Hey folks, I ran a character/world creation session for two friends last week for Paladin. We improvised a couple of scenes to try out the mechanic (which went great, we were all really taken with how it worked) and are all looking forward to starting the adventure proper this Thursday night.

I’ve searched through the threads but still have one or two questions I was hoping to ask:

Are the dice that weapons get (for being weapons) in addition to the dice you get for using your Arms skill?

So if I had Arms in sword and was swinging my sword about would I be rolling Flesh Attribute + Arms + Weapon Bonus?

So in the Boxer Rebellion campaign (which is what we’re following), when our Paladins are fighting open hand they’re rolling Active Flesh + Arms but no weapon bonus. But if for some reason they grab a weapon in the heat of the battle they’d be rolling Active Flesh + Weapon bonus but no Arms yep?

Are we (my buddies and I) right in thinking that the kind of spirit of the game is that you stick to the weapon you have Arms in as a kind of order thing (even if its not explicitly one of your order laws).

From a gm point of view it looks easy for players to gain dark animus without me having to set up tailor made opportunities: we discovered that we could break some of our order’s laws just by activating Dark attributes in a conflict. The key seems to be if you want something badly enough (even good things), then you’re at risk of going over to the Dark side. With Light animus am I right in thinking that I’ll be much more responsible for providing the players with situations where they can earn it? (Or at least turning the situations they enjoy into opportunities for Light Animus). What kind of ratio of light to dark should be up for grabs? Do you offer a equal chance for redemption everytime they build up some Dark animus, or do you make it obvious that there will be one big opportunity per session (or even adventure) that will probably be the main source of Light animus?

Thanks folks,

Tony

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Edited for bad spelling Wed 15th Jan

Hey Folks,

One more question I forgot to ask: spending Dark Animus in a conflict also simultaneously drains Light animus on a one-for-one basis. Does this also apply when spending Dark Animus to increase Dark Attributes?

Cheers,

Tony

Tony,

Thanks for the questions. I'm glad to see someone playing Paladin.

Weapons and Arms do add together - when the weapon is appropriate. In the Boxer Rebellion setting, no weapons actually work with the Arms ability, as it represents martial arts. (One idea I just had, for a really over the top game, is to let the characters discover lost martial arts moves through play that work as 1-3 dice weapons, so their 'weapon' might be Flying Snake Poison Strike or something.)

You've got Dark and Light Animus gain opportunities down. Dark Animus is something that can be dipped into at any time with relative ease, while the gain of Light Animus is something that should really be worked for. The GM shouldn't have to work to hard to give characters opportunties to gain Light Animus - if the characters aren't in constant danger, then the players can put them there pretty easily.

As for spending Dark Animus - yes, any time it's spent, Light Animus is drained.