Enchanted Items and Uses/Session

[Alymon]

If a wizard has an enchanted item that gives them armor but is only 1 use per session, does that mean it only works against 1 attack or does it last for the whole scene? 

[wyvern]

It works like an evocation defense - if it's armor, it lasts for one exchange; if it's a block it lasts for one exchange or until it's breached by an attack, whichever comes first.  Or, of course, the duration can be extended if some of the effect's power is spent on duration - though a block would still go down upon being breached, regardless of how much remaining duration it's got.

As per the flexibility that lets you choose between armor and defense on a per-use basis, I would also allow power to be shifted into duration on a per use basis - but this may be a house rule; discuss with your GM and gaming group as needed.

I would also allow a wizard to use the rules for bolstering an existing spell to extend the duration of an enchanted item's effect.  This is probably also a house rule, though.

[Alymon]

So if the wizard had a Lore of 4...

Why would they choose an Armor: 2 ability on an enchanted item over a Block: 4 ability if it's only for one exchange?

[wyvern]

Well, suppose they just rolled a defense total of four, but the attacker got a five?  Armor reduces stress by two, while a block does nothing.

Or suppose they're being attacked by four guys; the block might be better for this hit, but it'll go down if anyone beats it; armor might be a better choice across the whole exchange.

Of course, there are also situations (like, say, you were ambushed and got a defense total of -2) where the block 4 is clearly superior.  Which is why it's useful to have the choice.

[Alymon]

Gotcha.

So you don't necessarily have to specify whether it will be used as a block or as armor before hand, it can be used for either then?

[wyvern]

Correct; you specify block or armor at the time you activate the item.  (Footnote: I remember reading this in the rules somewhere, but I can't seem to find it right now.  Annoying, that.  Anybody happen to know where that is?  Edit: still not sure where - or if - it's in the actual rulebook, but there's a thread started by the game designers that mentions this capability.)

[Wyrdrune]

and don't forget that the character can spend more slots for more uses, and even if they are used up he or she can have the item activated by spending one mental stress.

[Belial666]

If you have an item that already has 2-3 uses for 1 slot, it is better to craft a second identical item in another slot rather than spend a slot to get extra use for the existing item.

That's what Harry did by crafting several rings of three uses each. One ring takes up 1 slot; for nine uses he needs three slots. Otheriwise, for 9 uses of the same power in the same item, not only would he need seven slots but the item itself would have to be as big as his rod.

[Wyrdrune]

what he said.

if the item has only one use, then another slot is the better option as an additional slot grants 2 additional uses...

[Craftzero]

Well, suppose they just rolled a defense total of four, but the attacker got a five?  Armor reduces stress by two, while a block does nothing.

Or suppose they're being attacked by four guys; the block might be better for this hit, but it'll go down if anyone beats it; armor might be a better choice across the whole exchange.

Of course, there are also situations (like, say, you were ambushed and got a defense total of -2) where the block 4 is clearly superior.  Which is why it's useful to have the choice.

Damn, I just don't get this.  I understand that clearly, armor does reduce the damage of an attack.  But does a magic block reduce the damage of an attack at all if the to-hit exceeds the block strength..?  Can someone post a couple of examples..?

[wyvern]

A block fills the same role as a defense roll.
In other words: if attack value less then either defense or block, the attack misses.
If attack value is greater than both, then it's a hit, with stress equal to: attack roll plus weapon rating, minus (greater of defense roll or block) minus armor.

So, let's suppose you've got a four shift defensive item available (that's block 4 or armor 2), and further suppose that your defense roll in this case wound up as +3.  (And further supposing that you have no other source of blocks or armor.)

If someone attacking you gets:
+2 or less: they miss.
+3: if you activate that defensive item as a block, they miss.  Otherwise, they hit, inflicting a stress value equal to the weapon rating of whatever they're using (minus two if you activate your defensive item as armor).  (Note that this means that someone using a weapon zero attack connects - but does not inflict stress.  And you'd get similar results from up to weapon two attacks if you use your defensive item as armor.)
+4 or higher: they hit, inflicting stress equal to weapon rating plus attack total minus three for your defense.  That goes to minus four if you activate your defensive item as a block, since that replaces your defense roll.  Or it goes to minus five if you activate your defensive item as armor.


Let's consider a second, alternative scenario: As above, except that base defense roll you got came out as a -1.

If your attacker gets:
-2 or less: they miss.
-1 to +3: If you activate your defensive item as a block, they miss.  Otherwise, they hit, inflicting stress equal to weapon rating plus attack total plus one (for your defense of minus one).  You can, of course, also activate your defensive item as armor, reducing the stress from that hit by two.
+4 or higher: They hit, inflicting stress equal to weapon rating plus attack total, either plus one (if you don't use your defensive item), or minus one (if you use your defensive item as armor), or minus four (if you do use that defensive item as a block).

Does this make sense now?

[Becq]

Damn, I just don't get this.  I understand that clearly, armor does reduce the damage of an attack.  But does a magic block reduce the damage of an attack at all if the to-hit exceeds the block strength..?  Can someone post a couple of examples..?

In the off-chance that the above explanation didn't help, here's my attempt:

A block can take the place of a defense result, and therefore reduces the effectiveness of an attack, even if the attack roll beat it (though if the attack won, then the block is removed for any future attacks).  But the important bit here is that you still get to make a defense roll anyway, and you get to use whichever was higher, either your defense or the block.  The magic armor rules allow you to choose block or defense. whichever helps you more after the dice hit the table.  This means that if you get a horrible roll, you can use the item's block instead of your defense roll.  (This could be very significant if your skill is low and you roll very poorly.)  If, on the other hand, you get a good defense roll (at least as high as the item's block value) but the attack still hits, then the block rating can't help you, but you can use the item for armor, instead, and reduce the damage you take further.

Two extreme examples (in both cases the defender has a Harry-style Duster with 4 shifts of defense):

1) The attacker punches, and gets a +3 on his attack; the defender rolls a total of -3.  Ouch!  The defender would take a 6 stress hit ... except that he crosses of a Duster use and declares that he is using it as block 4.  Now the attack fails and the defender takes NO damage.  (If he'd used armor 2 he'd still have been hit with 4 stress.)  Not only that, but he still has block 4 for the rest of the exchange, or until somebody hits him despite the block.

2) The attacker punches, and gets a +7 on his attack; the defender rolls a total of +4.  Ow.  The defender would take a 3 stress hit ... except that he crosses of a Duster use and declares that he is using it as armor 2.  Now the attack hits but inflicts only 1 stress.  (If he'd used block 4 it would have had no impact.)  Not only that, but he still has armor 2 for the rest of the exchange, so if another attacker hits him this exchange, he's still protected.

Does this help, Craftzero?