as why the ghost is so hungry, why it is so consumed with a need to cause terror, perhaps it will return if that cause is not dealt with. This is your wuxia and you can make it what you like.

For example if I created a creepy abandoned village where hungry ghosts come out at night and attack the PCs perhaps, those ghosts will come back (every night or every month) until the evil local magistrate that starved his people is brought to justice etc. I'd see that as a totally viable way to make this an ongoing "curse" until finally resolved.

I hope this helps.

Thanks for the response. I think you have answered all my questions. I am playing the ghosts as being tied to a source and reducing them to 0BP just stops that manifestation for a while, but they will return.

Sounds great! Sounds like something for the players to figure out for it will certainly lead to more adventures. And we want that!

Use this d00Lite ruleset to bend the game to what your and your players want. It was designed with that in mind. You'll know when you break it because that will be the point where someone isn't having fun. And you can always fix that.

Hope this helps!

Hi, a question about techniques and weapons. I think I may have not understood this properly previously!

p31 : If I learn a technique from my style, can I ONLY apply that technique to weapons from that style, or can it apply to any weapons? For example, Fiery Dragon warrior has two weapon fighting. If they pick up 2 Jians (not an FD weapon) can they use two-weapon fighting? Other techniques e.g. Defender, One Against All etc obviously work all the time.

Originally I thought that the only criterion for Style Weapons was whether you get Kung Fu damage with them or not. Then I was thinking about 5 CP to add a weapon to your Style which made me wonder if that purely allowed Kung Fu damage or applied to Style techniques as well. Otherwise 5 CP seems a lot when you could pick up another style including (say Jian) at Level 1 for 3 CP.

Hope that makes sense!

If they haven't added the weapons to their style they don't get the kung fu damage and it makes sense that they aren't using techniques that require weapons from that style with those weapons. A GM could clearly make exceptions or rule that the techniques are fair game but the kung fu damage is not. If they add those weapons to their style then everything works as normal.

Yes, they could add another style for less CP but then you run into the very real issue and difficulties of having more than one shifu/teacher. If you can navigate that and keep both your teachers happy then you can freely mix and match style techniques and weapons within the styles you've learned. Also, it is harder to incorporate a weapon you are learning on your own into a style than to get training in a weapon taught by another style and adapt what you have learned.

All of that changes, of course, if you face an opponent that knows a secret weakness of one of your styles. When that happens you have to switch to the other style and only use techniques and weapons and warrior skill level for that style. Hope the opponent doesn't know a secret weakness to that style too!

And since you've been asking so many great questions here is something for you:

New Master Villain Ability
My Kung Fu is Better Than Yours – Lo Bak

Tier 1 Special Ability

Kung Fu Savant
The master villain has academically studied more kung fu styles than most have heard of. While the master villain only practices the techniques they have learned, they know the secret weaknesses of all other known kung fu styles. If the master villain is attacked three times by the same opponent, they can identify the style of kung fu being used against them and recall its secret weakness. The opponent now suffers a hard penalty (-20) on all defense rolls vs the master villain’s kung fu attacks. If the opponent calls out the name of their technique the master villain can identify the kung fu style immediately.

Counter: Very rare kung fu styles practiced only by a handful of masters or found in long lost secret training manuals might be immune to this master villain ability. Otherwise, only by attacking the master villain with multiple styles of kung fu can one hope to avoid falling prey to their superior kung fu knowledge.

Great stuff, thanks. Appreciate the Villain ability too!

Ok, another picky question!

Two Weapon fighting says "fighting with one-handed melee weapon in each hand". Would this work with unarmed (unsure but by the wording I guess not). How about Iron Wrist Rings? They add to unarmed damage but are effectively weapons (so I would tend to think that would work). Fiery Dragon has them as style weapons so it must work with that style.

Interestingly as you always get kung fu damage with Unarmed, it seems that Iron Wrist Rings will always be usable with that (even if they are not included in your style) as they only add to Unarmed damage (?).

Two Weapon fight - is with weapons. Just weapons.

Iron wrist rings are weapons. If they are not part of your kung fu style, then you cannot use them with your kung fu damage nor kung fu techniques.

