After the Bomb 2nd Edition FAQ

[NMI]

Question: Can AtB,s Mutant Animals and Mutant humans take a O.C.C?
Answer: Yes, but not in addition to their ATB2 character education.

Question: 1) In ATB2, pg 61 says Psionics get a 10 or higher save vs. animal psionics. But pg147, says 12 or higher. Which is correct?
2) Bio-Manipulation requires concentration to maintain. Does that mean he cannot do any other attacks or does he simply lose one attack per round?
3) A simple Mind Trap uses one attack per round. Can the rest of your attacks be used to beat up the subject without his being able to defend himself?
Answer: 1) 10 or higher
2) It means each Bio-Manipulation use counts as one attack and the character cannot use any other psionic powers while using Bio-Manipulation.
3) Yes

Question: 1) Badger has 2D4 Digging Claws for 5 B IO-E. It also lists Digging Claws without any damage as 10 BIO-E in it's powers section. I'm assuming the natural weapon is right and the powers version is a mistake.
2) Do bats get the same penalty for hands on wings as birds? I would assume so.
3) Do you have to have Digging Claws to get Digging, Tunneling or Excavation? It doesn't look like it.
Answer: 1) The second entry appears to be a misprint; not only does it not include damage, it's in the wrong section. Go with the listing under Natural Weapons.
2) The book doesn't say, but common sense would say yes. Their selection of human features and animal powers include flight and extra limbs just like birds, and their hands are on their wings by default, just like birds (which is funny because the bird section mentions the placement of the hands as being like a bat).
3) Nope. Digging claws are helpful in digging (allowing one to physically attack tree roots, rocks, building foundations, etc., with one's bare hands), but not specifically required.

Question: 1) After reading the ATB book, I assumed a combat would go as follows:
Character A has 4 attacks/round. Character B has 4 attacks/round.
A wins initiative.
A fires bow at B.
B dodges.
Both now have 3 attacks/round left.
I assumed B then gets to act.
But the Rifts combat example disagrees with this explaination. It says B used his action so it goes back to A for combat. Is this how combat is intended for ATB as well?
2) About aimed shots, the ATB book says "the act of carefully aiming takes a bit of extra time but provides greater accuracy and still counts as one melee attack per aimed shot." I read this as an aimed shot takes one action just like a wild shot. Again the Rifts combat example says an aimed shot takes two actions. Is this the intention of ATB as well?
Answer: 1) First, a tip that will seriously help with all Palladium rule problems: Despite the claims of a "Megaversal system," the rules do vary between different games. Rules from Rifts do not apply in ATB unless the GM wishes to use them, although prior to RUE, the ATB2 combat rules were fairly close to those in Rifts in 2001. Now of course, as the newer book, one can consider RUE to be the new standard for all Palladium games, but that's entirely up to the individual GM.
However, the Rifts example is how combat in Palladium is intended, if B dodges, A gets to attack again.
2) No, Aimed shots in ATB still only cost one attack.

Question: 1) If I have a Mole with PS 7 and use BIO-E to get Brute Strength, what does that do? Just increase carry/lift? Increase PS to 17?
2) If I have a Mole with PS 20 and use BIO-E to get Beastly Strength, do I have to pay full BIO-E cost or just the difference from Brute to Beastly since the high strength automatically give Brute Strenght?
Answer: 1) All of the strength powers in ATB2 increase one's weight capacity (and base unarmed damage in the case of Crushing strength), but don't change one's actual P.S. score. Brute strength merely happens to be possessed automatically by anyone with a P.S. of 17 or greater.
2) Unfortunately not. Having a power by default (whether it be strength level, natural weapons, leaping, etc.) doesn't give you a discount on upgrades.

Question: 1) Based on the fact that Kick attack is learned skill of HtH: Basic, Expert and Assassin and automatic for HtH: Martial Arts, does kicks do the same damage as punches normall? (I'm assuming people can kick even without the Kick attack,)
2) What is the damage for a Kick attack? Basic, Expert, and Assassin say their Kick attack is 1D6. Martial Arts says 1D8. Basic damage table (p 145) says 2D4 or 1D8.
3) How about a Karate-style kick? Marial Arts says 1D8 or 2D4 at 3rd level. Basic damage table says 2D6.
4) Should that be Karate-style punch at 3rd level Martial Arts instead (or also)? When do you get the Karate kick if it is suppose to be a punch?
Answer: 1) No, you use the untrained kick damage, unless (as in the case of the version used in HTH skills), it specifies another damage.
2) Untrained characters (i.e. those without the level advancement bonus from a hand to hand skill) do 1D4, otherwise you've answered your own question, it does the damage listed in the HTH skill description.
3) Use the 2D6 damage.
4) It should be Karate Punch. Also give the character a Karate Kick that does 2D6 damage.

Question: 1) I started creating a character with a feral background. One of the starting skills, Hunting, isn't described in the list of skills. What are the rules for Hunting or should it be eliminate/replaced with something else?
2) In the Gun Bunnies & Zombies adventure, Brother Bill has the Psionic power of Bio-Regeneration. There is no description of this power. What does the power do? How much BIO-E does it cost or is it not available to players?
3) In the Gun Bunnies & Zombies adventure, the Benny Area description has a reference to a map "(indicated by shading on the map)." Should there be a map or should the comment be removed?
(Yes I do have Rifts. So I could find the rules for Hunting and Bio-Regeneration but not BIO-E cost. Althought I wonder if Bio-Regeneration should have additional limitations since animal psionics don't require ISP. The same map text is found in the original ATB without the map.)
Answer: 1) (By Erick Wujcik) For the "Feral" characters it should be 'Trapping' instead of Hunting.
2) (By Erick Wujcik) This is not something that should be available to player characters.
In the case of Brother Bill, assume that the Bio-Regeneration is roughly the equivalent of the version in Healing Psionics found in other Palladium games, and that the character can restore 2D6 Hit Points or 3D6 S.D.C., up to once per hour. Each time it is used it takes eight melee rounds.
3) (By Erick Wujcik) I don't have a copy of the original 'After the Bomb' book here in Shanghai, but I seem to recall that there was a simple map.

