Quick questions on various topics.

[Adam of the Old Kingdom]

1: I would say 30ISP and 3 attacks, put the mute 1st.

2: slow and not very imaginative. sometimes he doesnot even know how he does stuff.

3: Bear Hug, a wrestling move where you wrap both arms around the body of a target sometimes pinning the arms at their side and squeeze. good for breaking ribs and suffocating.

Blackajack is a sort of short club, used for pistol wipping before pistols where invented.
see this link http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.c ... %20(weapon)

[Veknironth]

Well, I agree with the guys for the psionics. 3 attacks, 10 ISP per.

The theif would be barely able to function. I doubt he'd be able to pick locks, etc. He might be a savant with that kind of thing, things that require manual dexterity, but he'd be very sucseptible to traps, being fooled, cheated, etc.

A blackjack is also called a sap. It's like a sock filled with sand. Although the material is usually something like leather filled with sand. It's used to smack people, doing concussive damage but not breaking bones or cutting the skin. You can essentially ring someone's bell with it. A bear hug is as described. You pick the person up off the ground, wrap your arms around their waist/lower ribs, and squeeze them.

-Vek
"These are questions with difinitive answers - I like that."

[Vidynn]

Hi,

a blackjack is basically a blunt weapon, sometimes (police) nightsticks are called that


all the other questions have been answered correctly.

cheers; v

[Tinker Dragoon]

4. How big of an item can you pick pocket from an unsuspecting victim? I realize you can't take his armor, but could you pull his sword out of the shealth, or a dagger from his ankle. the entire purse, his helm in which to smack him?

5. can you parry or dodge a critical hit against your character? and a parry and dodge rolls are a seperate roll from the strike roll, correct?

4. Varies. There's no way you're getting a sword out of a scabbard unnoticed if it's on the wielder's hip or back. The wielder can't help but feel it, and possibly hear it. Same with a dagger from an ankle sheath. A dagger on a belt sheath could possibly be pilfered. If the person is wearing a helmet, they're certainly going to notice you taking it off their head. Taking a modern purse hanging on someone's arm would be noticed immediately, but taking an old-fashioned coin purse from someone's pocket could be done with some difficulty (if the purse is very heavy with coin, the person is very likely to notice the missing weight). Of course all of these things can be done effortlessly if the targets are drunk or unconscious.

5. Yes, but if the critical strike was achieved by rolling a natural 20 you can only successfully defend with another natural 20. Parry and dodge are completely separate maneuvers from strikes, though all are made with twenty-sided dice and get bonuses from a high P.P. attribute.

[Tinker Dragoon]

Yep, a parry or dodge is sort of like a saving throw against a strike, so you only have to beat that one strike roll.

[Veknironth]

Well, I agree with the others. The size of object that can be pick pocketed is not absolute. A giant pick pocketing from another giant can take an item much larger than a gnome vs gnome. However, the examples you listed are all no-gos. Only small, items that can easily be removed and whose absence will not be noticed can be picked.

As for the strike, it's the same roll. It's actually the reverse, though. Often the strike is parried or dodged and the AR comes into effect when that roll is failed.

-Vek
"I like these questions with succinct answers."

[Killer Cyborg]

how would you play a character thief with an IQ of 5. I'm thinking of playing him as almost retarded, but is that not giving him enough credit?

That's giving him too much credit.
Your thief would have a real world IQ of 50.

Low-end IQ used to be divided like this:

IQ Range Classification
70-80 Borderline deficiency
50-69 Moron
20-49 Imbecile
below 20 Idiot

Meaning that he is about as dim as you can get while still being smart enough to qualify as a Moron.

Currenlty, I believe we use this scale (which amounts to the same thing, only more PC) to measure retardation:

IQ Range Classification
50-69 Mild
35-49 Moderate
20-34 Severe
below 20 Profound

So your thief would be mildly retarded, almost moderately retarded.

Hope that helps.

[Killer Cyborg]

Often the strike is parried or dodged and the AR comes into effect when that roll is failed.

Yes.
I run thing like this:

GM: He's attacking you with his sword...
Player: I Parry.
GM rolls his Strike, Player rolls his Parry.
If the Strike is higher than the Parry (after all modifiers), then you worry about armor.

It's not like you can wait until you've already been hit before deciding to move out of the way or block.

"Ouch! That one went right past my armor and I'm bleeding! Guess I better move out of the way before it hits me..."

