Rules Questions

Since the books out now, I thought it might be useful to have a thread where people can ask questions about rules they don't understand, etc.

My first question:

Manifestations are ranked 1-5, and Keys are 1 or 0, you either have them or you don't.

However, with the Manifestation powers, it seems as though you only actually get useful powers once you get 2 dots in that Manifestation. Are you meant to add 1 for the Key, or is the first dot in a given Manifestation just to unlock it, and has no power until you get to the 2nd rank?

I wondered that myself while flipping through trying to determine what goes on the sheet.

So good question. I'd like to know as well.

Ahhh, I've figured it out!

Some Manifestations do indeed have dot 1 powers, but those are ones specific to your Keys. If a Manifestation doesn't have a 1 dot power, look at the first several paragraphs of the general Manifestation, and the 1 dot power is written up there.

Pays to actually read it properly ;)

Interesting. Well, glad you got it figured out then.

Correct. You never unlock a Manifestation without a Key, and consequently the actual effects of a Manifestation power (beyond basics like range, area, etc.) are determined by the Key you use.

Kordeth:

Correct. You never unlock a Manifestation without a Key,and consequently the actual effects of a Manifestation power (beyond basics likerange, area, etc.) are determined by the Key you use.

It wasn't that which was confusing me. It was that some powers, like Boneyard, don't have a 1 dot power under the Keys sections. I hadn't noticed the 1 dot power wasn't really related to the keys, so it was in the starting paragraph of the Manifestation.

Yeah, the Boneyard is a little bit weird in that respect. All the basic Boneyards do the same thing--let you sense what's going on in the area of the Boneyard--the Keys just determine when you get bonuses to the area of effect. Most of the other Manifestations kind of tuck the 1st-level effect in with the Key description.

Another slightly unusual example is Oracle, where all the Elemental Oracles function identically (astral projection) and only the method of unlocking them is different. And totally awesome.

Chaka:

Another slightly unusual example is Oracle, where all the Elemental Oracles function identically (astral projection) and only the method of unlocking them is different. And totally awesome.

I was skim-reading the book last night after picking up my copy and came across this point... The rules for astral projection refer to taking enough damage so as to become unconscious, yet the game states in multiple places throughout the book that Sin-Eaters cannot be made unconscious due to their geists' intervention. Does anyone have a page reference on something I've missed that would explain the discrepancy?

Neisseria:

Does anyone have a page reference on something I'vemissed that would explain the discrepancy?

It's just describing theamount of damage (aka full bashing damage), as you fall unconscious if the power succeeds, and then youregain the health when you wake up. This is the only time a geist can go unconsious I believe.

MILLANDSON:

It's just describing theamount of damage (aka full bashing damage), as you fall unconscious if the power succeeds, and then youregain the health when you wake up. This is the only time a geist can go unconsious I believe.

Fair enough. That's what I assumed it meant, but a second opinion is always good in case there was something I'd missed! Thanks.

Anyone else got questions they'd like answering? I'll cover pretty much anything.

Well...
How much ways have the Sin Eaters for healing themselves?

Sin-Eaters have a few ways of healing.

One, by absorbing damage at the time of attack.
- Sin-Eaters can spend 1 Plasm to ignore a point of damage done to them.  These over-written damage points are marked as a dot, not an x or / or *.  Dots get over-written, so if I have one dot and then someone hits me again, the bashing just goes right on top of the dot.  If, at the end of a scene, you've still got any dots left, they become Bashing.

Two, by killing people
- Sin-Eaters regain Health for intentionally and purposefully killing someone.

Three, by destroying mementos (?)
- I don't really remember exactly if this is true, but I think that a Sin-Eater can regain life by destroying a Memento.

Four, by performing a ritual
- There's a 4-dot Ceremony that allows Sin-Eaters to heal each other.  This is probably going to mandatory for one person to have in most Krewes.

I'm not sure if any Manifestations have any sort of healing/regeneration/anything, but those are the main ways I've seen.

Remember, by killing people to be healed, you autmatically lose a point of Synergy. Also, yes, you can destroy a memento to get health back, you regain double to number of merit points in your Memento merit as health.

You can also regain health through the Elemental Oracle Manifestation, and I think there might be other ways too.