Question: 1) In the equipment section of ATB pg 153, it list Spider Silk Armor as "lightweight". Does that have a game effect?
2) What is the weight for armors? How is it affected by the creature's size level?
Answer: 1) Normally, yes. It would indicate that the encumbrance penalties for the armor are lower than conventional armors with the same AR and SDC. However, ATB2 doesn't appear to include the standard armor rules. See PF2, p. 270.
2) Weights for most of the armor types listed (at standard human size) can be found on page 270 of PF2 or page 342 of HU2.
As to the weight of Spider Silk armor, and the effects of size level on armor weight, I can find no concrete answers at this time; further research is required.

Question: Raised on the Frontier also has the Hunting skill but that background already has the Trapping skill. Should the skill be eliminated, replaced with something else or left as is? If left as is what are the rules for Hunting?
Answer: Here is the missing skill:
Hunting: The skill of killing and preparing an animal for food. Special Bonuses: Add the following bonuses to the appropriate
skills:
+5% to Cook (but only applies to freshly caught and killed game)
+2% to Prowl
+5% to Track Animals
+5% to Skin Animals
+5% to Wilderness Survival

Question: In ATB2 a Domestic & Frontier Skill may be taken as a secodary skill in order to attain professional quality and get a one-time bonus of 10%. Does that mean any of those skills taken as a primary skill also get a 10% bonus?
Answer: ccording to page 43 of ATB2, all Domestic skills taken as Primary skills are automatically at the professional level. Normally (i.e. in other Palladium game lines), professional Domestic skills have a +10% bonus by definition. The wording used on the cited page could be interpreted as requiring the actual expenditure of an additional skill to attain that bonus, even though the skill is already at the professional level, but that seems a tad screwed up to me.
In addition, the Primary skills provided by the Artisan apprenticeship include several skills which are stated to be at the professional level and automatically have a +10% bonus, at no cost. Taken together, I'd have to go with the +10% bonus being standard on Primary Domestic skills.

Question: I have a few questions regarding Mind Trap:
#1) According to the book, there no way to break out of Mind Trap until the psionic initiating the attack drops it. Doesn't this seem a bit broke?
Even saving only allows you to realize that you are under the influence of an illusion, but leaves the victim no way to protect themselves from physical attacks.
And, unlike Bio-Manipulation Paralasys, the psionic can still take actions while maintaining a "simple" mind trap such as walking up and restraining the victim, injecting the victim with a sedative, or even shooting the victim in the head (instant death).
#2) a] How detailed can you make the Mind Trap illusion?
b] Say I have a character mind trap a guard at the front of a secure area. Could the character use mind trap to have the guard think he received a phone call telling him to allow my character through the gates?
c] Could I use the mind trap to send a preprogrammed conversation with the victim covertly?
d] Say a spy escapes with information, can he then mind trap their contact to pass along the information?
#3) If a character places their victim in an mind trap where they are in a room with the walls closing in to crush them, or otherwise make them beleive they have been killed does the victim fall unconsious, remain trapped, or what?
The book says that there is a chance that the victim will go temporarily insane, but what is the immediate effect to the mind trap?
#4) If the victim of the mind trap takes damage, should the mind trap be broken?
#5) Should you allow the vicitm of a mind trap (one who is aware that they have been mind trapped) be allowed a bonus to save once they have been released if the Mind Trapper tries to trap them again?
Answer: 1)
Actually, if the psychic initiating the Mind Trap is knocked unconcsious, it also breaks the Mind Trap.
2 (by Erick Wujcik) a] As detailed as the character can imagine... there's no limit.
b] It would be possible for the guard to experience the Mind Trap, in the mind trap receive the phone call authorizing the action, BE RELEASED FROM THE MIND TRAP, and then let the character through the gates.
However, the guard would have to fail to save against the Mind Trap, and then fail to save again to disbelieve. Also, since the time difference is so great (1 minute to 1 hour), the guard (depending on I.Q.) might notice a gap in time (say the clock was at 7:00 pm at the beginning of the Mind Trap, and the call took a few minutes, moving the clock in the Mind Trap to 7:05 pm... the guard might notice that the clock was back to 7:00 or 7:01 at the end of the Mind Trap).
Basically, though, assuming the victim doesn't notice, this is a good idea.
c] There can't be anything 'preprogrammed' about a Mind Trap. The character performing the Mind Trap has to interact with the victim's mind.
d] Sure, someone performing a Mind Trap could create a scenario where the victim hears, or even sees, any message.
3 (by Erick Wujcik) Depends on the M.E. of the victim. Generally, anyone with a normal (8 or better M.E.) will realize they aren't really dying, and will simply realize that it's an illusion... Either way, the Mind Trap remains until it runs out, or the Mind Trapper turns it of.
4 (by Erick Wujcik) No. It's possible that the victim would believe the damage was real, and would suffer the (imaginary) pain, or that the victim might come to realize it's an illusion; in neither case would the Mind Trap fail, or the victim escape.
5) No.
Erick Wujcik notes:
The victim of the Mind Trap can't do anything. They are effectively frozen and unable to interact with the outside world. If they are hurt in the outside world, they might feel the pain, but they wouldn't be able to do anything about it, or leave the Mind Trap... but mysterious pain coming from nowhere would definitely give them a chance to save against believing in the Mind Trap.
Don't forget the time difference. One minute in the outside world works out to one hour inside the Mind Trap.