[Veknironth]

Well, for the theif, just go on your first impulse everytime. Don't think things through at all. Just go with what seems immediately useful. It'll make him seem somewhat childlike, but it'll effectively curb your deductive tendencies.

-Vek
"It's called Id driven behavior."

[Vidynn]

by parrying and dodging being seperate rolls I meant GM rolls 15, gets past AR, does GM have to roll a seperate roll if PC decides he wants to parry or dodge, or the PC has to get over the orignal 15 to parry or dodge?

the original. also note that parry and dodge are seperate rolls with different consequences: while dodge uses up a melee attack/action, parry does not (the number of parries is still limited by the number of attacks, but they "come for free" if the character has HtH-training of any sorts).

cheers, V

[Reagren Wright]

I use to wonder about the IQ thing as well. Then I noted in the 1st
Land of the Da*** Book-Chaos Earth, in the section of rolling up
a creature/monster, that they showed penalties for various combat rolls and skills like ME, PP, SPD, and PE. However, it doesn't mention anything
about penalties for low IQ. So I'm assuming as long as their isn't a IQ
requirement for the PC, there are none. Now in Role Play you can make the PC as goofy and silly as you want, but that shouldn't mean he knows how to pick a lock or prowl correctly. Maybe he can't read the sign that says "Don't open this box," or knows how much gold was in the purse he stole, but at least he can perform the skill.

[Tinker Dragoon]

So your gonna play a retard thief with psionics that likes to run around bear-hugging people and smacking them with blackjacks huh? Sounds like fun, good luck with that.

no, the bear hug question was because I attacked a party with a brown bear, and the bear hug did considerable damage. the blackjack is for another character I'll be running of a Master Collector.

6. Is there any difference between one character having a Lore of something with 25% and another with it at 75%? and what is the consequence of a failed roll?

The skill percentage can be considered the breadth and detail of the character's knowledge. For example, with a low percentage in Demon & Monster Lore the character may only be familiar with the monsters common to his native land. At high levels he would be familiar with many of the monsters of the world. A failed roll means you either can't figure out the particular subject (not enough information to go on, never heard of the particular creature or condition, etc.), or at GM's discretion you come entirely to the wrong conclusions about it ("Hmm, fangs, unholy strength, drinks blood, this is obviously none other than a mummy! Quickly! Bring fire, and lots of it!).

[Veknironth]

Well, I agree with Tinker. A failed roll means you either never heard of the information, can't remember it, or you remember it incorrectly. GM's discretion as to which it is.

-Vek
"IT's always wise to bring fire."

[Borast]

A blackjack / sap is a small blunt weapon, typically 4-6 inches in length...well, the striking portion anyway, then there is the handle... It is a highly efficient weapon designed to knock-out a human being without causing permanent damage.

To the best of my knowledge, a typical blackjack / sap can essentially be described as a small leather bag wrapped in a layer of leather strapping filled with small lead pellets. The pellets give it the weight to produce the concussion necessary to produce unconciousness, and the padding of the leather prevents a skull fracture. Essentially, "a sock full of sand" as one person described it. However, it would be very ill advised to make your own... I know that one "popular" variant (a pool ball in a sock) is classified as a restricted weapon here in Canada...not that I'm saying you're asking so as to be able to make one for yourself!

As to the police truncheon...they have never called their nightsticks blackjacks / saps - unless they are using a blackjack / sap, which is a different weapon altogether.

IQ:5 Thief...
This is called a 3 year old child. If you are going to play this character, spend some time with (very) young children to give you an idea of how this person would act. Additionally, I would personally drop all secondary skills, and halve all Related skills, and drop the bonuses altogether (after halving the bonuses for OCC skills). Finally, reduce and slow-down the accumulation of new skills to reflect the character's inability to learn "properly" (ie: attention span? What...ooh, what a pretty flow...yuk! That tastes terri...ooohhh, my favourite TV sh... - you get the idea )...ie: -1 skill (minimum 1) and earned 1 level later

As for the psi question...Evil Eye: Paralysis. One he stops moving, then you can "mute" (gag) and "blind" (blindfold) him... Or, just use the sap to do a "coup de gras" on him for an auto KO (assuming you don't just kill him).