Background: iron wrist rings are more of a training tool(wrist weights etc.) but it is fun to add them to the heavier strength styles as a weapon as you see in movies. Kung Fu Hustle for example has a character with a ridiculous number of them on their arms. Bottom line, if your players face an opponent with iron wrist rings, they know this is one strong character (STR 70 required!).

Ok, thanks, I wasn't sure as Wrist Rings are unarmed+3. Funnily enough I just watched that scene from Kung Fu Hustle the other day!

But! More questions!

- Two Weapon Fighting (you can tell we have a PC with this!) : You can use 2 1H weapons. If they are different types/damage ratings, which do you use for the damage roll? The highest, the lowest, or something else?

- TWF again. If you have one Spirit Sword and one ordinary weapon, is your damage vs Demons full, or halved, or something else?

- Mystic Spirit Sword says it does full damage vs Demons and Ghosts as if a Magic Weapon. But Ghosts only take damage from unarmed or spells - so does the Spirit Sword count as a spell for this purpose? Normally Ghosts are unaffected by weapons. (I assume that the Spirit Sword description takes precedence here and it does do full damage to Ghosts).

(Sorry, we were brainstorming a bit this morning!)

And another: Offensive Strike.

- If you put this on a weapon, do you get 1D/2 levels or the extra 1D as if cast on a single target?

- Also vs Mooks, we thought it would add to the damage before Chaff Before the Wind kicks in, just for the cinematic value!

Two-Weapon Fighting is much easier than that. +10 to melee attack rolls and +10 to physical resistance rolls when fighting with two one-handed weapons. That is all the technique implies. When a character that has that technique has two one-handed weapons and is using them in combat they get the benefits listed above.

The character decides what weapon in hand they are using on any attack roll. Nothing changes other than the above benefits and of course the fact the character must have two one-handed weapons in hand and won't be able to use a shield or scabbard of the fray magic item. What ever weapon they are not using to attack is helping with their resistance roll if you'd like to think of it like that.

Spirit swords - yes they should have been written a little clearer such as:

Spirit Sword – By spending one qi you may “charge” a spirit sword you are touching. A
spirit sword is a wooden sword (jian) adorned with mystic symbols. At Mystic level 1 you can
construct spirit swords for free. With a charged spirit sword, anyone may attack demons (as if they had a magic weapon and ghosts (full damage as jian). The spirit sword stays charged for one day.

Hope that helps!

Offensive Strike

I've always used it as a single target as the weapon can only hit one foe at a time. But there isn't anything in the rules that prevent a burst effect. This can be really cool!

If you do want it to do the 3 space burst I'd use the range of the weapon since you cast Offensive strike, on say an arrow, then depending on the type of bow, the range is figured.

Something else to consider: you charge a kwandao with lightning and bring it down on a mook who takes damage from the kwandao and the lightning charge and hits everyone but the wielder. If you go this route you'll need to decide if the wielder is immune to the effect or not. Personally this sounds really cool and the character does have to use an action to apply the spell, then make an attack roll and the victims still get a resistance roll. In this case the targeted person must fail their resistance roll or the charge is not unleashed.

And lastly, the original designers of the d00Lite system have said that Offensive Strike should be cast only when an encounter has started. Otherwise you have folks charging up 400 arrows in advance which is outside the scope of the rules.

Quick question from tonight's game:

Can you use Whirlwind Attack and Mighty Blows on the same attack? Obviously you need a 2H weapon and would only be able to use the +1D effect of Mighty Blows...but if so it would apply to all defenders vs the Whirlwind Attack. It would only be once per turn because of the usage restriction on Whirlwind Attack.

My general view was that techniques can be used as much as possible in combinations, but others were not so sure.

I have a few questions about the Transport spell (P30). It has a resistance DEX assigned to it. If a sorcerer Level 4 wishes to transport a captive creature (that is bound) by flying it, can this happen? What is to stop the captive jumping off?

Also, the rules say "At Sorcerer level 4 he may fly twice his MOVE for 2D hours". This implies that only the Sorcerer can fly - can he cast it on his allies? The Genre Examples say Target. Can the Sorcerer create a large cloud that him and 4 allies can jump on?

