[projectaon] Re: Outstanding Errata Sprint (Week 6)
- From: Jonathan Blake <jonathan.blake@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: projectaon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 23 Jun 2011 10:15:59 -0700
Draft IV (only getting longer because of expanded argumentation for
the alternatives, but simplified somewhat by eliminating the options
that seemed very unlikely):
Weaponmastery bonuses are replaced by Grand Weaponmastery bonuses, not
added cumulatively (cf. Lone Wolf Club Newsletter 28).
There seems to be an inconsistency with the Grand Weaponmastery bonus
for numbers picked from the Random Number Table when using a Bow. If
you have completed previous adventures, already possess the Magnakai
Discipline of Weaponmastery with Bow, and have reached the rank of
Mentora, it seems that you should be able to add 5 to numbers picked
from the Random Number Table (i.e. the basic Weaponmastery with Bow
bonus of 3 added to the Mentora bonus of 2 for all missile weapons).
This is actually higher than the Grand Weaponmastery bonus of 3. One
would imagine that Grand Weaponmastery would be at least as powerful
as Weaponmastery.
The Grand Weaponmastery bonus of 3 also breaks the pattern established
for Weaponskill and Weaponmastery bonuses. The Bow bonus for
Weaponmastery had the same numerical value as the bonus for other
weapons (i.e. both added 3 to the relevant scores). In the only case
where you could use a Bow during the Kai series (The Chasm of Doom,
Sections 207 and 249), having Weaponskill allowed you to add 2, again
mirroring the Weaponskill bonus of 2 for other weapons. If Grand
Weaponmastery followed this pattern, its bonus should have been 5
instead of 3.
Adding to that impression, you are often directed during the adventure
to add 5 when using a Bow if you have Grand Weaponmastery with a Bow.
For all of these reasons, it would be reasonable to expect that the
Grand Weaponmastery bonus should be 5 instead of 3. Perhaps the bonus
of 3 was mistakenly carried over from the text of the previous books
when the author really intended the bonus to be 5.
Another reasonable perspective is to instead assume that the author
intended the Weaponmastery bonus at the Mentora rank to be a 'hidden
loyalty bonus' (cf. Lone Wolf Club Newsletter 28) and therefore the
Grand Weaponmastery bonus of 5 is not a mistake or an inconsistency.
There is a precedent for Grand Master Disciplines lacking capabilities
gained with Kai or Magnakai Disciplines. The Grand Master Discipline
Deliverance also seems to lack a capability that its precursors Curing
and Healing both had: the ability to cure 1 ENDURANCE point per
non-combat section of the books. You only gain this capability if you
possess Healing or Curing from previous adventures. So Grand
Weaponmastery is not the only Discipline which is less powerful that
its precursors.
It also seems unlikely that the Grand Weaponmastery bonus of 3 was a
mistake given that the author had ample opportunity to correct this
error. All sixteen books in the Grand Master and New Order series,
published over an eight year period, contain the same bonus of 3. On
the other hand, a similar error survived throughout those same books.
All original editions described Deliverance as restoring 20 ENDURANCE
points if your COMBAT SKILL is reduced to 8 during combat. This should
almost certainly have been if your ENDURANCE is reduced to 8, not
COMBAT SKILL.
Also, even though you are often directed in the books to add 5 if you
have Grand Weaponmastery with a Bow, even more often, you are directed
to add 3. In one case, you are even directed to add 4 which makes it
seem that the author chose these varying bonuses intentionally.
Certain sections of the books in the New Order series are even worded
as a reminder that the standard bonus is 3 (e.g. Voyage of the
Moonstone, Section 136).
If this seems more reasonable to you and is how you decide to handle
this issue, the bonus of 5 earned in earlier adventures becomes just
another hidden loyalty bonus (cf. Lone Wolf Club Newsletter 28) which
can be used instead of the Grand Weaponmastery bonus of 3.
It is up to you to decide which of these alternatives (or any other
option you devise) makes the most sense to you.
As noted earlier, certain sections direct the reader to use different
bonuses when using a Bow, ranging from 3 to 5, if you have Grand
Weaponmastery with Bow. Depending on your feelings about the previous
issue, this may be the author adjusting the Grand Weaponmastery bonus
on a case-by-case basis (and therefore this bonus should be used
instead of the standard bonus) or an error (and therefore all of these
bonuses should match whatever you decide the Grand Weaponmastery bonus
should be). Again, it is up to you to decide, but it seems most
reasonable to follow the first alternative, to replace the Grand
Weaponmastery bonus with whatever bonus is mentioned in that section.
--
Jon
~~~~~~
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