[TSoY] Yet More Questions

[Roger]

I've read through The Shadow of Yesterday a couple of times, and I have the following questions and comments on the Main Rulebook.

1.  "Players can always spend one point from the associated pool to get one bonus die on a Ability Check."

By this is meant (I think) "one *and only one* point."  With the "always" in there, it is a bit tempting to think that, alright, I just spent one point to get a bonus die, but I still failed, so I'll just spend another point, since I can "always" do so.

I would have almost certainly interpreted this way if not for the Secret of Enhancement, which illustrates that, no, you can't do that, at least not without this Secret.


2.  Both humans and goblins are described as "infinitely adaptable", which might be intentional, but I thought I'd still mention it.


3.  Gift Dice suffer some of the same confusion mentioned in #1 -- can they be given out any time, in any amount?  Or do they essentially *replace* the player's Pool with the Gift Pool?  I suspect the latter, but I'm still not sure.


4.  Bringing Down the Pain, Changing Intentions:  "He does not have to state the new intention until the next free-and-clear stage."  How does this interact with the player's ability to quickly change his intention when he becomes Bloodied or Broken?  Does he really get to roll some dice without telling anyone what he's trying to do?


5.  " Any successful action taken against the character succeeds when he is broken."

I keep reading this sentence over and over, but it never makes any sense.  My best guess is it means something like "He no longer gets to make the call to Bring Down the Pain."


6.  "A set of goggles which give +3 damage while trying to see motion during an eclipse. "  -- What, they work for one week out of every month?  


7.  I'm not sure I understand how the following Secrets interact with the abstract nature of combat, weapons, and armour.  Let's say our combat consists of one player trying to seduce another player, who is attempting to keep his Vow of Chastity.  The attacking player has a weapon of some sort -- a rare seductive perfume, say.  How do the following Secrets come into play?

a.  Secret of Mighty Blow
b.  Secret of Disarm
c.  Secret of Shattering
d.  Secret of the Sudden Knife


8.  "if during the night, the moon is eclipsed by the sun."  This doesn't make any sense.  I would recommend "if during the night, the moon is eclipsed." and leave it at that.



Cheers,
Roger

[James_Nostack]

Hi Roger!  Having spent all of five hours "guiding" The Shadow of Yesterday, I will presume that I qualify as an expert!  Clinton can curse at me if I get it wrong!

1.  "Players can always spend one point from the associated pool to get one bonus die on a Ability Check."  By this is meant (I think) "one *and only one* point."

That's my reading as well.  

3.  Gift Dice suffer some of the same confusion mentioned in #1 -- can they be given out any time, in any amount?

My interpretation is that any number of players can give a single gift die each per roll.

4.  Bringing Down the Pain, Changing Intentions:  "He does not have to state the new intention until the next free-and-clear stage."  How does this interact with the player's ability to quickly change his intention when he becomes Bloodied or Broken?  Does he really get to roll some dice without telling anyone what he's trying to do?

My interpretation is that the harmed character must declare his intention the instant he changes it--because he will be making a roll that round.

5.  " Any successful action taken against the character succeeds when he is broken."  I keep reading this sentence over and over, but it never makes any sense.  My best guess is it means something like "He no longer gets to make the call to Bring Down the Pain."

This is one of the choicer sentences, yes.  And that's basically the penalty: you can't call down the pain when someone does something unfortunate to you.  If they make their roll to burp on you, you have been soundly be-burped.

But it also means you cannot resist anything, even for non-Pain-Bringing situations.  If we're having a casual practice swordfight, and you've already been 'broken' by getting jilted that morning, you might as well not even roll because if I attain any degree of success on my roll, I win.  Your opposition means nothing.

7.  I'm not sure I understand how the following Secrets interact with the abstract nature of combat, weapons, and armour.  Let's say our combat consists of one player trying to seduce another player...

I am almost certain that the four secrets you mention refer to literal weapons.  I think TSoY's extensive team of writers missed a step by referring to harm as "damage" (which carries very literal connotations to gamers) and using the word "weapons" in place of tools.  Secret of the Signature Weapon might work for tools as well, but the ones you mentioned would have to be revised a little bit for more figurative forms of conflict.

[Clinton R. Nixon]

Roger,

Thanks for your questions. I'm only responding to those that need clarification from James' answers.

4.  Bringing Down the Pain, Changing Intentions:  "He does not have to state the new intention until the next free-and-clear stage."  How does this interact with the player's ability to quickly change his intention when he becomes Bloodied or Broken?  Does he really get to roll some dice without telling anyone what he's trying to do?

He gets to act immediately, which means he states this free-and-clear stage. Basically, you don't have to state your intention until the free-and-clear stage in which you can act.

5.  " Any successful action taken against the character succeeds when he is broken."

This sentence hurts everyone. Let me break it down.

If a character is broken, and you get a successful Ability Check against them, and you are in the middle of Bringing Down the Pain, it's over and they lost and whatever you wanted to happen happens. That's all that sentence means.

They can resist Ability Checks when broken, but man, it's hard.

6.  "A set of goggles which give +3 damage while trying to see motion during an eclipse. "  -- What, they work for one week out of every month?  

Different reports on the cosmology vary.

7.  I'm not sure I understand how the following Secrets interact with the abstract nature of combat, weapons, and armour.  Let's say our combat consists of one player trying to seduce another player, who is attempting to keep his Vow of Chastity.  The attacking player has a weapon of some sort -- a rare seductive perfume, say.  How do the following Secrets come into play?

a.  Secret of Mighty Blow
b.  Secret of Disarm
c.  Secret of Shattering
d.  Secret of the Sudden Knife

Here's a dirty secret that will make me lose sales. I wrote this thing over two years, and at first weapons were pointy things and damage was bleeding and I changed that and now some things are awkward.

But, if you can get your head around it, these can work with other things. I've seen Secret of the Sudden Knife used in a social situation with no poking anyone, and I'd allow the others in metaphorical senses outside of physical combat.

You want to read something crazy?

Secret of Inner Meaning
Your character's art carries a meaning beyond the surface. Use any Instinct-based ability at a distance via a piece of your character's art. Cost: 2 Reason.

I made a Secret that you can apparently use for Scrapping via a piece of art. Hey, if you can visualize it, I say go for it.

8.  "if during the night, the moon is eclipsed by the sun."  This doesn't make any sense.  I would recommend "if during the night, the moon is eclipsed." and leave it at that.

You are right. Two (unpaid) editors missed that. It's a fantasy world, though. Who knows?

[Roger]

Thanks, Mr. Nixon!  Many of your answers came down more or less where I would have guessed, but I always like to know what the designer actually "intended" for his game.

A bit like weaselling just a little more Design Diary out of you, I suppose.

Again, thanks for your helpful and rapid response.


Cheers,
Roger