Finally, does the Sorcerer have to concentrate while flying, i.e., can he cast other spells from mid-air?

Just looking at Transport, it doesn't really say anywhere that the Sorceror has any control over the target's movement once the spell is cast (well except for a Level 6 teleport - I'd be tempted to rule on that that you can't be familiar with a bit of the sea though to drop someone in the ocean!). Not entirely sure what the intention is here.

Given a Range and a resistance, that does seem to imply that you can cast it on others, although once you have a Level 4 sorceror that could mean entire groups of flying PCs.

Concentration - it really only mentions it as relevant for levitation rather than MOV (although it seems to use "levitate" to mean "move" for Level 3). I feel it's more fun for the Sorceror if he does get to do stuff while flying. Also given that a Warrior 6 has Lightness and can use MOV + 30 spaces per turn while still hitting things, it doesn't seem that unreasonable for a Sorceror to cover MOV * 2 and do other stuff.

Adding Mighty Blows with Whirlwind Attack

I don't see why those effects can't add together. It takes two precious techniques to pull it off.

5 BP is correct. Mooks are meant to be for those cinematic encounters where the PCs mop the floor with dozens of enemies and barely break a sweat! Don't forget, though, they can be well-equipped, can wear armor, and/or can team up in nifty ways with a good leader, and therefore can cause a lone PC a little sweat!

Great questions. As this is intentionally a lite game it intentionally leaves some stuff to the GM to arbitrate. I always arbitrate it as any non-willing target gets a resistance check if it wants (which clearly requires it to be conscious/aware). If a target is a captive creature that is bound, that might severely limit a DEX resistance check, likely making it Hard (-20), if possible at all (depending on the nature of the binding), if I were adjudicating.

For clarification: the requirement to concentrate for the spell effect is only specified for the basic use of the spell (levitate 1 space per turn while concentrating). Once a duration is specified (Sorcerer level 3 or greater), concentration is no longer required.

As for control of the spell effect, whether the spell is being used to levitate, fly, blink, or teleport it basically works the same. I always arbitrate that it is up to the caster to decide who controls movement for the recipient of the spell. For instance, if I cast Transport on myself, I clearly control my own Transport. If I cast it on my ally, I might do so to move that ally myself, on my turn, and therefore control the Transport myself (save an ally from impending destruction). Otherwise, I'd just grant that character the ability to control their own Transport when I cast it on them. I doubt I'd want to confer any control to an unwilling enemy, but it's not against any rules.

Great answers again. Many thanks for your support.

Could you talk a bit about the Three Tenets of the Virtuous Hero (p4 and p46), particularly with regard to character development? We always seem to struggle to see when to award these - are they meant to be particularly difficult, or are we just not playing up to the genre tropes enough?

The Three Tenets of the Virtuous Hero.

A little history. The game originally used the Code of the Xia (benevolence, justice, individualism, loyalty, courage, truthfulness, disregard for wealth and desire for glory). Now this Code of the Xia is much more prevalent in wuxia novels than in TV Series and Movies. By early 2019 we found that the code was confusing most new players to the game. It was harder for them to wrap their head around some of the seemingly contrary eight codes. And indeed many characters in wuxia novels just do things because they can. Seeking glory often leads characters down the path and some even to villain-hood.

One of the main goals of creating Art of Wuxia was to be a bridge to introducing this incredible genre to those likely unfamiliar with it. Since a majority of wuxia TV Series and movies use the Three Tenets of the Virtuous Hero it was another reason to switch it up to something that is more easily understood and where there are more ready examples. Yes, wuxia novels were the foundation of the wuxia genre but it has grown and expanded into many more forms of media. The most readily available in the form of TV shows and movies. So we needed the core moral concept of xia to match what players were most likely to encounter if they delved more into the genre as it exists today.

The idea is that if this game makes people interested in wuxia, they they can more easily reach to TV series and movies for inspiration and what they see there will be more reflected in the heroes they create.