[Veknironth]

Well, I say no. You don't gain PPE as a fighter OCC. ISP you don't gain either, until you rise to the same level in the new OCC. Psionics would then be gained as a major psionicist, not as a Mind Mage.

As for the weapons, by the rules yes. There is nothing in the rules that differentiates between weapons. You could parry a mace and chain with a sword, or a whip even. However, I suggest that the GM step in and assign some negatives or outright say no.

-Vek
"IT's the same with parrying weapons of Giants."

[Tinker Dragoon]

9. when getting climb/scale walls, do you get rappelling with it also, is that a different skill, and only comes with clim/scale walls when Gymnastics or Acrobatics is chosen?

10. I was looking for an axe that was a 2-handed weapon, very large, around 4ft long and double bladed, but there doesn't seem to be one in the Weapons List. would it just be a Bi-Pennis with an extra die of damage?

9: Rappelling is included.

10: Sounds good to me.

[Veknironth]

Well, for the axe, you might want to consult the Compendium of Weapons and Armor. One of the books Palladium actually published.

-Vek
"Sorry, PB, I had to take the shot or the guys would think I'm just here to promote the products."

[drewkitty ~..~]

1) Three things at the same time will cost 30ISP, but its one attack thus one save.


2) ......in Jail

3)A bear Hug is a crushing/suficating attack and looks like a 'hug', a black Jack is a thug weapon used mostly to help to KO or mug someone.

5) yes you can Parry/dodge a Crit hit.... and you can roll with a crit hit. but both the dodge and roll wih will eat an APM.

6) If the char roll very high on their lore roll they might 'think' they know what they are talking about while being wronge. Taking the 25% level ....if he rolls a 82% or higher they would think this. while the one with 75% it would be about it would be 94% or above. This is in the realm of GM discression, so what ever you decide is right (if your the GM of the game). and with a skill roll of 00% (100%) is a fumble or crit fail.

7) No, when you change to a new OCC the char's PPE and ISP are frozen along with their skills for their former OCC.

under the rules technicly yes, however, for the bear claw it would ignore the dagger parry. As for the claymore, it can be parried to the side. Moving the path of the sword to have it miss you.

9)Rappelling is a sub skill of climbing much like sence of balance is a sub-skill of Gymnastics and acrobatics.

[J. Lionheart]

1. the psionic power Evil Eye. when the power is used, can you select all of the affect, and only cost 10, but the opponant has to save vs each affect. or can you only use 1 area at a time.
Example: I want to blind a guard, cause pain, but mute him so he doesn't scream out and alert others. would it cost 30 ISP, or 10 ISP, and would he save vs psionics 3 times, or 1 time for the combination, or does the whole thing use up 3 psionic attacks?

Each effect is used seperately, 10 ISP each attempt. They cannot be used simultaneously either, with each effect being an attack. Note that unless you are a Master Psionic who gets every psi power, you might not even get all the effects, each one is a different ability. This is demonstrated in several psionic NPCs that are described in various books who only have a few specific evil eye powers, not all of them. The result of all this is that your victim gets a save versus each attack, and it would take 3 attacks (30 ISP) to do that.

2. how would you play a character thief with an IQ of 5. I'm thinking of playing him as almost retarded, but is that not giving him enough credit?

Well, if we were to use the IQx10 formula he would be a near-vegetable. The line in many states to be considered legally retarded is 70, a score of 7. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangenesses includes negative modifiers for low intelligence. I would play such a character as absolutely gullible, and minimally self-motivated, pretty much needing another person leading him and telling him what to do. It could be anybody, as I don't think this character would notice.

3. what exactly is a bear hug attack, and what is a blackjack used for?

Bearhug you squeeze the person with all your strength, hugging them to your chest and wrapping your arms around them. Keeps them from moving around much and causes breathlessness. A blackjack is a short and heavy club like object, very effective at knocking people unconscious with a single swift blow to the back of the head.

4. How big of an item can you pick pocket from an unsuspecting victim? I realize you can't take his armor, but could you pull his sword out of the shealth, or a dagger from his ankle. the entire purse, his helm in which to smack him?

No larger than fits in the palm of your hand, that's our rule. If you want to get those big objects you may have a bonus to grab them, but the victim is sure as heck going to notice (keep in mind the remarkable shift in weight those items represent, beyond the obvious issues of size, visibility, and sound)

5. can you parry or dodge a critical hit against your character? and a parry and dodge rolls are a seperate roll from the strike roll, correct?

