Post by sp on Jan 21, 2023 19:34:54 GMT
Seems like I've had quite a few questions here lately!
Thanks for the patience and answers! Here are a few more:
First:
p. 29 (44 in my PDF) says, "After every Encounter where Enhancements have been used roll 1d6 for each type used – Sensory, Physical or Loop. Have more than one? Roll 1d6 for each of the three that you used."
A) I have been taking this to mean, "Roll 1d6 if you used Physical Enhancements, 1d6 if you used Sensory enhancements, and 1d6 if you used Loops."
B) I gather it could also mean, "If you used two or more different Loops (Say, Quick Reflexes and Crack Shot), roll 1d6 for each Loop you used."
Is one of those the correct interpretation?
Then:
A) I have been reading the die rolls individually, like shooting damage. Read each result separately and apply the worst one.
B) But it could also mean: Read each result separately and apply each one. This could result in multiple rolls on the Metal Madness table.
C) But it could also mean: Add all the dice together. The "6+" under the "Take the Metal Madness Test" result suggests that's probably the right answer, since you can't roll higher than 6 on 1d6.
That last would just make the consequences of enhancements especially brutal, since using one would give you a fifty percent chance of walking away from an encounter with no ill effects, two would give you an eight-ish percent chance of escaping harm, and three would drop that to less than half a percent.
Regardless, is one of the above the more correct answer?
Also:
The Metal Madness table says, "If have Physical or Sensory Enhancements and..." could this mean, "If Physical or Sensory Enhancements were used...?" or (in the case of answer A or B above) "If Physical or Sensory Enhancements brought you to this table...?"
That is, if I have Loops and Physical Enhancements, and in an encounter I did use loops, but did not use Physical Enhancements, would that still count as "having Physical Enhancements" for the purposes of the table?
Or, put another way, in the fiction of the universe, is using the enhancements what triggers the worse result? Or simply having them, in an over-taxed system?
Furthermore:
I'm reading apparent contradictions in the actual rules that apply post Metal Mania?
p. 29 (44) states, "There aren't any Voluntary Encounters anymore, just two Involuntary ones per month generated by the Metal Maniac Encounter Table."
p. 30 (45) states, "You can go to any Law Level 1 Planet (New Hope is a Law Level 2) and live a quiet normal life," and you can "find a Doctor, on a Law Level 2 or higher Planet, – go to one you know through a prior successful NPC Interaction, or find one through a Chillin’ Encounter."
Except, based on plain rules as written, traveling to another planet (or even another neighborhood) is a non-Metal Maniac Encounter.
The rules together (even the contradictory ones) suggest that your biggest problem is that your character is immediately and automatically generally known to be a Menace to Society and is therefore hunted anywhere there is any kind of law.
Would it be reasonable to say, instead, that your character is behaving weird, unstable, and/or violent, and that this is more likely to be noticed and acted on the higher the Law Level is?
For example, instead of saying you only have Metal Maniac Encounters, say that you can attempt to live your life normally, but each time you enter a new area (neighborhood or planet) you roll against the local law level on the Metal Maniac Encounter table? Pass 2, Police come to arrest you, Pass 1, Bounty Hunters come to take you down, pass 0, carry on with your planned encounter?
This feels like it would still make Metal Mania risky, but at least give the character the fighting chance of getting to a Law Level 1 Planet or finding a doctor to remove the metal.
Especially if you change the Interaction Table on p. 39 (54) from "Pass 1d6: The NPC will ignore you" to "Pass 1d6: The NPC will turn you in. Roll on the Metal Maniac Encounters table."
Finally:
p. 7 (21) tells me that "Anytime the Star rolls d6 they can choose to use an Extraordinary Effort and roll a bonus d6."
I don't see anywhere that gives this a Decreasing Rep d6 cost as Sweet Talk, Star Power, etc. have. It looks like it's "free," but you can only use it once per Encounter. Is this correct?
If so, I should be able to use it to attempt to avert or reduce the consequences of Metal Madness, either on the initial d6 roll, or on the Metal Madness Table, or during an Encounter.
So, would it be legitimate to use Extraordinary Effort to re-roll the d6 that sent us to the Metal Madness table in the first place, giving a 50/50 chance of averting all disaster?
'Cause that would be awesome.
If you read my recent walkthrough of character generation for Moxie Flatbush, you may be wondering, "Gee whiz--is our hero in game-ending danger? Already?"
