FAQ
Q: Do I get to roll a failed skill roll a second time if I have skill mastery in that skill?
A: The reroll is already handled internally by the HUD if its first rolls would have ended up as a failure, so you will only see the one final result and must use that.
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Q: When failing a skill and being unable to try again, does this prevent me from doing the action at all if it could be done outside of skill use?
A: No, you can still do the action if it is something that could be done normally without needing a roll. An example would be trying to use Deception to lock a door behind yourself without letting anyone in the room know; you could fail the skill check and so fail to lock the door as well as alerting everyone in the room of your attempt, but if given a chance in RP nothing stops you from then just locking the door normally with everyone noticing as usual.
Q: Do I get to finish my action if an automatic NPC drops me to 0 during it?
A: No, you would lose the damage or healing part of your action unless you successfully roll a Last Breath to stay standing and able to fight and not take your free Flee attempt. Only then would you be able to make that damage or healing roll.
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Q: Does Defend require an action?
A: No, you can pick any ally and have it apply until your next turn.
Q: Do any special abilities replace your attack?
A: Yes, every ability that says it uses your Combat Action or that you must Forgo your Combat Roll replaces your attack.
Q: How does Vulnerable work?
A: Being Vulnerable means the next damaging attack to hit you gets an additional +3 to its damage. Being Vulnerable lasts until your next turn if you are not successfully attacked. The HUD will automatically include this +3 damage (or +7 with Backstab) if your target is Vulnerable.
Q: Does magical damage ignore armor?
A: Yes, magical damage ignores armor.
Q: Does making a weapon magical make it ignore armor?
A: No, a magical weapon or one affected with things such as bless that increase its damage still does physical damage.
Q: Can any attribute go above +3?
A: +3 is the natural cap for an attribute with bonuses gained from leveling, but magical equipment can raise an attribute above this cap to +4 (max).
Q: Can I have multiple magical equipment pieces that boost the same attribute?
A: Yes, you, however, cannot raise an attribute above +4 and cannot use more than 4 attribute enhancing items at once.
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Q: How high can my fatigue bonus go?
A: It caps out at +5, with the only thing able to bring it higher is a Heroes' Feast that allows you to temporarily increase your resolve when you make fatigue rolls.
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Q: Can I be killed without my consent?
A: Yes, being a part of and active in RP on the sim means you consent to the possibility of your character being attacked and potentially killed by others. That said, death is a rather large part of the RP here; your character can and will come back after a potential minor setback in silver and XP, and then you are faced with RP options that could prove to be quite fun. So yes, your character can be killed and even looted, but no, it cannot be permanently removed from the RP environment by other players.
Q: If characters cannot be permanently killed, doesn’t this mean criminals can continue to cause trouble in a city?
A: Characters should fear death, as IC they do not know if they will come back at all or which side they would come back on if they do come back. Also, execution generally comes with the notion that if a character returns alive to the area, they will be captured and executed again, basically acting as an exile (which is a punishment for many crimes that would keep a character away). Combine this with the loss of XP and an item potentially being taken with each death, and it should make for a relatively good deterrent to characters trying to ignore consequences.
Q: How does looting work?
A: Anytime a character is defeated or killed in combat, the attacking player or players can choose a total of 1 item from each defeated player, so losing to several people still only allows 1 item to be taken from you. The defeated player should show their current equipment and hand over the selected item.
While this may seem harsh, the economy and prices are made with the knowledge that active players will get defeated and lose items at times. An entire set of basic equipment can be purchased with passive income in just a week of full silver gain, with magical items taking a few weeks each but providing minimal benefits for their cost. Most of a character's power comes from their base abilities, and basic gear is often all that is needed to win a fight.
Q: What can I turn into with Shapeshift?
A: You can shapeshift into any nonflying mundane animal up to the size of a bear that is found on Earth. Being a fantasy world, some things in our world that have gone extinct would still apply, such as small dinosaurs (still no larger than a bear), saber-toothed tigers, dire wolves and dodo. You cannot shapeshift into mystical, fantasy, were-ceatures, or hybrid forms.
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Q: What are my stats during Shapeshift?
A: You still roll damage and have armor as if nothing had changed other than focus weapons counting as great weapons (Faith still works) and being considered to be in light armor (if you aren't already wearing armor). So better equipment and materials all function as usual for rolls. You are in the alternate form the rest of the combat and may use Wisdom instead of Prowess for your combat rolls. While you can be Shapeshifted outside of combat, you cannot use magic, perform rituals, or craft while in an animal form.
