tomc

My interpretation (for what it's worth): Defense = 2+ maximum (speed , evade_ranks) Willpower = 2+ maximum (tenacity, centering_ranks) In both cases the skill is 'used' even if the rank value isn't the one chosen by the maximum function. Therefore a suit associated with evade or centering would be also associated with the derived aspect. From a thematic point of view, there are many fun and flavourful Df or Wp triggers in the game that require multiple suits. Activating these triggers more or less requires you to have a suit associated with the derived aspect (yes I know there are ways to add additional suits to your duel total but they are almost all more difficult to use). If you rule that you can only associate a suit if the skill's value is chosen for the derived aspect you effectively further limit access to these cool triggers. One of the core tenants of Through The Breach character customization is that you can achieve similar goals via different character choices. Letting more characters take advantage of triggers like these furthers that philosophy. Also, triggers are fun! One ruling is more fun than the other. Go with the one that is more fun. However, I agree that Df and Wp challenges are not skill challenges. Not all "duels with fate" are "skill challenges" (though the 2ed CRB does not spell this out explicitly). Therefore evade/centering triggers cannot be declared. At least, this is how I would rule in a game I was Fate Mastering. Official clarification would of course beat out this reasoning!

Thanks again Tim! Interesting that the writers explicitly removed the section on assuming 10 from the rules. I agree that assuming 10 on spell casting outside of Dramatic Time where you do not have consequence of failure makes sense. Though I think you would also need to assume that you also draw any required suit. Losing out on potential 11,12,13,Red-Jokers, seems to be a reasonable model for "you don't have the fight-or-flight adrenaline in play". Of course since we're mixing 1ed and 2ed rules we are firmly in the RAI vs RAW territory and so Fatemaster fiat/judgement is needed. I think it's clear that spell casting outside of dramatic time is allowed. It should also be possible to fail. The remaining question really is: "Should it be more difficult to cast certain spells outside of dramatic time than inside dramatic time?" I believe the answer should be: "No. It should not be more difficult to cast a spell in a calm atmosphere than when a monster is trying to eat your face". I also think you should not be able to repeatedly re-try a given spell until you eventually draw a Red Joker. But these are only my opinions and exactly where the line is drawn seems to be very much open to interpretation. Regarding the On The Pursuit spell-failure draws: Into the Steam was published in 2018 and the Magewright therein requires dramatic time to daw a card. Just like all of the magic focused pursuits in the CRB and previously. From Nightmares was published in 2021 and the Manifester and Breahburned therein do not require dramatic time to daw a card on spell failure. As you said, this is a straight improvement to their On The Pursuit abilities compared with all previously published pursuits. Without official clarification or errata, it's impossible to say if this is intended by the writers or an oversight.

Interestingly this text: "A player may not choose to Flip instead of Assuming 10. Assuming 10 is a mandatory mechanic for a character who is not in a stressful situation." Is notably absent from the Core Rule Book 2E. It makes a lot of sense though and is clearly reminiscent of the "take 10" mechanic of DnD 3rd Edition. For the draw Twist Card mechanic: Manifester: From Nightmares pg 88 "When this character fails a Magical Skills duel, she may draw a card." (Apologies, the Magewright in Above the Law does actually specify Dramatic Time)

OK, one more... Casting Spells outside of Dramatic Time What is the general ruling on how many times a spell (or manifested power) may be attempted outside of Dramatic Time? For example: Mend Critical (assuming a few additions of Increased Duration) can be cast some time after the critical effect is received. An unskilled Enchanter may have a 1 in 4 chance of success (or lower) on the draw. Should they just be allowed to keep trying every ~3seconds until they succeed? (Assuming a 1AP action, 2AP per round, 1 round ~ 6seconds) In Dramatic Time, this seems clear cut. You can repeatedly try to cast any spell within your turn(s) and as long as you pay the AP cost. Out of Dramatic Time, should you even ask for a draw? Ask for a single draw and have it cover all attempts, like some Skill Challenges? Or just assume eventual success? It seems wrong that healing a broken leg with magic should be MORE difficult outside of a fight than within one. Minor follow up: For pursuits that grant Twist Cards on failed spell casting outside of Dramatic Time (e.g. Manifester, Magewright) should they draw for every failure? Just the first one? Repeated failure trying to cast a difficult spell could result in a lot of Twist Cards without any “gaming” of the system to try to maximise a Control Hand. But not allowing any Twist draw is very limiting to these pursuits that seem intended to focus on out-of-Dramatic-Time magic. Thanks again!

Thanks Tim! I think your interpretation here is key: "Assume the combined spell magia is the first alteration to the spell in all cases. Any subsequent immuto modifies all the aspects of the spell..." Everything else makes a lot more sense if you start your understanding from this point. For my second question, the only change in the 2E Core Rule book is this: "The Resist of the two Magia must be the same (Df or Wp)." I agree that the safest interpretation is that offensive Magia can only be combined if they engage identical defensive stats; be that Resists (Df, Wp), or Skills (Centering, Evade, Toughness). Though of course this makes the Immuto more restrictive. Perhaps that is the writers' intent.

