[BNW] Questions Answered

[MForbeck@aol.com]

>>1)  There are several places in the rules where traits are treated as

straight numbers, rather than dice pools + bonuses.  Are the bonuses

treated as extra dice?  Horizontal leaping, for instance--a half inch for

each "point" of Strength.  I'm playing a Bouncer, with a Strength

of 2d6+3.  Is that 2 "points", or 5?  I would hope it's 5, since being a

Bouncer I plan to jump a lot.  Lifting, carrying, and throwing are based

on comparing Strength to the Size of the object.  In the example for

throwing, a 4d6 is clearly treated as a 4 for these purposes--how's a

2d6+3 treated?  What about wounds?  "Up to his Strength", "double her

Strength"--do bonuses affect these?  The rules are silent on this.  It

could've been clearer, if some of the exmples had used something other

than a Blaster.<<

Just add the bonuses and dice together. It's that simple. Sorry it wasn't 
clearer. 



>>2)  Incidentally, there is no rule for vertical leaping.  My GM will be

happy to house-rule it (hi, Mike!), but this seems like an oversight in a

game that spells out everything else in term of map inches.<<

Hm. I could have sworn I stuck this in. Let's say the hero can leap 1 inch 
straight up for every 4 points of Strength he has. 


>>3)  Fighting.  Okay, this is just irking me.  What's the most accurate 

form of attack in the game?  The Gunner's astounding marksmanship, you

say?  Well, he can only tie the Goliath's Fighting.  That Strength bonuses

should give a damage bonus makes sense to me--but a bonus to hit?  Let's

say I've given my Bouncer a Martial Arts of 5 and a Speed of 5--ie, the

most accurate you can be with Martial Arts at the beginning of the game

(no, that's not how I've written him up, but just for the sake of

argument).  Let's say I'm standing shoulder to shoulder with a Goliath

with Strength 5 and a Fighting of only 1, and a Speedster runs past us,

dodging for all he's worth.  Because of his Strength bonus, the Goliath

stands a better chance of laying a hand on the Speedster than I do.  Seems

really odd for someone who's "Dirt Slow".  (Oh, and since throwing is a

Strength skill, they're just as deadly accurate with thrown objects.)


Of course, I'm screwing myself by choosing Martial Arts--it fits with my

character concept, but with the +3 Strength bonus for Bouncers, I'd be

much more effective using Fighting.  This doesn't seem to fit with the

concept of the Bouncer package, really--even the Bouncer _archetype_ has

taken the trouble to learn Martial Arts, when he'd have better luck just

wading in there and duking it out!  I guess what I'm trying to figure out

is, why is there a combat skill where accuracy is determined by strength?

There's nothing inherently wrong with the concept of a Goliath who rarely

misses--but shouldn't he have to spend a lot of points on it?<<

There are numerous roleplaying disadvantages to playing a goliath, and that's 
why they're there. I realize they're nearly unbeatable in a toe-to-toe fight, 
but most games aren't just about toe-to-toe fights. 


>>4) Acrobatics.  Okay, maybe I'm the only one who cares, but it looks

unfinished.  Is it supposed to do anything other than halve falling

damage?  (Impress women on a Challenging(10) roll?)  Can it decrease it by

more than half if I get a lot of successes? I'm just not sure how

comfortable I feel leaping from rooftop to rooftop without knowing these

things. :)<<

I think it's fine the way it is. As for impressing people, that's going to 
have to be your Guide's call, depending on the situation, I'd think. The 
reason I didn't let you stack up more successes to reduce more damage is that 
you'd then have people leaping from tall buildings and walking away from a 
supposedly fatal fall with a great roll. There's a limit to what a skill can 
do in this regard. 

For the record, I don't mind the questions at all. They're helpful in getting 
me to refine my ideas about the game, and they make for good conversation. 
They're best, though, when two things happen. 

First, I prefer to get questions about the game on this list. That way, when 
I respond, everyone on the list can see what the official answers are, and I 
can spend less time answering questions and more time writing books. 

Second, I love questions with suggested answers. Call this "constructive 
criticism." You guys are some of the smartest people out there, and most of 
you know the game cold and probably have a chance to play it more often than 
I do. Your input really does help, so when you think you've already got your 
own answers to the questions, don't be shy. Share them with the rest of the 
class, and we can all learn. 

As always, thanks for playing!

Matt Forbeck
AEG