Obligatory Opening Praise: I actually spent a couple of months trying to find a way to combine the best aspects of Heroquest and Riddle of Steel to my liking. Then I found TSoY and realized my efforts were futile. It's good enough that I ain't mad. ;)

Terribly Important Questions

First - if a Secret requires points to activate, are they spent before or after the roll? I'd presume before, otherwise you'd see things like "Rolled an 11 ... rolled a 13 ... rolled a 9 ... rolled an 18; okay, activating the Secret now." But that also makes Secrets an expensive risk. I ask primarily for the Secrets I'm designing for my own campaign.

Second - the text of the Secret of Disarm reads as follows:

"Your character can disarm an opponent, without changing intentions, with a successful Ability Check using a weapon in Bringing Down the Pain."

Does this mean: If I hit someone in combat with an appropriate Ability Check, I can say "Okay, I'm disarming him" instead of doing damage, even if my original intention was "I take a swing at him"?

Thanks!

1. I'm not sure I understand what you're asking. Pool points are deducted when the Secret is activated. Note that a pool serves two completely distinct purposes: giving bonus dice, and powering Secrets. If you activate a Secret that costs 2 Vigor points, you do not gain 2 bonus dice to the check.

2. Yes. If you want to get really literal with the rules, you can disarm your opponent even if your stated intention has nothing do with swordfighting.


PS. I must have a lot more time on my hands than anybody else, to be answering rules questions so often! Yeesh!

James_Nostack wrote: 1. I'm not sure I understand what you're asking. Pool points are deducted when the Secret is activated. Note that a pool serves two completely distinct purposes: giving bonus dice, and powering Secrets. If you activate a Secret that costs 2 Vigor points, you do not gain 2 bonus dice to the check.

2. Yes. If you want to get really literal with the rules, you can disarm your opponent even if your stated intention has nothing do with swordfighting.

Deacon Blues wrote:

James_Nostack wrote:
2. Yes. If you want to get really literal with the rules, you can disarm your opponent even if your stated intention has nothing do with swordfighting.

Slick. Thanks!

Clinton R. Nixon wrote:
Note that "weapon" doesn't have to mean something you hit a guy with. You can invalid someone's writ of law for example.

Deacon Blues wrote:

Clinton R. Nixon wrote:
Note that "weapon" doesn't have to mean something you hit a guy with. You can invalid someone's writ of law for example.

Interesting. I knew "weapon" wasn't limited to "sharp pointy thing" in TSoY, but I figured Secret of Disarm was governed by the You Know What I Meant rule. Obviously, I didn't. ;)

So, if there were a Melee combat specific form of Disarming, would that cost less than the Secret of Disarm (which costs 1 Vigor)? It's still an unusual use of an ability.