Alternate Core Documents

[Kkat]

Major Rules Update, Part Deux:

New Rules Section: Shamanism

Shamanism has been imported into the core rules document, with the following additions to the rules set.

If a shaman has summoned the same type of spirit once already within a day’s time, the spirit will resist (unless the shaman is a tribal shaman whose tribe has pacts with that type of spirit.) If a spirit successfully resists, the shaman cannot summon the same type of spirit again for at least a day.

A buffalo shaman who fails her Barter check should wait at least a day before making another attempt with the same type of spirit. However, she may make a second attempt within the same day at a -20 penalty if she offers a significantly better gift. Fair warning: this is dangerous as a second failed Barter attempt is likely to anger the spirit.

A zebra shaman who fails her Barter check may not attempt to Barter with the same type of spirit for the same talisman again for at least a day.

Only one talisman may be grafted to an item.


And on a similar note, the following has been added to the spell Arcane Mark: The lines of arcane energy created by an arcane mark can be woven into a matrix, making Arcane Mark a valuable spell for Matrix Casters. Weaving an Arcane Mark into a spell matrix requires an additional six casting actions, but grants all involved casters the benefits of Zen Casting while casting through the matrix (if they do not already possess the perk). A talisman with an integrated Arcane Mark will grant a zebra shaman a +5 bonus to her Barter check for enchanting that talisman, +15 if dealing with a spirit of magic.

[Viewing_Glass]

TK Suggestion: Require the strength or agility check to made on the targets turn at a cost of 15 AP per attempt to break free. Otherwise, it gives two ways for TK to fail. This also has the added benefit of making things simpler.

TK Question: In regards to the following:

Opponents in possession of an item may make an opposed test against the caster’s effective Strength using their (Strength+2) to contest the caster’s attempt to manipulate the item.

If an opponent grabbed an object in a Unicorn's TK, would the opponent count as being in possession of the item for this purpose? Or would the opponent have to succeed in a disarm check to remove the item from the unicorn's TK?

[Night Light]

Over the next several weeks, I hope to be working with everyone on fixes for a list of potential problems with the system compiled by Night Light.

Hello everypony, I'm the above-mentioned Night Light. I joined Kkat's RL playtesting group around a month ago and have taken my free time the last few days to look through the system, pulling out aspects of it that seem unbalanced or 'unfun' (or that just had grammer problems or typos) and bringing them to Kkat's attention. Kkat has already taken a whole lot of my comments and made some solid changes made based off of them (Spell changes, the new SPECIAL and Skill Enhancement rules, Luck rolls in feats/spells, inadvertently the changes to One Trick Pony, etc). What's left of our discussions based on my review are a number of my questions and comments that Kkat thinks should have group review and comment before any changes are made (if any). I've posted these questions and comments below for convenience and ease of discussion. Bold quotes represent sections taken from or areas referenced within the documents, followed by my question/comment. Please feel free to ask me any questions you may have.

Fallout Equestria: PNP Review

“Built to Destroy: All weapons have +3% chance to Critical Hit, but equipment condition decays faster (dropping one level after every two critical failures rather than every three).”

Unless I’m misunderstanding how critical failures work and how rare they are, this trait may be slightly out of line power-wise with some of the other perks. Especially given it’s a full-on perk just to get a +4% crit chance.

“Charging: ...but you take 15 AP to safely slow down as per Sprinting...”

Alright, but what if you choose not to safely slow down? Like, drop-and-slide kind of maneuver to just use the AP to take shots/cast magic with? Would you take half of your END + (AGI x 2) as damage (as per ending a charge with a Slam, sans the actual Slam damage)? Possibly/probably ending up prone?

Alchemy and Chemistry Review

"Alchemy and Chemistry: ...Rainboom, Balefire Bender, and Flash..."

What are the addiction rates for these drugs ? Not noted in the Medicines page.

“Basic Alchemy Recipes...”

Smoke Bombs seems like it should be on the common list,as they’re rather easy to make. Not a huge note, figured I should make it though.

Unicorn Magic Review

“Shield:...”

Nothing in this spell notes you couldn't walk right through it. Heck, melee attacks can go through it without breaking it, so you could easily argue that you could at least push yourself through with a check vs Strength.

“Spirit of Whispers: Weapons imbued with.... Characters wearing clothing imbued with....”

What about items like doors or robots? Seems easier than silencing an explosive, which this spell could definitely do. Given it can do weapons, vehicles seem like a likely candidate as well.

Perk Review

“Cannibal”

Why do you need a perk to be able to eat someone? The "pony-flesh" item within the item docs already grants 20 health (not noting it requires a perk), and this perk notes it as 25. I could see the perk making pony-flesh (or gryphon or dragon or whatever) restore more hit points or perhaps give some additional bonuses after eating it, like Yao Guai flesh. Minor note as I imagine it's (hopefully) mostly an enemy perk, just thought it should be made.

“Bonsai”

This perk is really weird. Kkat mentioned a dislike for it, but even if it's kept it might be worth including the rate at which you can harvest fruit from it.

“Cooler Under Fire: You regenerate SATS Action Points faster. How much faster? You guessed it: 20% faster!”

This perk currently doesn't do anything.

“Action Filly: You know your targeting spell like the back of your hoof, making you about 20% cooler in combat. For each level of this perk, you gain +30 max action points in S.A.T.S.”

“Action Filly/Colt: Gain an additional 15 action points”

Both perks (basically) share the same name. Might want to revise one of them.

Items Review

“Hydra: Cure all crippled limbs, 60 caps”

For as good as hydra is, and as rare as the ingredients are, it seems pretty darn cheap

[Viewing_Glass]

Good catches on the rules, Nightlight. Shield really should prevent melee entry like it does in the show.

