mitchw is doing a fantastic job finding typos!!! And he is asking some questions while doing so. Since I didn't start a questions thread this time, I thought that it might be a good idea to answer some of them here.
Before I get to the questions, I did want to make a small comment about the stats issue that mitchw brought up...
Humans have stats in the range of 6 to 20. This was done by design. This is also one of the main reasons why the random roll stat generation method is setup to generate numbers within that range. Earlier incarnations of Novus used a different method that had the average of the stats being way too high overall, and the current method seemed to be the best of the various methods we looked at the last time this came up.
And I really do appreciate the questions and I don't mean to sound off-putting when answering them. If I do, I apologize (and in advance for the questions I answer below).
Note: I do not see prerequisites listed on any talents. I can only find 2 prerequisite requirements in the entire game (Bows for Archery and Basic Martial Arts for Sanju)
Not sure if there are any in the core rules (there might be, but I just didn't point it out explicitly). There are likely more of the same in Libram Novus #3, where we have over 50 more talents. The idea was basically to prepare the way for such to be included later if required....
Note: Is it always 'bows'? So you could not have a ranged specialist with cross-bows, sling, or thrown weapons?
I had thought that I had fixed that... Sheesh.. basically, the player gets to choose 1 type of ranged weapon (bows, crossbows, thrown daggers, etc...) -- essentially a single ranged skill....
Note: Rogue has a slight negative meaning in my experience. With tracking and survival as favored skills, would "Scout" be a better name for this class?
Being discussed in another thread....
Note: on page 85 under the "Base Difficulty Ratings" the TN numbers are listed without a space TN15, TN20, etc. I the text throughout the book they are listed with a space TN 15, TN 20, etc.
Yeah, this is one of those things that I need to get checked for consistency... I am thinking that WITH the space is better than without...
Note: Is 'Wis' the correct stat for Bows?
Yup... IIRC, we went through a similar discussion regarding the stats for combat skills early on in the process.. IIRC, we, at one point, had 2 stats for every skill, but decided that that produced bonuses that were way too high starting off, and was too similar to another game that I was attempting to avoid whenever possible, so we choose what was considered to be the most important stat. And I think that Bows started off with Dex and Wis, and when it came down to it, having the intuitive ability to aim the bow to target where you want the arrow to go (i.e. shooting long range is done in an arc, not a straight shot) was more important than having the manual dexterity to pull the bow...
Note: How does an untrained person punch and kick (in a bar fight for example) when you must have 'basic martial arts' to use the basic unarmed combat rules?
See
Brawling on page 43. - But in short, you can use any of the Basic Unarmed attacks, but your Attack Bonus (AB) is calculated differently when Brawling as opposed to the AB of a trained combatant.
Wrestling/Grappling (Spd - Unarmed)
Note: Is 'spd' correct. I would have thought 'str' more in line with wrestling and grappling.
IIRC, we choose Spd (which is also overall agility) because while Str is good for holds, Spd (i.e. agility) is better for getting the foe into the hold. And you will also notice that the majority of the "wrestling" moves give the foes Saves where the TN of the Save is based on the character's Str....)
Note: What is the difference between Crafting:Healing (found in the Crafting skill description) and First Aid
First Aid is "patch 'em up" (think combat medic), while Craft: Healing is more "doctor"
The two overlap a bit and work well together, but Craft: Healing will involve stuff about diseases, poisons, surgery, etc.. that First Aid doesn't cover....
Navigation
This skill is fully applicable on both land and on water.
Note: What about underground?
I would say that that depends... Is there a way to tell directions underground? I would allow navigation if the character had a compass that told which way was north....
On land and water, one always has the stars (or moss on the north side of trees.... if on land)....
Note: What is a "Skill Maneuver Roll" vs a "Skill Roll"? "Maneuver" is used in several places but not really defined. "Skill Roll" is used much more often.
No difference actually. The system I worked on before writing Novus used the term "Manuever Roll", so any instances are likely simply slips and should be fixed (removing "Manuever"
Extra School of Magic
Note: I can see a Minor Adept becoming a Major Adept but not the other way around. If Major Adept takes this and becomes a Minor Adept, does he loose 5 spell points?
If a Major Adept takes this talent, he does not become a Minor Adept, however, his CP costs for learning spells from that point forward DO change from Mj to Mn (i.e. identical to a Minor Adept).
If a Minor Adept has this talent and upgrades themselves to Major Adept, their CP costs for spells will not change, because they already have THIS talent...
Note: How does 10% translate into game terms? 1AP? -1 on an action? Etc.
Another hold-over from that previous system... I will have to take a closer look and decide how to handle it (as 1 AP is basically the equivalent of 20%)
"oomph!"
This is how it should be, if missing the "!", then THAT is a typo...
Note: How does this help you gauge your opponent? What info do you learn? What bonus does that info give you? As written, it is just a 1 point cheaper version of the "thrust" maneuver.
Will revisit that, you are right that it should give some bonus, even if that Bonus only lasts 1 round...
Should you also be able to do a Shove with a shield?
Another to revisit and clarify -- but, yes, a Shield could be used..
Note that it takes 5 points of AR to negate 1 point of bleeding.
