Maxperson
Morkus from Orkus
Yeah. I said that a few posts ago. That still doesn't make them equal.
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What is the point of GM's notes?
- Thread starter pemerton
- Start date
It's not about equal, that's a canard, it's about them being similar mechanically (or even the same mechanically) which they are.
Maxperson
Morkus from Orkus
Nothing about a lore check causes the PC to go back in time to set something up that will affect the current situation if successful. It's not a flashback, it's a memory and even if successful, often doesn't affect the current situation at all. They are not the same.
You have, at some unspecified time, as your character, learned X that is now pertinent to the situation at hand. You are now via a mechanic, deciding that at some previous point you did indeed learn X. Time travel accomplished. You might not like that it's the same, but it really is.
Maxperson
Morkus from Orkus
No. It MAY be pertinent. Often it's not.
So you ask for lore checks to know random non-useful things? Wait, just before we enter the dragons lair, I want to roll a lore check to see if I remember what kind of beer gnomes drink during their new years festival.
hawkeyefan
Legend
You didn’t know there was a thing called the Sword of Kas. After an NPC brings up the sword, you go back in time and learn about the sword.
This happens in D&D all the time.
Neither involves the PC going back in time. Stop being silly. In each case, we are determining now that something happened in the past, and that something may inform the present situation. The present situation is what triggered this action.
Both examples require action in the past performed by the PC, which can be described as a memory. The significant difference seems to me to be that in D&D, you need to have selected some skill or ability ahead of time in order to access this option, where as in Blades it’s simply available to all.
As for a successful check not yielding anything useful....that just sounds like some poor GMing, so I don’t see how that’s relevant. A Lore check can fail, so can an Action taken with a Flashback. Roll poorly and maybe the drugs you got were actually Rage Essence, and now not only do the dogs still want to eat you, but they've also gone berserk.
Maxperson
Morkus from Orkus
Just because you find out that something is vulnerable to sound, doesn't mean you can use the information.So you ask for lore checks to know random non-useful things? Wait, just before we enter the dragons lair, I want to roll a lore check to see if I remember what kind of beer gnomes drink during their new years festival.
No, the point of flashbacks is actually if it were reasonable that you could have know something was vulnerable to sound then it is also reasonable that you may have brought something appropriate with you.
Maxperson
Morkus from Orkus
Right. Flashbacks if successful ARE useful. The same cannot be said about lore.
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