A few rules questions

[matthijs]

I ran a Sorcerer one-shot yesterday and have a few rules questions:

1. If a character's Confused (by a demon, or by too much boost), do they defend in combat?

2. Exactly when does a character die from damage? For example, is it possible to kill someone in one attack? (I know that penalties > Stamina x 2 mean you need intensive care - but at what point will even that not be enough?)

[matthijs]

And one more, which has probably been answered, but I can't find where:

3. If you get negative dice on a roll, what do you do? Does it work like 0 dice - just add dice to both sides in the conflict until they're both above 0? For example, if I have -2 dice, and you have 3 dice, do we both add 3, so that I roll 1 and you roll 6?

[Ron Edwards]

1. If a character's Confused (by a demon, or by too much boost), do they defend in combat?

Confuse = lose an action, which means their announcement is canceled, which includes the Full Defense announcement.

Therefore the confused character does roll full dice for defense, but not with the +2 associated with Full Defense.

2. Exactly when does a character die from damage? For example, is it possible to kill someone in one attack? (I know that penalties > Stamina x 2 mean you need intensive care - but at what point will even that not be enough?)

If the character needs intensive care and does not get it, he or she dies. How long that takes, and what sort of care is needed, depends on the situation. Matthjis, I'm willing to bet that following combat and after halving the long-term injuries, you and the group could have stated just what the medical condition of the character was, based on what had happened during the fight.

In fact, at that point in play, GM fiat is to be avoided at all costs, specifically, going all weenie and saying "Oh, I guess it's not that bad." This happens to me at convention play, most recently less than two weeks ago.

3. If you get negative dice on a roll, what do you do? Does it work like 0 dice - just add dice to both sides in the conflict until they're both above 0? For example, if I have -2 dice, and you have 3 dice, do we both add 3, so that I roll 1 and you roll 6?

That's exactly right.

Best, Ron

[matthijs]

Thanks! The desire to avoid GM weening is the exact reason I asked for the rules on exactly when a character dies - it's easier to say "you're dead" if the rules back it up.

Shit, I just realized I'd missed the rules on demon fatigue! I just let'em keep using their abilities. But next time... expect major demon whining :)