[.11] Two suggestions - Take or leave

[JeffL]

Here are two suggestions, and there is a solid chance these have been discussed (offline, or even on here). So apologies if that is the case.

1 - Allow Healing Arts questions to be asked while performing First Aid. As it currently stands I believe I cannot use any skill other than Teacher and Educated when I am Focusing on First Aid. If you are thinking carefully there may be almost no circumstances where you would want to ask Healing Arts questions during First Aid, but then again, First Aid is almost always done in a circumstance where we are hurried, distracted and often fearful. I'm not sure I see any harm in allowing such questions during First Aid, and it feels right.

2 - First, I love that numbers are included in all calls. Huge thumbs up. My suggestion is to put the numbers at the end of all calls. This is one that I am sure has been discussed, and I am aware that it violates hidden grammatical rules of English, but still... from a mechanics and usability perspective “I Evoke a Flame Bolt 40!” is better than “I Evoke a 40 Flame Bolt!”

 

[Inaryn]

Perhaps it's just an oversight because it's something healers just do so everyone knows you can and they forgot to put the wording in? Because the current live rules do allow for Healing Arts while First Aiding and I cannot fathom that not including that in the new rules was a deliberate choice...

 

[Draven]

2 - First, I love that numbers are included in all calls. Huge thumbs up. My suggestion is to put the numbers at the end of all calls. This is one that I am sure has been discussed, and I am aware that it violates hidden grammatical rules of English, but still... from a mechanics and usability perspective “I Evoke a Flame Bolt 40!” is better than “I Evoke a 40 Flame Bolt!”

I've mentioned this in previous packets; I would prefer the number at the end purely because it separates the IG verbal from the OOG verbal, and that feels better to me.

 

[Tantarus]

"I call forth a dragons breath, 40 flame" Would be my preferred outcome, IG incant, OOG effect.

 

[Sage of Legaia]

To the first point, the rules as written in the .11b packet do lock you out of using Healing Arts while performing First Aid, yes. I'm not sure if this is an oversight or not, but I also don't think it's necessarily that big of a deal. Most of the time, you're going to check if someone is Bleeding Out with HA, anyways, but the advent of calling No Effect at the start of FA in cases like being Dead or having Alien Anatomy should also prevent "wasting" time one FA when the creature is beyond saving with it, so you can literally roll on up to a body and blindly start FA without checking for basically no penalty, and if they call No Effect, start asking HA questions until you figure out why. I think it's something that will come out in playtesting one way or the other, and it's never come up in any of the playtests I've participated in, so I'm a bit loathe to get into a more serious discussion on it at the moment.

To the second suggestion... I know it probably sounds like I'm just being contrary at this point, but I rather prefer the current "Number Qualifier Carrier" order. It's way easier to realise I need to get out of the way of a swing if the first thing out of the other person's mouth is "75" rather than "Normal".

On a side note, I've always thought of Spell Incants as being essentially "magical gibberish" IG, so no two spellcasters use precisely the same verbiage to cast the same spell, but the visual effect is always the same no matter who casts it; the Incant is just there so you know OOG what effect to take if you get hit by it, and what defenses apply, which is something you would be able to tell IG just by seeing the spell. Given that you can accept touchcast spells through a Spell Shield, I also visualize all spells to kind of "swarm" over their target like a net or blanket before taking effect, which again always looks/feels the same no matter who casts the spell, so as long as you're conscious IG you can always ID the spell being cast on you and accept or refuse it as you wish.

 

[Gilwing]

Back in da day First Aid was the way it's proposed in .11. You could learn FA and not HA and just run to your target and begin FA. If they were not bleeding out (or alien/no metabolism) they will call no effect. The powers that be felt that people should know HA and therefor made it a complete 60 count until you learned if it worked or not.