Post by gamedave on Mar 13, 2008 8:54:35 GMT -5
WotC finally posted another "Jedi Counseling" column:
Q: I have a question about the Force technique Improved Sense Surroundings. Its description says that you can "use the sense surroundings ability of the Use the Force skill (see page 77) as a free action rather than a swift action." Since there is no specific limit on how many free actions you can take (or when you can take them), it seems that you could make this Use the Force check over and over again, as many times as you wanted. Because you could theoretically reroll until you rolled a natural 20, this would let you automatically maximize your roll every time and recover all your spent Force powers on top of that!
Would this trick actually work, and if so, shouldn't this be errata?
A: No, it wouldn't work.
First, there's the "unlimited free actions" part. While the rules don't explicitly spell out a specific number you can take in a round, they do make it clear that free actions aren't without limits: "The GM puts reasonable limits on what counts as a free action." It's not that free actions don't require any time or effort; rather, they require so little that it's generally not worth counting. If you do enough of them, they can add up to a significant amount of time such that it is no longer reasonable to continue calling them free actions.
For example, saying a single word or a short phrase (such as calling out to your friends for help) is a free action, but saying a long sentence or more (such as reciting the epic history of the Rodian hunter clans) is not. Could someone then claim to perform 10,000 one-word-long free actions that, in succession, tell the epic history of the Rodian hunter clans? Of course not -- this sequence of "free actions" just simulates a bunch of full-round actions, so the GM is allowed (and expected) to disallow it.
Variant Rule: Free Actions Aren't Free
Each round, a character can perform a number of free actions equal to 1 plus his Charisma modifier or Intelligence modifier (whichever is more), with a minimum of one free action allowed each round. This encourages characters with a higher Charisma or Intelligence -- the leaders and planners -- to coordinate the group even when they don't have any talents that can come into play. Conversely, it encourages the heavy-hitters to "shut up and shoot" instead of trying to overplan their actions, thereby keeping the tempo of the fight moving along.
Second, all of the above is actually moot because sense surroundings only comes into play "when making Perception checks to detect or observe targets." In other words, these two actions are directly linked such that you make the Use the Force check immediately before making the Perception check. You don't get to make multiple Use the Force checks, just as you wouldn't get to make multiple Perception checks to detect a hidden sniper.
Clearly, Perception checks aren't unlimited. Unless the GM calls for a Perception check as a reaction (such as when a new enemy comes into your line of sight or to oppose a Stealth check), you have to spend a higher-value action to initiate a Perception check (such as a standard action to actively search for enemies not in your line of sight or a full-round action to search a square).
Q: If a Jedi had the Quick Draw feat and wanted to draw his lightsaber, would he still have to use another swift action to activate the lightsaber?
A: No. The "draw a weapon" action normally includes everything necessary to render that weapon immediately usable, including deactivating the safety on a blaster pistol and activating a lightsaber or vibroblade. Weapons are designed to be drawn and armed very quickly, so the GM generally shouldn't require a separate action unless there's some unusual difficulty in play (such as when the wielder isn't proficient with the weapon). Similarly, you don't have to spend a separate action to deactivate or disarm a weapon when you holster it.
However, it is important to note that this applies only to the actual "draw or holster a weapon" action (that is, moving the weapon either to or from a holster, hanger, sling, and so on). It does not apply when picking up or dropping a weapon, nor does it apply when using the Stealth action to use sleight of hand to get the weapon in your hand without attracting attention. In these cases, you're not getting the weapon in your hand as efficiently as you would when drawing or holstering it.
OK, so we now have the official ruling - Quick Draw is actually useful for lightsabers. If/when we play Dawn of Defiance again, I might actually pick this up for my Jedi. BTW, can anybody find any reference in the rules to blasters having safeties, or having to be activated or deactivated when being drawn/holstered? I like the ruling (Quick Drawing a lightsaber includes activating it), but the rationale seems to rely on rules that aren't actually in the rules.
Q: Can you use serenity to get an automatic natural 20 when using a vehicle weapon? If so, doesn't this make it devastatingly good?
A: This isn't clear in the text, but the answer is no.
Serenity says that "your first attack roll . . . made in the following round is considered to be a natural 20." This use of "your" was intentional, an artifact left over from earlier phrasing that made this point more clear: Any reference to "your attack roll" means that it applies only to a personal, hand-held weapon, but a reference to "an attack" (or attack roll) is not limited this way.
