N.E.W v1.2 Rules questions

Oldtimer · Jan 1, 2018

I backed The Fall of Somerset Landing on Kickstarter and have begun to try out the rules for N.E.W. version 1.2. However, a few rules questions pop up.

1. The rules reference "DEFENSE" on several places (Electrokinetic blast on page 36, Prison tough on page 45, Psychic choke and Psychic push on page 49, Coughing on page 58, The table Skills & Derived Statistics on page 61, final paragraph on page 62, third paragraph on page 63, Cryrokinetic[sic!] blast, Electrokinetic blast, and Electrokinetic fork on page 66, Pyrokinetic blast on page 67, Telekinetic shield and Blink on page 68, Resistance on page 95, table at bottom of page 116, first paragraph on page 119, last paragraph on page 124, and Psionic attacks on page 167). Does this refer to any of the defenses, all fours defenses or how does that work?

2. VITAL DEFENSE is missing from the table at the top of page 64 and the listing of defenses under Checks and attacks on page 65. Since it seems to be a late addition to the game, are there any other places were it should appear? Armour defense mods? Shield defense mods? SOAK?

3. Defensive skills for MENTAL DEFENSE is listed as concentration or meditation on page 62, but the tables on page 61 and page 64 also lists bravery, discipline, religion, conviction, leadership, psychology, and rulership. Which one is correct?

4. The table on page 267 gives size mods to VITAL DEFENSE, but the rules on page 63 does not mention that. Should we use those size mods for player characters as well?

5. Page 31 states "You can take an origin multiple times", but Designing a Career on page 258 states "origins are less restrictive in that regard as they are only taken once" and "Origins, on the other hand, need only one exploit", both of which seems to indicate that can can only take an origin once. Which one is correct?

Finally, an observation regarding skills. I realize that "anything can be a skill", but a bunch of skills are being singled out as defensive skills, a category most characters probably would like to invest in. Shouldn't there be some brief explanation of those skills? E.g. if both acrobatics and dodging works towards your MELEE and RANGED DEFENSES, wouldn't acrobatics (a broad skill) beat dodging (just dodging) as a player choice? And what is the difference between the VITAL DEFENSE skills fortitude and resistance? Especially since "resistance" seems to be a game synonym for SOAK (page 95).

Otherwise it seems a very solid game system. Or maybe I should call it a game system toolbox, since it really invites us to build our own thing with it.

/Mikael

Morrus · Jan 1, 2018

1) When DEFENSE is mentioned on its own, it uses the appropriate DEFENSE for the attack type (see pg 166, which tells you which to use for ranged, melee, area, etc.) It's the GM's call which DEFENSE to ask for, generally, although most of the time it is obvious.

2) No, there are no armor, shield, or SOAK aspects to VITAL DEFENSE.

3) Both are correct. Remember, skills are just keywords -- those are examples of skills you could use, but you can always use any skill that the GM agrees is relevant. If for some weird situation I can't imagine right now it turns out that gardening would be relevant to a DEFENSE against an attack, then that's just fine. While that may be a silly example, its important to remember that a DEFENSE score is just a commonly used attribute check, with an average result. Technically, an attack could be opposed by any relevant attribute/skill combination, but those are the usual ones. I'm quite generous, and allow PCs to use law as a MENTAL DEFENSE skill (righteous conviction, and all that).

4) Page 267 isn't for PCs, it's for monsters/NPCs. Page 63 isn't for monsters/NPCS, it's for PCs. Monster/NPC creation is a lot quicker and simpler than PC creation, although you can always choose to use the full PC method if you prefer.

5) They're typically taken once; there's no real compelling reason to take them more than once; but there's nothing stopping you.

Re. skills, yes, some skills are more useful than others. Knitting isn't all that useful (though you never know when you might need it!), whereas pistols is. They're only keywords, though; some overlap. They don't "do" specific things or generally have specific rules attached to them with a small number of exceptions for some derived stats. The few which are singled out as defensive skills are only done so for convenience so that they can be accessed in place of regular skills. Other than that, they work just like all skills.

Oldtimer · Jan 1, 2018

Thanks for all the answers. That open-ended skill system will take some time getting used to. Especially with players who love to game the system.

/Mikael

Oldtimer · Jan 2, 2018

Another thing that popped up in our playtest: movement in combat. Are there any rules for it, beyond "you can move your speed"? Can you withdraw from melee at no cost? Move past opponents? I found a few universal exploits connected to this, but what would the basic rule be?

Morrus · Jan 2, 2018

Oldtimer said:
Another thing that popped up in our playtest: movement in combat. Are there any rules for it, beyond "you can move your speed"? Can you withdraw from melee at no cost? Move past opponents? I found a few universal exploits connected to this, but what would the basic rule be?

There are no rules beyond “you can move your speed”.

It’s a mobile skirmishy combat system. It is designed to not stick people in place and keep them moving. It’s all about the positioning and tactics.