Choosing Skills, Powers and Packages

[Penny-Whistle]

I am so excited. I started making up a character for the game coming up. I want to make a Vigilante (a kind of a Baker Street Irregular type of character).
Wellington is just the kind of small person who can go everywhere, see everything, overhear everyone.

The quick start lists some choices for skills:

Acrobatics 1, Criminology 1, Martial Arts 1, Prime 2 (Intelligence, Wisdom), Roguery 1
What does the 2 in Prime 2 mean? That I can choose that at level 2? Maybe it means I get 2 primes? Something else?

Not sure about the Super Power thing either.
Does anyone know what the 2 in Attribute 2 means in the Vigilante description? It says "Attribute 2 (+10 Dexterity)"
If my rolled Dex was 14 would that mean I would now have a Dex of 24 instead?

The sample package listed in the rules for Vigilantes seems to have a total of 8 something or others. Are those power slots or something else?

Apologies in advance for having to ask.

[Traveller]

The 2 means two primes, namely the ones given in parenthesis in the example you give. A clear example of this is in the Sherlock Holmes writeup in the core rulebook. Holmes has Prime 6, meaning every attribute is prime.

Each point in the Attribute power grants +5 to a chosen attribute. In the case of the example, +10 to Dexterity. Your character has an effective Dexterity of 24.

Regarding the "8 something", I'd have to check the manuscript to see what you're referring to.

[Tadhg]

Trav, thanks for chiming in as it were. I was telling Penny last night when we were discussing the game that you were the editor and here you are - responding.

Much appreciated.

Our group is excited about playing this, so thanks again.

And btw, if you want to join in the fun ~ you Sir are invited to game with us. Friday nights via SKYPE and Maptools for the desktop.

[Traveller]

Can't game right now as I'm knee deep in more work. But I'll definitely keep the offer in mind.

To clarify something about the attribute power for Penny Whistle, the +5 per point is not limited to only one attribute. The player can split the bonus up any way he desires. In the case of the example given, the +10 bonus was all loaded into Dexterity, but could have been split between all six attributes if desired.

In dashing off my reply to PW I misspoke regarding that.

[DMMike]

Thanks Trav for jumping in there! As for the 8 total, that could be a typo of mine. When I make characters, I total the cost of skills, powers, shortcomings, etc. at the bottom to then make sure I've "paid" for the right number of slots. I might've forgotten to take that number out when it came time to publish the QS.

Mike the occasionally forgetful...

[Penny-Whistle]

Thanks Trav for jumping in there! As for the 8 total, that could be a typo of mine. When I make characters, I total the cost of skills, powers, shortcomings, etc. at the bottom to then make sure I've "paid" for the right number of slots. I might've forgotten to take that number out when it came time to publish the QS.

Mike the occasionally forgetful...

lots of edits below

Thanks for popping by =)
You didn't list 8 as the total. The full text says:

"Packages :
Dart Wristgun 4 (Gadget): Blast 2, Super Movement 2 (Swinging)"

This situation reminds me of my high school Math teacher. Any failure to specify a unit would predictably trigger a rant =) I won't do that, pinky promise. I think I was thrown off by seeing 'Packages' i.e. the word is plural but there is really only one package described.

AND I just noticed the colon which probably means the Wristgun package equals 4 and consists of Blast 2 and Super Movement 2.

The book says "Packages are a way of bundling several powers together that relate to each other for a reduced cost' which brings up another issue. Is there a power missing in that description? Some of the classes seem to get one bonus power for the cost of the package.
Note: The Strongarm and Inquiry Agent don't have any packages listed. The Contraptionist also has packages that don't offer an extra power.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer. We are all looking forward to playing.

[DMMike]

Thanks Trav for jumping in there! As for the 8 total, that could be a typo of mine. When I make characters, I total the cost of skills, powers, shortcomings, etc. at the bottom to then make sure I've "paid" for the right number of slots. I might've forgotten to take that number out when it came time to publish the QS.

Mike the occasionally forgetful...

Thanks for popping by =)
You didn't list 8 as the total. The full text says:

"Packages :
Dart Wristgun 4 (Gadget): Blast 2, Super Movement 2 (Swinging)"
As far as I could see the text doesn't describe what the units are or how many I have to play with. 4 of what; 2 of what? heh This situation reminds me of my high school Math teacher. Any failure to specify a unit would predictably trigger a rant =) I won't do that, pinky promise.

I just noticed the tiny colon which probably means the Wristgun package equals 4 and consists of Blast 2 and Super Movement 2.
but I am still unsure of what those numbers are supposed to represent.

Would you explain the package system for us please? Like, is this package even available for a first level character or is it something to work towards? Thanks in advance for any help you can offer. We are all looking forward to playing.

Hey Penny,

Yes, the gadgets are available at start if the GM allows. This will depend on the setting alignment of course, with Grim being very limited while in a Grand chronicle the sky's the limit.

The "4" is to note the powers in the gadget, like you noticed. This is the active slots in the gadget. As such, the actual cost of the gadget would be 2 power slots, though effectively 4 slots are useable by the two powers. Since its a gadget, they can't be modified except by someone with Invention. That's why the "effective power slots" are so important. Well, that and resisting a Suppression power if necessary.

The actual definitions (in game terms) of the gadget and the powers are as follows:

Gadget: A gadget package allows the hero to purchase powers that are limited to an item that is easily taken from the hero during combat such as a sword, a ring, or such obvious item. Its advantage is that anything purchased through the gadget is a flat 1/2 the normal cost. This cannot be combined with any other packages, and players are reminded that many plot points in Supernatural heroic stories revolve around the loss or destruction of a hero's "gadget"! The Genteel Magistrate can make the replacement of a destroyed gadget an adventure in itself for the hero to perform, so be wary of having a hero inundated with gadgets!
The gadget is considered to have a Hit Point total equal to the Hero's Con Score, though this may be improved with the purchase of Robust and other protections (Invulnerability, Armor, etc.).

Blast: This is a projected ray of force that inflicts 1 die Rank per rank, starting at D6. Suggested energy forms are Air, Cold/Ice, Electricity, Heat/Fire, Kinetic, Magick, Plasma, Psychic, Radiation and Water.

Super Movement: This power allows the hero to move in an unusual way; be it flying through the air, gliding, Leaping, Running at faster than normal speeds, swinging on a rope line, sliding on an ice ramp and so on. Anything that moves the hero (sans translocation) from one point to another in an unusual manner is defined as Super-Movement. The specific method must be decided at character generation. The first rank grants a movement rate equal to the hero's normal movement rate (usually 30 feet). As more ranks are purchased the Supernatural Movement distance doubles exponentially (i.e. rank 2 is 60 feet, rank 3 is 120 feet, etc.).

Hope this helps, and please let me know if there are any other issues?

Mike

[Penny-Whistle]

That helped a whole lot and I apologize for not taking the time to really think about this before asking.
Also. I hope your game is finally getting the love it deserves. You sure are a patient person.

[DMMike]

No problem, I always enjoy talking about the game.

I was on the Gag Men podcast this weekend and the host Corbett asked me how it felt to finally have my game coming out on its 10th (!) anniversary. LOL!

Mike, who still beat Space: 1889's 11 year delay!