Alliance 2.0 Rulebook: Beta 2

[Ken]

I’d argue that the prerequisites for critical attack and back attack need to be corrected to include Claws, as it is not, technically, a Weapon Skill.

FWIW, the CMA interprets the "Any weapon skill" prereq to mean "Any skill in the Weapon group, or Claws".

 

[Polare]

Hi folks,

We appreciate all of the feedback here. I'd like to give a few more days for any final comments to come in, then I will package it up and send it off for review. We would like to have the next version be final (as a printed version is planned), so this will likely be the final round of comments that will make it into the ARB before that point (after the printed version is produced, any further updates will be "errata" until a new book version is necessary).

Please submit any final comments here by this coming Friday September 6th.

Thanks,
Bryan Gregory
ARC Chair

 

[tieran]

FWIW, the CMA interprets the "Any weapon skill" prereq to mean "Any skill in the Weapon group, or Claws".

Yes, and it should, because that is clearly what it is supposed to be, but the book should actually state that.

 

[tieran]

Page 28 - remove Teacher references.
Page 29 - more Teacher references
Page 31 - remove reference to Teacher
Page 32 - remove teacher from skill list
Page 59 - remove Teacher section
Page 62 - <Type> Block, is there a reason the skill is called block, but the call is guard?
Page 102 - remove Teacher reference
Page 150 - Magical Conduit should probably include that the person using the high magic ability needs to meditate (for 10 minutes?) in order to store the spell(s) in the Spell Store item. It’s implied, but it could be more clear.
Page 155 - True Conservation’s example cites Conservative Casting. Also, both of these ritual manipulations should include whether or not they stack with the other.
Page 166 - remove Teacher reference
Page 167 - remove Teacher reference

 

[Re Nocturne]

This might be more of an opinion/tone thing, but it's really bugging me that there are a lot of "he or she"s, "him or her"s, "his or hers"s, and "himself or herself"s. They could (and in my opinion should) easily be replaced with singular they/them pronouns, which would be both more inclusive and more readable. Some passages in particular are bogged down by the "he or she" wording to the point of being clunky and difficult to parse.

For example: "Even so, the harmed party can choose to change his or her mind at any time, thus “freeing” himself or herself from the mind ability. However, the player so deciding cannot suddenly remember who did this to him or her if the character was previously unaware." (p. 70)

It would be easier to read (and less alienating for people who don't go by either he/him or she/her pronouns) to instead have this: "Even so, the harmed party can choose to change their mind at any time, thus “freeing” themself from the mind ability. However, the player so deciding cannot suddenly remember who did this to them if the character was previously unaware."

 

[Sage of Legaia]

Hostile circles are on page 90 under Choosing a Circle.

 

[Ragnarok]

I remember in 1.3 being able to choose to use or not use an Enhanced Blade or similar. The new 2.0 wording is a bit unclear of that is an option

 

[Muir]

I remember in 1.3 being able to choose to use or not use an Enhanced Blade or similar. The new 2.0 wording is a bit unclear of that is an option

ARC clarified on that back in April, but I agree the book's wording needs adjustment to reflect the intent.

 

[Ragnarok]

Thanks for the link. It became relivent last game and the book wasn't specific

 

[Sage of Legaia]

All 3 Blade spells state that you can choose on which swings to apply the granted carrier.

The recipient chooses which weapons(s) and swing(s) to utilize their Chaos Blade with

The recipient chooses which weapons(s) and swing(s) to utilize their Earth Blade with

They are not required to use the temporary carrier on every weapon swing.

 

[Cúangol]

“Each rank of Formal Magic grants a greater chance of success for all Rituals cast during that Logistics Period; Formal Magic is not ‘used up’ when a Ritual is cast, but instead (like all High Magic abilities) lasts until the next Logistics Period starts.” (P. 159)

The bolded passage makes it sound like all high magic abilities are never ‘used up.’

Also, I’m not sure why the single quotes style ‘ ‘ is used here, as the double quotes style seems more common in the book “ “.

