Questions from first few play sessions

[Ihadris]

Hi guys,

This a set of more general questions, I dont mean to flood the board but I felt that there were enough might questions to justify its own topic.

-Is intimidation the only social attack skill?

-Im concerned about over use of Atheltics for characters/npcs with atheltics as an apex skill and/or supernatural speed. Obviously they have paid the points for this but I found it being used for manuevers both against the character themselves and opponents; defence against manuevers and defence against physical attacks. What are your views?

-Related to the above, I feel perhaps my maps are not big enough or my zones are too big. Characters with superspeed couldnt take advantage of their ability to put distance between themsevles and an attacker as there were so few zones/ the zones were so big that it was easily matched by who they were trying to get away from.

-Is it possible for an enemy that has not yet been seen by a character to use stealth and gain bonuses from the abush trapping when physical combat has already started?

-If a grappled opponent has incite emotion [touch] can they use it without having to break free of the grapple since they are already touching/being touched by the opponent?

-What is the max limit for stress tracks? One of my players took hulking size, supernatural toughness and has a high endurance so his physical stress track is ridiculous.  In addition to claws and supernatural strength it is very difficult to affect him even slightly in physical combat.

Thanks again
Ihadris

[CMEast]

- Athletics.
Yeah it's pretty awesome. All you can do is create conflicts where dodging isn't an option if it's a problem in your game. Affects that fill the whole zone, manouevres and consequences that slow them down etc.

- Superspeed and zones.
Sometimes you can't escape from a conflict, no matter how fast you are. If they can escape, rule that there are additional zones for their attackers to cross perhaps? Superspeed has a lot of bonuses aside from crossing zones so as long as they still benefit from those during the conflict it isn't a wasted skill.

- Ambush rules.
I'd personally rule that it is possible to ambush someone at any time, including combat, as long as they aren't aware of the ambusher and they aren't expecting to be attacked from that direction. It'd be dependent on the characters and conflict involved though, the on-going conflict could be a serious distraction, or it could mean that the target has heightened senses, aware of danger from any direction.

- On incite emotion during a grapple.
YS211 - 'When you successfully grapple a target, you establish a block against all actions he might take in the exchange. The target is also prohibited from sprinting (page 212) or supplemental movement (page 213) until the grapple is broken.'
Inciting emotion is a manoeuvre with a +2 to the roll as long as you're in the same zone and physically touch them. Assume the grapple involves pinning the person in such a way that their hands are trapped (and in the case of incite at range, they can't see the grappler... though it doesn't actually state sight is involved).

- Physical stress
I'm not aware of a limit on stress tracks, I assume that with such a large physical track he has a small mental and social track? It might not be easy but perhaps he could be blocked or grappled in a physical conflict.

Hope this helps

[luminos]

1.)  NO!  Intimidation is not the only social attack skill.  Both Rapport (Chit-Chat) and Deceit (Cat & Mouse, Falsehood & Deception) can be used as a social attack.  Stunts might allow other social skills to be used in an attack as well.

2.) Athletics is the catchall physical defense, so only in very specific circumstances would it not be able to be used as a defense in physical conflicts.  If it is getting too much use, don't let the players use it to place maneuvers.

3.) If it is a problem, make more/smaller zones.  That being said, the speed powers should be able to easily outpace characters without them (unless there is a big gap in the character's athletics).

4.) Ambushed during combat: I'd say yes.

5.) Incite emotion during grapple: Rules would say no, story would say yes.  So I will go with story and say yes.

6.) Given the available powers, I'd say the max limit on physical stress track is 12 (4 for endurance, two hulking size, six Mythic Toughness).  Trust me, one powerful evocator that knows that guys catch for the toughness powers will blow him away in a few shots.

[CMEast]

For incite emotion, I think I'd try to stick to the rules unless there is no way that they could grapple without skin to skin contact. After all, taking action in this game is a story too where a 5 power fire spell can be a ball of flame, columns or walls of fire, spontaneous ignition, fiery darts, waves of heat, removal of heat, superheated air, heating up held objects, attacks from animated fire creatures (phoenixes, dragons) and so forth.

In the same way, a grapple isn't just jumping on top of someone.

[Deadmanwalking]

1. As others have said, Rapport and Deceit can both be used as well, though the Aspects and Consequences they place will be very different.

2. No, it's supposed to be that useful. It can't be used to attack, but that's one of the very few things it can't be used for.

3. Well, bear in mind the -1 penalty any pursuer would need to take to follow them (due to it being a supplemental action), people can keep up with someone with Inhuman Speed...just not without effort.

4. Yeah, sure. Though each Aspect placed on the victim will still take a round as per other Maneuvers.

5. I'd go with both yes and no. No, you can't ignore the block...but yes, it's an applicable action to use to try and break the block. And since it's at Deceit +2 it's one of the actions you're likely to have that's most likely to do so.

6. What luminos said...but also bear in mind the guy's Catch. If it's +2 or higher it should actually come up decently often...and if it's less than that, well, he's put a heck of a lot of points into being that tough. Let him enjoy it.