Some quick questions

[Ernesto Pavan]

We just played our first session and I got some questions noted down:

1) When you take harm, do wounds "stack"? In other words, can you die after 7 1-harm wounds, or they are written down as seven "individual" small wound?
2) One of the players advanced (in the first session! yai!) and wanted to choose a move from the Monstrous playbook. I said "No, those are supernatural, intrinstic powers, you can't have them"; did I do it right?

I probably had another question or two, but I forgot them XD

[Mike Sands]

The answer to number 1 is that I've moved away from that harm model for the final draft. Instead, a more traditional damage track is back in the game. Seven boxes, unstable is marked when you take 4-harm and any harm after 7 will kill the hunter.

(I should have a new draft up early next week with this in it, but that should do for now).

Shorter version, yes they stack.

For number 2, it's a judgement call. I'd ask "how do you learn to do that?" If there's a good answer, I'd allow it. It depends what they are, too. A Mundane taking a supernatural move from the Monstrous book is one thing, but for a Spooky it might be perfectly natural.

[Ernesto Pavan]

Got it! Thanks! May I ask you the reason for your choice about harm? I was fascinated by the previous system.

 Another thing I noticed by re-reading the combat sample (p.102):

Mary: “ARRRRGH!” I drop the rifle as I fly back and scramble for my sawn-off. BLAM! Both barrels, sucker!
Alan: Okay, roll kick ass. It's trying to get with the biting on you, but it's going for inside your elbow rather than your neck. The arm that isn't holding the shotgun.
Mary: [rolls] Ha ha! Eleven! I shoot it in the gut, so it goes flying back! Four harm!
Alan: [notes down 3-harm from shotgun blast for the vampire: its so tough it counts as having 1-armour]. Yep, the vampire is blasted back, catches itself on like a covered table or something, then gets back up.

Since Mary's character kicked some ass, isn't s/he supposed to trade harm with the vampire? Also, at the top of the same page (and the bottom of the previous one):

Chris: Right, [rolls the dice] that's a... five. Crap.
Alan: Did you remember +1 for reading the situation just then? You're acting on what you saw.
Chris: Yeah, five is with the bonus.

Alan's question is unnecessary: even if Chris forgot the +1, he would have rolled a 6, which is still a failure.

P.S. I just got a new version of v5 beta in Dropbox; I gave it a quick reading and couldn't find any changes. Did I miss something?

[Ernesto Pavan]

Also, since I'm stupid, I forgot a question:

3) We have a Summoned in our group. The player described it as pretty close in appearance to the drawing on the playbook, 4 arms included. He seems to believe he should have some mechanical advantage with those; he never had an occasion to actually use them (no combat so far), but still, it would seem a bit of an unfair advantage to me. OTOH, if it happens in the fiction... I thought about making a custom move about it (since he advanced just before the end of the session); would that be right? If so, any suggesion? XD

[Mike Sands]

Yes, a custom move would be the way to go. I'm not sure what two extra arms would really be useful for, in terms of the existing moves. It's probably best to ask what sort of advantage he wants, and building the move around that.

If he wants to use it to wield multiple weapons (i.e. as a combat advantage), I think you could just say that the extra weapons give him +1 harm, or +1 on kick ass.

[Jeremy]

Hi Mike,

I haven't played yet, but like Ernesto I'm curious: Why the switch from tracking individual wounds to a more traditional harm track?  I'm assuming there was playtest feedback that led to this; if so, what was that feedback?

Thanks,

-Jeremy

[Mike Sands]

People want to write down when they take damage, basically.

I had that pointed out to me, and after thinking a bit about the way it was working, I decided that the gains from having the Keeper track it all and have injuries be more fiction-first did not outweigh the losses in other places.

[Daniele Di Rubbo]

Another thing I noticed by re-reading the combat sample (p.102):

Mary: “ARRRRGH!” I drop the rifle as I fly back and scramble for my sawn-off. BLAM! Both barrels, sucker!
Alan: Okay, roll kick ass. It's trying to get with the biting on you, but it's going for inside your elbow rather than your neck. The arm that isn't holding the shotgun.
Mary: [rolls] Ha ha! Eleven! I shoot it in the gut, so it goes flying back! Four harm!
Alan: [notes down 3-harm from shotgun blast for the vampire: its so tough it counts as having 1-armour]. Yep, the vampire is blasted back, catches itself on like a covered table or something, then gets back up.

Since Mary's character kicked some ass, isn't s/he supposed to trade harm with the vampire? […]

Now (final version) it’s p. 141-2, but me and my fellow players are asking ourselves the same thing.

[Mike Sands]

Another thing I noticed by re-reading the combat sample (p.102):

Mary: “ARRRRGH!” I drop the rifle as I fly back and scramble for my sawn-off. BLAM! Both barrels, sucker!
Alan: Okay, roll kick ass. It's trying to get with the biting on you, but it's going for inside your elbow rather than your neck. The arm that isn't holding the shotgun.
Mary: [rolls] Ha ha! Eleven! I shoot it in the gut, so it goes flying back! Four harm!
Alan: [notes down 3-harm from shotgun blast for the vampire: its so tough it counts as having 1-armour]. Yep, the vampire is blasted back, catches itself on like a covered table or something, then gets back up.

Since Mary's character kicked some ass, isn't s/he supposed to trade harm with the vampire? […]

Now (final version) it’s p. 141-2, but me and my fellow players are asking ourselves the same thing.

Correct, she should. That's an oversight in the example.