 

[Draven]

“Each rank of Formal Magic grants a greater chance of success for all Rituals cast during that Logistics Period; Formal Magic is not ‘used up’ when a Ritual is cast, but instead (like all High Magic abilities) lasts until the next Logistics Period starts.” (P. 159)

The bolded passage makes it sound like all high magic abilities are never ‘used up.’

Also, I’m not sure why the single quotes style ‘ ‘ is used here, as the double quotes style seems more common in the book “ “.

I suspect that this wording is meant to emphasize the change from 1.3 HM abilities, which commonly lasted for 5 days.

It actually reads fairly clear to me, but probably because of my familiarity.

 

[Cúangol]

Page 164: The section on investment should make clear that it applies to limited and greater circles of power, not battle magic circles.

Overall on that page, including before the section starts, the book could do a better job laying out the multiple types of circles and making it clear that battle magic circles are acceptable places to cast rituals. A chart about various types of circles and their abilities and limits would be ideal.

 

[Draven]

Page 164: The section on investment should make clear that it applies to limited and greater circles of power, not battle magic circles.

Overall on that page, including before the section starts, the book could do a better job laying out the multiple types of circles and making it clear that battle magic circles are acceptable places to cast rituals. A chart about various types of circles and their abilities and limits would be ideal.

The ability to cast a ritual within a battlemagic CoP is described in the description of the spell Circle of Power, page 122, last paragraph.

 

[Cúangol]

“Limited or Greater Circles of Power always possess either an Earth or Celestial aspect. When one of these Circles of Power is ritually cast, the caster determines the aspect of the resulting Circle of Power according to the aspect of Formal Magic that the caster possesses. A caster who possesses both Earth and Celestial Formal Magic may choose the aspect of such a Circle of Power.”

Why are battle magic circles excluded from this paragraph? Battle magic circles also have an aspect (which dictates the aspect of a limited or permanent circle cast over top of it). The paragraph makes it seem like battle circles are not valid places for a ritual or spellcrafting (e.g. limited CoP and spirit recall). It doesn’t matter that it is described in the battle magic circle of power spell page – this paragraph is very misleading. (This is from a ruling in the Marshalls section of the forum.)

“Investiture is a Ritual that must be performed upon a person while present in the Circle of Power into which the person is to be Invested.”

Investiture doesn’t work on battle magic circles, so this is misleading.

“Individuals who are not Invested may not enter or exit a Circle of Power unless “recognized” by an Invested member of that Circle of Power.”

It would be helpful to note that nobody is invested in a battle magic circle, so nobody can go in or out.

 

[Draven]

Every battlemagic spell has an aspect; this is a core part of our magic system, actually. It’s why an Earth caster can’t memorize Earth aspect spells from a Celestial spell book.

However, this doesn’t appear to actually be in the spellcasting section of the rules, and probably should be. Example: the Spell Books entry should indicate that you can’t memorize a Shackle into an Earth slot from a Celestial book.

 

[Feldor]

The staff skill says:

Staff
This skill allows the character to wield a staff. Staff use is restricted for safety reasons, so a player using a staff
must keep both hands gripped within the middle three feet of the staff. You cannot trip people with a staff or perform
many other staff moves that would be used in real life. Thrusting with a staff is not allowed. See the “Weapons”
section for details.

In the weapon section it says:

Staffs may only be handled in the middle 3 feet. This distance should be marked off so it is easily identifiable.
You must have both hands on the staff to attack, but you may block with only one hand on the staff, or in conjunc-
tion with a short weapon for the purposes of the Two Weapons skill. Note that for safety reasons, padding may be
required on the grip section of the staff depending on how it is designed.

The comments about being able to use it with one hand or with two-weapon-skill should really be in the staff skill section.

 

[elliotbay]

The rulebook contradicts itself about whether Enslavement is removed by resurrection.
p90: "Once a character is resurrected, a character will have his or her maximum Body Points. All remaining effects that were present on the character will be gone (excluding Enslavement, Euphoria, Curse of Transformation and Infection)"
p131: "Enslavement can only be removed by the specific antidote or through resurrection."

 

[Celebolwa]

I did not see times per day description in 'Flexible casting'. Is it a passive ability? As in- once purchased can be used repeatedly?

 

[Sage of Legaia]

Flexible Casting is a passive skill, as noted in italics at the top of its description.