However, I have updated the FoE Character Sheet 2.0 to include the rules for Rad Sickness, and automatically make the adjustments to your stat block. The stat adjustments are noted in the Additional effects notation. Just be sure to adjust your Rad level appropriately. Link to Sheets: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... XN0E#gid=1

Which brings up an interesting question: Rad Away says it lowers your Rad Sickness by one Step, but...what does that set your Rad Sickness to? If you have 550 Rads and you take some Rad Away, does that set you to 399 Rads, 200 Rads, or somewhere in between?

[AMARDA]

Built to Destroy, in my opinion, works better when it adds a Higher chance of Crit failures instead of more weapon wear. A +3 crit chance is rather painful penalty, and helps offset 10 Luck Build slightly, as a 97 in that case is still a crit fail unlike 100 under the current system. It is the equivalent of +4 Luck as it is.

[Night Light]

Good catches on the rules, Nightlight.

Thanks, Viewing Glass. Enjoying Kkat's game so much, just felt like I should make a contribution.

Shield really should prevent melee entry like it does in the show.

If it would prevent melee entry then it would logically prevent bullet entry as well, as a melee character can certainly pack a whole lot more punch (no pun intended) than an awful lot of guns. That would make Shield nearly as good as the Expert level Alicorn Shield. We also see shots break through Shield spells in FOE without breaking them (such as Velvet Remedy vs the Steel Rangers in the assault on Stable 2) as well as a scene where an alicorn brings up her shield with Littlepip and co inside it and they are able to force their way out of the shielded area.

My suggestion would be to be able to move through a shield with a check vs Strength at a penalty equal to one-half the caster’s (Potency) (minimum 1). Moving through a Basic or Advanced Alicorn Shield could either be done as the same or at a penalty equal to the caster's (Potency) (minimum 1), depending on how difficult it's desired to be. The Expert level Alicorn Shield should obviously be made an exception to this given it stops nearly everything. I think this change would stay true to both the story and the show and would certainly keep Shield a powerful protective measure.

Built to Destroy, in my opinion, works better when it adds a Higher chance of Crit failures instead of more weapon wear.

Agreed, that would certainly offset the power of this trait.

[Kkat]

An alternate rule idea for the Shield dilemma: As a 45 AP action, a character may attempt to push through a magical shield. She must succeed at a Strength check with a penalty equal to the half the caster's Potency (for Basic) or the full caster's Potency (for advanced), with a minimum effective Strength of 1. Against expert Alicorn shield, the alicorn's Potency is considered two higher, and minimum effective Strength is 0.

As for Built to Destroy, the basic idea behind the perk is someone who is more brutal in combat at the cost of significantly greater wear and tear on their equipment. Adding to crit failure chance doesn't really fit the spirit and intention of the trait. Perhaps, instead, add it a penalty to Mechanics rolls to repair the characters equipment? Or even increase weapon degradation to a level every crit failure?

[Viewing_Glass]

An alternate rule idea for the Shield dilemma: As a 45 AP action, a character may attempt to push through a magical shield. She must succeed at a Strength check with a penalty equal to the half the caster's Potency (for Basic) or the full caster's Potency (for advanced), with a minimum effective Strength of 1. Against expert Alicorn shield, the alicorn's Potency is considered two higher, and minimum effective Strength is 0.

As for Built to Destroy, the basic idea behind the perk is someone who is more brutal in combat at the cost of significantly greater wear and tear on their equipment. Adding to crit failure chance doesn't really fit the spirit and intention of the trait. Perhaps, instead, add it a penalty to Mechanics rolls to repair the characters equipment? Or even increase weapon degradation to a level every crit failure?

Interesting idea Kkat, but if they succeed in getting inside the shield, would I have to recast/reshape the shield to get them back on the other side?

As for Built to Destroy, I would run with the penalty to mechanics. Say, a -25 to the Mechanics skill of the pony trying to repair that character's equipment? It would mean that they could never get 'Perfect' quality equipment, and that only the best toaster repair ponies could get the character's equipment to Good Condition.

[Godna]

Strange question, but if you're standing behind a shield that is for example an alicorn has their shield up around them and an opponent tries to shoot through the shield to hit a pony behind it would it have to pierce the shield twice? (one to get inside once to get out?) or say a pony shapes their shield like a wall and folds it over itself like a folded towel?


Oh and can a shield be used as a platform to stand upon?

[SilverlightPony]

Unless otherwise stated, any perk, spell or other effect that directly increases or decreases a SPECIAL cannot increase that SPECIAL higher than 10...

Point of order: As I understand it, in Fallout 3 and New Vegas, SPECIAL stats are hard-capped at 10 and absolutely nothing can push them higher than that. Since this system is largely based of those two games, I would think the same would apply here.

“Shield:...”

Nothing in this spell notes you couldn't walk right through it. Heck, melee attacks can go through it without breaking it, so you could easily argue that you could at least push yourself through with a check vs Strength.

This is why I (and a few others) dislike the current official ruling for the Shield spell, and why we're overriding it with a house rule in Hellgate Canyon group. In the show, the shield is a barrier that seemingly can only be penetrated by something that is explicitly allowed to do so; in FoE, the same generally holds true except when it's hit by something that completely overwhelms it (e.g., Spitfire's Thunder or SteelHooves' arsenal, or the special effect of Hellhound claws, against a typical alicorn shield);

IMHO, the shield should be impenetrable to everything but Hellhound claws and the like unless and until it takes sufficient damage to cause it to collapse (bypass spells and/or extremly powerful [super-alicorn-strength] casting notwithstanding).