So with all that, I think how stringent your group is in awarding a CP for demonstrating any of the Three Tenets of the Virtuous hero is going to depend on how familiar your group is with the genre. The genre as typified in the TV series and movies almost always shows a hero or group of heroes battling villains to save their people or even the world. The GM section is full of tools for creating villains and other adversaries. The awarding of one CP for demonstrating any of those Tenets can be used to nudge player behavior into heroism. If the group is very familiar with the genre perhaps they must have those tenets challenged in ways that make them choose the tenet over some more immediate reward or value. It is really up to you and your group and what you find most fun. The book does say "passionately demonstrated" for the tenets. That could be as common as the characters getting into danger such as combat to uphold justice etc. Or it could be as difficult as going up against hopeless odds to passionately demonstrate being resolute.

Ultimately it is up to you and your group to decide what is fun, reasonable for your style of play and fits your pace of character development. Remember that a character could passionately demonstrate all three tenets but they still only get 1CP.

Hope this helps.

Re Chaff Before the Wind - is the intention to declare use/pay qi before making any attack rolls in the round? I can see it might well work that way, but for low level warriors their chance to hit/damage may not be that great so they are not so keen to use it.

So, I was thinking about letting them decide after they have made an attack roll (probably first one of the round), or possibly even after they have made a damage roll (after all even with a Jian you can roll 3 damage which would be a bit annoying!).

Totally up the the GM on how they'd like to play this out. It won't break anything to change it.

Chaff Before the Wind is much more useful for those with a higher level in Warrior. It also lets them dispense with forces that would otherwise slow them down.

I had a feeling you were going to say that!

Yes definitely better for higher levels of warrior.

We had someone use Move-By tonight very successfully against some Hopping Corpses with a similar effect!

GM fiat...is pretty standard for light games like this. It is what makes them very fun and powerful but can be problematic for those that want more solid guidance. Can only put so much of that in a small book. But yes, GM fiat when in doubt...kinda like a computer restart as first problem solving for your computer. :)

Move-by is really cool but sometimes hard to setup. I love it when it gets pulled off successfully!

Can you expound a little on Hold?

The technique says that anyone can impose a Hold with a contested Warrior skill. Victims can escape with a contested check. This is a normal contested action I guess - once you hold someone (without the technique) what can you do with them? What happens if they are attacked? Can you attack them? What happens with Multiple Actions while holding someone? With a contested action does the attempt to evade Hold count as an action for the defender as well as the attacker?

With the technique it says that you can inflict unarmed attack damage each turn the hold is maintained - does this need a roll (it seems not). Can you do it on the turn in which you first hold them? Can you do it on each Multiple Action in a turn - this would seem strong if no roll is needed.

If a Held opponent or PC has Reverse Hold is that an opposed roll? It doesn't read like it.

(Have PC with Flying Serpent style so this all becomes relevant).

thanks!

I'm a little confused about resistance checks in combat.

Let's say a character hasn't taken their turn yet. A Basic Thug (55, unarmed ½D) attacks them and rolls a 32. So that's a hit. The player can decide to make a DEX resistance check to avoid the attack or just take the hit. The player decides to make a resistance check. Their character has a DEX 55 and rolls 23. So in this case they dodge the attack and take no damage. Is that correct?

Would you allow the character to use any of the stats to resist the attack? A high STR Warrior is tough enough to shrug off the damage. A high INT sorcerer calculates the most likely angle of the attack and side steps the swing. A high WIS Mystic doesn't see the attack but "senses" the danger and ducks in time.

Yes, if the PC rolls their DEX or less then they avoid the attack. Remember that a critical hit needs a critical parry/dodge to avoid it.

RAW says that avoiding a melee attack is DEX. I don't see why you can't house rule it to allow other stats, remember that you get -20 per action, so cumulative resists/actions will drop your chances. By allowing PCs to use their best stat you may find that PCs are a bit tougher.

hemulen is totally right. However the game does give guidelines on which attributes should be used for which types of resistance rolls. That way all attributes are important at some point for the purpose of resisting things. STR for poison, DEX for dodging, see page 64 for more.

I have a follow-up question about MOOKS. If they are in a formation and have the "Keep at Bay" Technique, does that count as their one attack if they trigger it out of turn? Also, if they had used their attack, and two PCs then closed with them, could this be used for each PC?

We had a question arising during a big combat last night.

