OOC Chatter

@Totes_McGee , before SF tries something clever, I suppose I should find out where she is.

Oh, cool! That’s the first time a PC pumped.

Does that mean High-Flying will be down from 4 to 2? (On a winning roll.)

Yeah, though it lasts for a single round of combat before the Cliché damage occurs.

Oh, I see. So even defending, you get +2 dice.

Indeed! Though I think I (wrongly) applied the cliche damage instantly when the last (and only) NPC pumped...which was Mr. Johnson?

But the rules state that would only happen for a non-combat "single significant roll." For combat, the pump lasts one round, as Eltesla stated.

And don't forget about inappropriate cliches! I haven't. 😈

Yeah…Small Fry (by design) is better at defending herself than attacking.

One question: does losing all dice from one iché spell defeat? Or is defeat when you have no dice in any appropriate cliché?

From the Risus rules, page two:

"However, anytime a character has a Cliche worn down to zero dice in combat, he's been defeated, even if he has other Cliches left to play with."

So appropriate or inappropriate doesn't matter. Down to zero dice for a cliche? Defeated!

IMO, defenders have an advantage in this system. They can look at the attacker's roll and decide to pump or use an inappropriate cliche.

Oh… so that actually makes a 1D cliché useless! Ha.. I was thinking I could sacrifice that die by pumping Strength when I can’t win with a good die.

(Well… my stat choice wasn’t strategic. But now I know what not to do, strategically-speaking!)

For combat, yeah, 1D isn't ideal. But it can be helpful for Target Number rolls, which are supposed to scale based on the cliche's applicability to the task.

Say you're trapped in a adamantine-barred dungeon cell, but have Novice Lockpicker (1). Even though 1D is a "putz," the Target Number roll to pick the lock would be low, to match your knowledge. Like a 5, which is still "a challenge for a schmuck."

But say you have Power Gauntlet Hands (4). Obviously, you ain't picking any locks. While you'd be able to effectively bludgeon stuff in combat, the target number for lockpicking would be high, like a 20!

Here's a useful site to play around with the probabilities for this stuff. Also this one.

Or to apply it to this game, when Small Fry shrank and entered the facility...sure, she can't be seen by the naked eye, but she has no "true" stealth capabilities. Her body temp/energy signature/whatever, however tiny, can still be detected by a robust enough scanning system.

(And you rolled a 9, so even if I was being generous and set the target to 10 [90% chance of success], you would've failed anyway. Not to rub salt on the wound....)

Meanwhile, Rocketeer's techonopathy fitted her hacking goal. 9>7, but Rocketeer had a less challenging task, according to cliches.

Which brings me to a question: do you want me to list Target Number requirements, or have it continue to be a mystery-GM-behind-the-screen thing?

I have no problem showing them, but being the nature of PbP, it'll often be done after you've already rolled, since I can't plan for everything you'll attempt. We're not sitting around a table where we can spitball ideas back and forth easily. Sure, you could ask what the target would be before rolling, but that would slow the game down considerably.

But if some of you want to min/max to the max, we can figure something out.

Let me know!

I like keeping the target number behind the curtain.

Same here. I think it adds more tension.

Keep it secret. Keep it safe!

3-0 in favor of secrecy? So be it!

Just to check my understanding of the rules, since the Lightning Strike unit had 2D and was pumped, it would have been defeated had I done nothing, right?

(I thought that to be the case, but doing something was more fun. Hence my asking after the post.)

Yeah, that's right.

And your character wouldn't know when exactly your enemies would be defeated, so just keeping attacking!

I set up my roll table so I can un-check any dice I lose. The number before the "d6" is a variable equal to the number of checks… although I should add to the max # for pumping.

@Totes_McGee ,
SF’s words address everyone. However, if the 3d6 roll must target a single group, then it’s the Gung-Ho that SF is trying to talk down. (The Timid probably don’t need convincing.)

Oh, nice! I was wondering if I shoulda pumped, knowing it was 3d6 vs. 3d6!

And even if the -5 applies, I got him. (Haha, shoulda burned his moustache instead!!)

Oh wow.. so an inappropriate cliché is -3 dice if the attacker loses, but if the defender still loses one die? I thought the defender was taking a 3-die risk as well. But that’s good to know, since I’m probably going to need an inappropriate cliché to defend myself next round (unless someone can finish Raines, now that he only has one die in both stats).

Yup. From the rules:

"The 'inappropriate' player takes no such risk, and loses only one die if he loses the round. Thus, a creative hairdresser is dangerous when cornered and attacked unfairly. Beware."

And it's not just defense. Someone can attack you with an inappropriate cliche, and if you defend with an appropriate cliche, you're in danger of losing 3 dice.