You could drop this line because it does not always seem to be true. For example if it was a 12 point hit and the AR was 3 it would reduce the attack to 9 and only cause one point of bleeding. So you don't always need a full five points of AR.
I think you misinterpreted this slightly....
If a Stab does 12 points of damage, it is converted into 2 points of bleeding and 2 points of hits. The AR is applied AFTER this conversion to bleeding, not before, so, 3 points of AR, would reduce the 2 hits to zero, but would not affect the bleeding at all....
I may need to clarify that AR is applied AFTER the conversion of hits to bleeding...
What does "(DEF 12 + magical bonuses)" mean here? Should it be removed?
A prone character (i.e. laying on the ground has a DEF of only 12 + any magical bonuses, rather than 15 + SPD + shield + special mods from skill ranks, Combat Training, etc...
It was listed there as a reminder of that...
Ranged combat moves
How do these combine? Can you use things like Far Shot, Brace, Set, and Well Aimed Shot on the same attack?
They don't.... However, there is a system for designing combat moves (will eventually be released), and more powerful Moves could be designed....
A called shot to the arms is -4 and to the head is -8. Hands are smaller than either of these. Should the AB for ranged disarm be at least -6 instead of -4?
Good question -- off the top of my head, without giving it any thought, my initial response was that weapons are usually larger, but then giving it the tiniest bit of thought, I was thinking that perhaps weapon size should be a factor (i.e. -4 for medium/large weapons (shooting a huge weapon, which is 2 handed) will not disarm foe, though he might lose grip for a moment with one hand), and then -6 for small weapons, -8 for tiny.....
just a thought....
Should this section say that all attacks to basic and scaled damage unless the combat move says differently?
Does it need to? We state it at the beginning of the chapter...
Does basic kick and basic punch do basic scaled damage or should they both say basic damage only.
Lists Base Damage because it isn't listed elsewhere like weapons have their Base Damage listed elsewhere (had to put it someplace). All moves that do not do Scaled Damage specifically state that...
How far can the 'jump' portion of the action move the attacking character before the attack?
Flying Kick needs to be reworded, so that the actual distance jumped is considered to be part of the distance that the character must start from the foe (i.e. character must start running at foe from a minimum distance of 10'. He runs and then jumps into the air, and kicking his foe."
Is that a 'basic grapple' attack or any grapple attack the character knows? How many AP can they spend on this free grapple?
the description says "basic hold pinning 2 arms" that is essentially just a Basic Grapple -- I will need to clarify...
Are there any rules for being pushed into some one or some thing?
no, and I am not really wanting to add any as the shove is not intended to do any sort of damage (i.e. being shoved into a wall won't hurt -- but a slam could be defined as "shoving foe into the wall"), especially if I reword it slightly to allow for that...
If the foe makes the save and does not end up prone, did he actually take the damage?
Again, I will need to reword Slams, so as to remove any ambiguity
What is the skill or requirements for 'meditating'? How is meditating different from "resting, laying still and not exerting any energy"?
Hmm... I want to leave meditating, so I might need to add a talent for it (perhaps basic Save vs Will (TN 15) to enter trance, 2 hours in trance equivalent to 3 hours of sleep, allows for SP recovery as if sleeping...)
To use Essential Salts in place of mana (i.e. as Spell Points), the character must make a Save vs. Will (TN 15).
If the Save fails, can they go ahead and pay the mana cost to continue the spell? Does this Save take any time or is it just part of casting the spell?
Failed Save results in character spending their own mana or spell failing if not enough mana -- I need to clarify this...
Could the caster expend extra mana to make it harder to cast a counterspell?
Initial instinct says to say no, otherwise I can foresee potential abuse, unless we also raise the CTN at the same time, so that it is treated as if using Casting options....
Perhaps increase CTN by 2 for every extra point of Mana spent on making the spell harder to counter (i.e. it also makes it harder to cast...)
The Minor and Major Adept talents do not say that you must be a Mage to take them. Can a Rogue or Fighter not take an Adept talent?
Yes, a Fighter or Rogue or any other character could take those talents.... However, consider the costs of the talents.
Is there an upper limit on how many extra APs a target can receive? Should this spell have an area affect Casting Option?
I specifically decided against putting an upper limit on how many extra AP may be acquired. Each +2 AP requires +6 to the CTN of the spell, and +2 SP, so a spell which grants a character +6 AP (11 AP in total) would have a CTN of 38 and a SP costs of 8 SP.
And I also deliberate didn't add an area effect option to this, as I wanted to be sure that there was less chance of abuse overall...
Shield Spell -- How many attacks can this affect in one round? How far around the caster can it move in one round?
A shield adds a flat bonus to the character's DEF against all attacks from the front, so the shield will also add a static bonus to all attacks from the front (since the spell specifies that it floats in front of him). See the hex diagram on page 43 (the control zone is considered to be the character's front...
It is presumed that characters will turn to face foes if they can, but unusual circumstances (multiple foes, surprise, etc..) may alter this..
What does "(C)" indicate here?
the "(C)" should be removed, it is another hold-over. It basically means that the spell lasts 10 minutes, but is only active while caster is concentrating on it..