The PCs were jumped by two Nether Cats and during melee, attacked them with standard (non-magical weapons), so only half damage. The Nether Cats have DR5. If they got hit for 30 damage, would they take (30-5)/2 = 13BP or (30/2) - 5 = 10BP?

"Treat the formation as having stats equivalent to a major NPC whose rank is equal to the number of mooks in the formation divided by 5. Always round down."

So don't treat them as mooks while they are in the formation. Mooks only get one attack as you mention. But they aren't treated as a major NPC while in the formation. Yikes!

Think of it this way. DR reduces what damage gets is applied. In this case the damage that is applied is half normal.
So 30/2 = 15. then DR 5 applies so damage would be 15-5 = 10.

Hope this helps.

Ok, back with 1 more question and an observation:

- Unblockable Attack (p40) : Do you have to declare use of this before you roll your attack? I think so...

- Power Attack (p39) : I only just realised how good this is, I was probably thinking of the D&D 3.5 version. However, +2 damage per -10 attack is very good if your attack is >100. Last night we had a buffed Level 6 Fiery Dragon PC making an initial attack at 135% - she could have taken -40% to drop to 95% (which is as good as you are going to get given 96-99 is a miss anyway) and got +8 damage with this technique. Not so useful if you are below 100% skill. With the D&D version you have to use the same modifier on all attacks in the round, with this one you choose per attack.

Unblockable Attack
My players love shouting out the names of their techniques even if they don't need or can benefit from the bonus because of previous uses. But it is not strictly required that that the technique be declared before the attack is rolled. And there is no mechanical need to declare it since a failed roll just means you can use it later on.

Power Attack
Yes, buffing a character so they can maximize Power Attack is a very good tactic. Power Attack is yet another example of the press-your-luck aspect to these rules. I've seen players reduce their attack chance down to 60% for a chance of a tremendous damaging hit!

Aha, ok so you can use it after the attack roll - I guess if you pre-declared it and then rolled a critical anyway you might feel a bit hard done by!

I'm assuming by "you can use it later on" you mean "against the same target you attempted to use it on before" - obviously if you make a succesful attack roll with it you cannot use it again on the same target in that encounter.

Ok, another small question!

The Condition "Drained" (p65) puzzled me..."character has -10 to STR. Lasts until removed by spending 10 CP".

Initially this seemed to me to be mechanically the same thing as just reducing STR by 10, such that the PC would have to buy their STR back up again. However, rereading it last night I now wonder if the intention is that you have to buy the Condition off in one lump-sum expenditure of 10 CP? That does make it different and makes sense in it being a condition.

It only makes sense to me if this is a one lump-sum expenditure.

How do you cast Charm or Dominion against a High Rank character? If I cast one of these spells against a Rank 5 NPC with 60 will, there resistance is 60 + (5 x 10) = 110%, if this is correct, are these spells only useful against MOOKs or low rank charcters?

Obviously, there is way around this - like a Hinder - Dominion double whammy

When dealing with higher level characters/enemies, never expect the first attack you take against them to work. Just the same as enemies fighting higher rank PCs, those first attacks will not DIRECTLY take them out of the action in most cases.

But what those actions will do is pile up multi-action penalties. Then hit them with charm when they are already engaged.

Same thing with stealth attacks by a character with high levels in the Thief Skill. Don't go all or nothing by attacking from stealth right away. Let other PCs give the enemy multi-action penalties, THEN attack from stealth. Much more effective.

I hope this helps!

A couple more questions!

On the table for Breaking Things (p63), I noticed that the Large row has the same values for Wood and Stone. Is that correct? Looking at the earlier rows I would expect it to be something like 10/20/80 rather than 20/20/80
(I only noticed because our L6 warrior the other day rolled 30 damage with bare fists and I checked to see that she could actually punch through stone walls!)

Secondly, I have a PC who has just achieved 100 DEX (Rank 6). I have acquired a Meteor Hammer, which strikes me as a bit of an odd weapon - it has Range 3, and does therefore 2D+2+DEXmod damage (until Warrior 6 anyway). Is there any reason not to use this on opponents, given that even if they are next to me, it's a ranged weapon and they get -20 to defence unless they have Arrow Cutting? Obviously not so good if you have gone down the high STR route rather than DEX.