Hi Folks, A couple of specific questions about the Combine Spell Immuto: When using the Combined Spell Immuto (CRB pg 273) the text states to choose a second Magia and “add its effects to the spell”. First question: Is the effect of the second Magia modified by any Immuto added to the primary Magia? Or Are you able/required to apply different Immuto to the second Magia’s effects, modifying the total TN as appropriate? (With the provision that you can ONLY apply Immuto to the primary that can also be applied to the secondary.) Some examples: If I apply an Alter Range Immuto, do both the primary and secondary Magia gain the benefit? (If not, the target may be out of range of secondary effects) Is the same true for Elemental Immuto? (Noting that most sorcery Magia require an Elemental Immuto) What about Increase Damage? Would two damaging Magia both have their damage increased? Would two damaging Magia Combined count as a single source of damage or multiple? (Important for the purposes of damage reduction like Armour and for applications of elemental Immuto) Secondary question: One of the conditions of Combined Spell is that the resist (Df or Wp) of the two Magia must be the same. How does this apply to Magia that are not resisted by either of these? Can Magia that require an Evade/Centering/Toughness challenge be Combined at all? Thanks in advance!

Thanks Tim! That matches my interpretation. Good to know that the wording of the Increase Duration immuto also changed. That more or less answers my second question, that the newer worded "rounds" version of Increased Duration can be applied to spells published in older books where their duration is listed in "turns". I'm playing in what is turning out to be a very very dangerous campaign so far, we very nearly had a TPK to a single enforcer at the end of our first session-adventure. So I'm looking forward to buffing my fellow fated a bit by stacking a few Increase Durations on Improved Fate!

Hi Folks, Thank you for all of your help last time. Here's another pedantic question: How long do older spells last? Magia published in the older TTB books (Into the Steam, Under Quarantine and Into the Bayou) list certain short duration magias' durations in “turns”. Since the 2nd edition Core Rule Book, all similar short duration magia have their durations listed in “rounds”. Additionally, in the current edition, turns and rounds have distinct meanings and there are multiple "turns" within a single "round". I don’t have access to the 1st Edition Almanacs to check if this used to be the case. The only directly reprinted spell I could find is “Summon Gamin”. Older: Into the Steam pg 196 - duration “3 turns” Updated: Core Rule Book pg 271 - duration “3 rounds” Should magia published in the older books such as “Berserk Fury” (Under Quarantine pg 156), “Mudform” (Into the Bayou pg 150), “Improved Fate” (Into the Steam pg 197), etc., now have their durations interpreted as “rounds”? And following on… Should magia like these be subject to the "Increase Duration" immuto (Core Rule book pg 275)?

Thanks for the replies! Good to know my interpretation was correct in both cases, even if my expectations don't quite match up with reality! On the point of Disengaging Strikes, I come from a Pathfinder/DnD background and have no experience of M2E. In most d20 systems I've played or read, the ability to make an unlimited number of attacks of opportunity that root the target but deal no damage would be incredibly powerful. Not from the damage dealt but because it allows someone with good reach to lock down a large area of the battlefield. In TTB terms, a Scrapper with a spear can pin a huge number of enemies in place (and deal massive damage while doing so). On the other side of things, a large boss creature with a big melee reach is very hard to get away from, even if a whole party tries to flee together. Thank you for clarifying what actually happens with the Bright Flash. The target itself glowing makes much more sense than then projectile exploding when it comes to matching expectations to the rules. I guess my budding sorcerer will either need to invest in some nova spells or petition the GM to change his trigger choice!

Disengaging Strikes The Core Rule book on disengaging strikes (pg298): "To make a disengaging strike, a character makes a single melee attack against the character attempting to leave her engagement range. If this attack hits, it deals no damage, but the target's Walk or Run action is canceled and the AP spent on it is lost." It is not stated how many disengaging strikes a character may make per round. Is this really intended to be unlimited? That would seem rather unreasonable from both immersion and mechanical-power. A question on magical trigger, Core Rule Book pg 205: Sorcery: (t) Bright Flash: After successfully casting a Spell or Manifested Power, all characters within p1 of the target must succeed on a TN 10 Centering Duel or gain the Blind Condition until the end of the round. Pulses and Auras,Core Rule Book pg 299: Pulses (represented by the p symbol) are instantaneous effects that radiate out from a certain point. Pulses centered on a character do not affect that character (but will affect everything around them). From reading these it appears that the Bright Flash will not affect the target of the spell. This makes sense for a caster-targeted nova but not for a targeted attack. E.g. an elemental projectile striking a target and activating this trigger will effect those around it but not the target of the spell. This Is this intended?