Q: Can I talk or use other abilities while Shapeshifted?
A: These Abilities would not work while Shapeshifted into an animal: Imbue, Bless, Music, Hex, Cure, and Blast (and the advanced abilities that add effects to them), and attempting to talk would produce animal sounds. For Bless, you cannot Bless a new weapon, but your current targeted weapon will still have the benefit. All other Abilities will work as usual in combat.
Q: Does rolling a partial success (7-9) for the Stealth skill mean I am spotted?
A: No, you have not been spotted, but those in the scene are now aware that someone or something is skulking about and may now try to actively look for you using Awareness, which will spot you on a partial or full success.
Q: Can I use the Awareness skill anytime someone is hidden near me?
A: No, you must have an actual reason to start searching for something hidden. The chance to potentially notice someone using the Stealth skill is built into their skill roll, so a failure from them is you having passively spotted them. However, if someone using the Stealth skill rolls a partial success, you are aware something is nearby and may start to actively use the Awareness skill to spot them. Of course, like all other skill checks, you cannot try again after failure.
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Q: How does Reflexes work if multiple characters have it?
A: All characters with Reflexes would roll an unmodified skill roll, and the initiative flag will be advanced to the character that rolled the highest, and order starts from there.
Q: Can I damage or heal the same target twice with Split or Cleave?
A: No, the targets must be different.
Q: Can I pick more than 1 target with Focus to attack them later?
A: You can pick up to 2 targets with Focus if you also have the ability Cleave, but you lose the effects after your next turn on any targets you did not attack.
Q: Can I use the Imbue ability out of combat to have its first attack be magical?
A: No, Imbue can only be used in combat and is removed after combat is over if it is still active.
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Q: Can I keep my weapon Blessed all the time?
A: Yes, it is assumed that if you have Bless and have not given its bonus to someone else's weapon, it is on yours.
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Q: Can I use abilities or swap a target and swap back while keeping my Barrage bonus?
A: Swapping targets (or being forced to with defend) or using any Ability that uses or forgoes your Combat Action resets your Barrage bonus except in the case of these abilities: Cure, Music, Inspire, Focus, Imbue.
Q: How does tracking work with Survival?
A: You make an attempt to find and follow the tracks, and like any other skill check, a failure means you are unable to try again as you’ve lost the tracks. Success allows you to follow the tracks until there is a significant change in them, such as a terrain change or they go through water (road to wilderness, forest to swamp, snow to forest, walking through water, etc.), in which case another successful roll must be made to continue to follow the tracks.
Q: Can I swap weapons in combat?
A: Drawing weapons when your hands are free, such as at the start of a fight or when your weapon was broken with the Sunder ability, can be done as part of the action to attack with them for your Combat Action. Exchanging a weapon you have in hand for another instead uses your whole Combat Action and does not allow you to attack.
Q: Is having a slave within Duskmire illegal if it was brought from somewhere else?
A: Yes, the act of slavery is illegal all throughout the Kingdom of Orelia, though, as with most things, there are ways around this. Indentured servitude is allowed and quite common within Orelia. Anyone who has a slave, such as one bought from Akhatar, can have them sign a contract to make them an indentured servant for some time, allowing them some legal control over the person even within the Kingdom’s lands. However, the expected treatment of an indentured servant is quite different from that of a slave, and so things like chains, collars, and cages couldn’t be used. An indentured servant typically has the freedom of a normal person except for the requirement to fulfill their job each day and not being allowed to travel afar alone as it would be considered attempting to break their contract. Contract length and work requirements must also be reasonable, or officials could take issue with it and consider it an unfair agreement, potentially voiding the contract.
The idea is to hide the fact that they are a slave, so do NOT go and call the individual a slave and then wave an indentured servitude contract around, or officials may find a reason to free them. An indentured servant attempting to claim they are a slave is generally ignored as whining as long as a sufficiently reasonable contract exists as it is common for people to try and get out of them.
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Q: For medium and heavy armor, does a negative to all rolls include damage rolls as well?
A: Yes, medium and heavy armor without the Armor Mastery ability applies its penalty to ALL rolls, making it severely detrimental to those without the ability.