Re: [HoE] [HOPLER] Question-Generating Session

[PEGHopler@aol.com]

In a message dated 9/24/99 9:56:54 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
crow_steve@hotmail.com writes:

<< A) Do you draw a card for each individual passing through a section of a 
 maelstrom, even if they are _all_ passing through the storm on _all_ the 
 same round?  The rulebook stuff is a little vague, but Geiger Vision for 
 Doomsayers seems to imply that you look at a section of the storm and it has 
 a single "damage" value.

The card pull mechanic is meant to represent the chaotic and everchanging 
nature of the maelstrom, and each individual may be affected differently by 
the same storm, so yes, you do pull a separate card for each person even if 
they all pass through at the same time. The geiger vision miracle only gauges 
how the storm will affect the doomsayer casting it, all bets are off for 
anyone else passing through in the same area.
 
 B) When you pull the card, it is not very clear what exactly is the 
 "result."  It says it is "spiritual damage" but doesn't elucidate further.  
 Is the attribute generated simply used as a Spirit roll against the 
 target(s)', or do you read the result as "spiritual damage" literally.  
 i.e....
 
 1) I pull a 8 of diamonds, which is a 2d6.  I have the storm roll its new, 
 temporary "Spirit" attribute of 2d6 and each PC makes an opposed Spirit 
 roll, and takes the difference as damage (to the gut, as stated in the 
 rulebook).
 
 2) I pull a 8 of diamonds, which is a 2d6.  I roll the 2d6 as damage (i.e., 
 adding the results together and Acing as necessary, and each PC makes an 
 opposed Spirit roll, and takes the difference as damage.
 
Option 2 is the correct one.
 
 C) For the purposes of anti-radiation mutations, Edges, Templar gifts, stuff 
 like that, what is the nature of the storm damage considered to be?  It 
 doesn't seem to be radiation (which usually requires Vigor checks).  It 
 doesn't quite seem to be magical.  It seems to be...well, 'spiritual'.  But 
 a case could be made that it is either of the other two, I suppose.

It's a little of both. In this case I'd allow any Edges or Hindrances (and 
gifts, etc.) which apply to radiation, apply to the hero's Spirit roll. 
 
 D) On a mildly unrelated note, what is the TN for making Rad checks within 
 five miles of ground zero in Boise?  The people there are _living_ in a 
 maelstrom, right?  And not just the Templars, but the surrounding community. 
   The book states TN 9, but are all the non-templars in Boise really making 
 Rad checks (5, 9, whatever) every hour, 24/7??
 
 Yes, I know the Templars' efforts have (presumably) made the Boise Maelstrom 
 weaker.  But that kinda touches on C above.  The maelstrom is spiritual/evil 
 type damage, and the Templars' efforts towards good are reducing that.  Fair 
 enough, makes sense to me.  But...the actual ghost rock radiation from the 
 bomb dropping isn't going down simply because they're doing good, does it?  
 You can't reduce radiation simply by doing good/reducing the Fear Level, can 
 you?
 
 But even if the TN within the Boise maelstrom is 5...wouldn't NPCs be in a 
 near-constant state of one degree or another of radiation poisoning/wind 
 loss?  Nothing in the Templar SB seems to suggest anything like that.  And 
 in fact, the place actually seems to be drawing more non-Templars to it.
 
 Has this been answered before somewhere?  It really doesn't seem to make 
 much sense.  We noticed something similar with Sybaris (from the Doomsayer 
 SB) and how it was only 10-20 miles from a ground zero.  The rather facile 
 answer was that wind patterns and stuff can reduce the radius.  But here's 
 the same problem (even worse) again.  Putting communities in or near 
 maelstroms seems like a really good way to kill off survivors, yet two major 
 communities in the source material follow this pattern. >>

In the case of Sybaris, I believe my "facile" answer (which I've reprinted 
below) is sufficient to explain how the place may exist. In the case of 
Boise, it's obvious that the radiation levels have dropped to survivable 
levels. Why? Some quirk of nature or the spirit world, I guess, but primarily 
because Shane wanted to put the Templars' HQ inside a maelstrom. I'm sorry I 
can't give any better answer than that, but this falls under the "whaterver 
best fits your story" clause of my earlier answer. 


The rad zone rules in the main rulebook were meant as very general guidelines.
 The actual danger zone around any impact site is up to the Marshal, and is 
very dependent on the particular terrain and weather in question. A town only 
5 miles west of an impact, but on the other side of a mountain with strong 
prevailing winds blowing east, could be perfectly safe while another town 50 
miles away to the east might be hotter than the inside of a microwave. 
Basically, the Marshal should use whatever makes the most sense and fits best 
in his story.


John Hopler
Pinnacle