If the critical hit is a natural 20, you can only parry or dodge by rolling another natural 20. If the critical hit is lower than a natural 20 (IE, a character gets critical on 18-20 or something) then all you have to do is beat it with your parry/dodge roll, all bonuses included. You can either parry or dodge any given attack, not both. Unless you have auto-dodge, dodging will take an attack successful or not. Anybody with hand to hand ability has an auto-parry (no attack used), it's just that some attacks can't be parried.

6. Is there any difference between one character having a Lore of something with 25% and another with it at 75%? and what is the consequence of a failed roll?

Yes, huge difference. A roll on a lore skill is the chance that you happen to know something about your specific subject. If you only have a 25% skill, you only have one third the chance of a person with 75% skill to know anything about a given item. It also can be used as an indicator of the amount of knowledge one has about something on a successful role... a person with 25% skill who successfully recognizes a Zavor might know they're only vulnerable to iron and wood, and that magic makes them split, while a person who has 75% skill and successfully identifies a Zavor might know that stuff, as well as feeding habits, communal tendancies, environmental ranges, and ways to avoid pissing them off. If you use critical failures in your group, a person badly failing their role might mistake their subject for something different and come up with information that's harmful to the party.

7. If you are a magic user, and/or psionic, and you switch OCCs to a man of arms, do you still recieve PPE and/or ISP?

We play it as follows: Once you have attained the same level in the new OCC as in the previous magic/psionic OCC, you will begin to gain PPE or ISP again. For example, if you were a level 4 wizard, and became a ranger, you would not begin gaining PPE again until you hit 5th level as a ranger. At that point you would begin gaining PPE at the lowest possible per-level rate, perhaps 1D6/level. For Psionic classes it works the same way, but ISP gain continues at 50% of the previous rate, because psionics are innate, not studied, but the character is devoting less time to expanding his mind.

8. can a claymore/bear claw/something that big be parried with a small weapon such as a dagger or knife?

Certainly not a claymore, those take two hands to wield. Anything one handed though, regardless of size, can be paired with a small weapon like a knife. A one handed battle-axe for example could be used with a knife. The weapons section includes an indication of one or two handedness.

9. when getting climb/scale walls, do you get rappelling with it also, is that a different skill, and only comes with clim/scale walls when Gymnastics or Acrobatics is chosen?

Included in Climb/Scale walls, the second skill number. Gymnastics or Acrobatics are not required.

10. I was looking for an axe that was a 2-handed weapon, very large, around 4ft long and double bladed, but there doesn't seem to be one in the Weapons List. would it just be a Bi-Pennis with an extra die of damage?

Like one of those big ol' bearded suckers? If you don't have the compendium of weapons, I'd say the Bipennis solution is best, but keep in mind the parry negative that is inherent to something like that (they suck for parrying, and the second you lose momentum while wielding a 2 handed axe in a close fight, you are completely screwed).

11. The 12th lvl spell Summon Enity. I know it's ritual magic and therefore takes anywhere from 25-1hr15min to cast. is this a circle, or does it just require the expended PPE and 25-75 minutes of chanting? the listed enities that can be summoned seemed to be limited to "supernatural creatures", does that mean anything with supernatural strength?

This requires a circle. Though I won't swear to it at the moment, I believe all wizard ritual magic requires a circle. Check with your GM for their definition of Supernatural, it changes from group to group (players can gain supernatural strength through certain means, for example, without being "supernatural beings").

[drewkitty ~..~]

Bear hug damage can be found under the attack called "Cursh/Squeeze". This can be found in the AtB2 book on page 144 right collum.

[Borast]

If you classify fighting as "using a skill, successful or not" - Yes 10 - 25 XP (?)

Otherwise, no.

[Veknironth]

Well, I say that the ISP is only gained from level progression. There is no introductory bonus. That comes the maturation of the character that happened to take place while he or she was pursing the original OCC. I might even go so far as to say no ISP is gained until the character reaches the new level to prevent a player from trying to build up cheap ISP. So if you switch at level 3, you won't gain any more until you gain level 4 in one of the 2 OCC's.

Now, during that fight it counts as subduing a menace. You were engages in combat and you won the fight. You don't always have to kill the person. I might give them an extra 50 for avoiding unecesary violence and not killing the other guy while he was out.

-Vek
"I drove a Ford EXP but gained no levels."