I guess that depends on the Extraordinary Effort roll.
Thanks for the patience and answers! Here are a few more:
First:
p. 29 (44 in my PDF) says, "After every Encounter where Enhancements have been used roll 1d6 for each type used – Sensory, Physical or Loop. Have more than one? Roll 1d6 for each of the three that you used."
A) I have been taking this to mean, "Roll 1d6 if you used Physical Enhancements, 1d6 if you used Sensory enhancements, and 1d6 if you used Loops."
B) I gather it could also mean, "If you used two or more different Loops (Say, Quick Reflexes and Crack Shot), roll 1d6 for each Loop you used."
Is one of those the correct interpretation?
Then:
A) I have been reading the die rolls individually, like shooting damage. Read each result separately and apply the worst one.
B) But it could also mean: Read each result separately and apply each one. This could result in multiple rolls on the Metal Madness table.
C) But it could also mean: Add all the dice together. The "6+" under the "Take the Metal Madness Test" result suggests that's probably the right answer, since you can't roll higher than 6 on 1d6.
That last would just make the consequences of enhancements especially brutal, since using one would give you a fifty percent chance of walking away from an encounter with no ill effects, two would give you an eight-ish percent chance of escaping harm, and three would drop that to less than half a percent.
Regardless, is one of the above the more correct answer?
Also:
The Metal Madness table says, "If have Physical or Sensory Enhancements and..." could this mean, "If Physical or Sensory Enhancements were used...?" or (in the case of answer A or B above) "If Physical or Sensory Enhancements brought you to this table...?"
That is, if I have Loops and Physical Enhancements, and in an encounter I did use loops, but did not use Physical Enhancements, would that still count as "having Physical Enhancements" for the purposes of the table?
Or, put another way, in the fiction of the universe, is using the enhancements what triggers the worse result? Or simply having them, in an over-taxed system?
Furthermore:
I'm reading apparent contradictions in the actual rules that apply post Metal Mania?
p. 29 (44) states, "There aren't any Voluntary Encounters anymore, just two Involuntary ones per month generated by the Metal Maniac Encounter Table."
p. 30 (45) states, "You can go to any Law Level 1 Planet (New Hope is a Law Level 2) and live a quiet normal life," and you can "find a Doctor, on a Law Level 2 or higher Planet, – go to one you know through a prior successful NPC Interaction, or find one through a Chillin’ Encounter."
Except, based on plain rules as written, traveling to another planet (or even another neighborhood) is a non-Metal Maniac Encounter.
The rules together (even the contradictory ones) suggest that your biggest problem is that your character is immediately and automatically generally known to be a Menace to Society and is therefore hunted anywhere there is any kind of law.
Would it be reasonable to say, instead, that your character is behaving weird, unstable, and/or violent, and that this is more likely to be noticed and acted on the higher the Law Level is?
For example, instead of saying you only have Metal Maniac Encounters, say that you can attempt to live your life normally, but each time you enter a new area (neighborhood or planet) you roll against the local law level on the Metal Maniac Encounter table? Pass 2, Police come to arrest you, Pass 1, Bounty Hunters come to take you down, pass 0, carry on with your planned encounter?
This feels like it would still make Metal Mania risky, but at least give the character the fighting chance of getting to a Law Level 1 Planet or finding a doctor to remove the metal.
Especially if you change the Interaction Table on p. 39 (54) from "Pass 1d6: The NPC will ignore you" to "Pass 1d6: The NPC will turn you in. Roll on the Metal Maniac Encounters table."
Finally:
p. 7 (21) tells me that "Anytime the Star rolls d6 they can choose to use an Extraordinary Effort and roll a bonus d6."
I don't see anywhere that gives this a Decreasing Rep d6 cost as Sweet Talk, Star Power, etc. have. It looks like it's "free," but you can only use it once per Encounter. Is this correct?
If so, I should be able to use it to attempt to avert or reduce the consequences of Metal Madness, either on the initial d6 roll, or on the Metal Madness Table, or during an Encounter.
So, would it be legitimate to use Extraordinary Effort to re-roll the d6 that sent us to the Metal Madness table in the first place, giving a 50/50 chance of averting all disaster?
'Cause that would be awesome.
If you read my recent walkthrough of character generation for Moxie Flatbush, you may be wondering, "Gee whiz--is our hero in game-ending danger? Already?"
I guess that depends on the Extraordinary Effort roll.