As described on page 144 of the Saga Edition rulebook, "Your attack roll with a ranged weapon is 1d20 + base attack bonus + Dexterity modifier + range penalty (if any)." However, on page 167, it says that "An attack roll with a vehicle weapon is . . . 1d20 + base attack bonus + vehicle's Intelligence modifier + range modifier." This difference in phrasing was intentional and meant to show that two different processes were occurring. Since an attack with a vehicle weapon is never made as "1d20 + base attack bonus + Dexterity modifier + range penalty," it is never technically "your attack roll" (first or otherwise), and thus it can't benefit from serenity. (The Force power battle strike is another example of this.)
Originally, this was part of the justification for why Luke had to turn off his targeting computer to use the Force and blow up the Death Star. With the targeting computer off, the proton torpedoes basically became improvised ranged weapons, and he was limited to a very short-range shot (within the same starship-scale square) due to the lack of computer assistance. However, Luke could use his personal ranged attack bonus and thus qualify for using a Destiny Point (or even battle strike, which we originally considered making his first Force power).
Obviously, this explicit distinction was lost while condensing everything to fit in the available page count, but the remnants of it ("your attack roll") are still there.
Huh. That still isn't terribly clear. Apparently you can't use Battle Strike - or a Destiny Point! - with vehicle weapons. Would have been nice for that to have been made clear in, you know, the rules. Or at least the vehicles sourcebook. Our whole ambush-the-drug runners encounter last session would have played out much differently if we had used these rules. I especially like how players and GMs were supposed to have picked up on the vital technical distinction between "your attack roll" and "an attack roll", which apparently makes a huge difference. Did anybody notice this? Is there anything remotely resembling this explanation in the actual rules? Or were we supposed to intuit this with our Force powers?
Q: I have a question about the Force technique Improved Sense Surroundings. Its description says that you can "use the sense surroundings ability of the Use the Force skill (see page 77) as a free action rather than a swift action." Since there is no specific limit on how many free actions you can take (or when you can take them), it seems that you could make this Use the Force check over and over again, as many times as you wanted. Because you could theoretically reroll until you rolled a natural 20, this would let you automatically maximize your roll every time and recover all your spent Force powers on top of that!
Would this trick actually work, and if so, shouldn't this be errata?
A: No, it wouldn't work.
First, there's the "unlimited free actions" part. While the rules don't explicitly spell out a specific number you can take in a round, they do make it clear that free actions aren't without limits: "The GM puts reasonable limits on what counts as a free action." It's not that free actions don't require any time or effort; rather, they require so little that it's generally not worth counting. If you do enough of them, they can add up to a significant amount of time such that it is no longer reasonable to continue calling them free actions.
For example, saying a single word or a short phrase (such as calling out to your friends for help) is a free action, but saying a long sentence or more (such as reciting the epic history of the Rodian hunter clans) is not. Could someone then claim to perform 10,000 one-word-long free actions that, in succession, tell the epic history of the Rodian hunter clans? Of course not -- this sequence of "free actions" just simulates a bunch of full-round actions, so the GM is allowed (and expected) to disallow it.
Variant Rule: Free Actions Aren't Free
Each round, a character can perform a number of free actions equal to 1 plus his Charisma modifier or Intelligence modifier (whichever is more), with a minimum of one free action allowed each round. This encourages characters with a higher Charisma or Intelligence -- the leaders and planners -- to coordinate the group even when they don't have any talents that can come into play. Conversely, it encourages the heavy-hitters to "shut up and shoot" instead of trying to overplan their actions, thereby keeping the tempo of the fight moving along.
Second, all of the above is actually moot because sense surroundings only comes into play "when making Perception checks to detect or observe targets." In other words, these two actions are directly linked such that you make the Use the Force check immediately before making the Perception check. You don't get to make multiple Use the Force checks, just as you wouldn't get to make multiple Perception checks to detect a hidden sniper.
Clearly, Perception checks aren't unlimited. Unless the GM calls for a Perception check as a reaction (such as when a new enemy comes into your line of sight or to oppose a Stealth check), you have to spend a higher-value action to initiate a Perception check (such as a standard action to actively search for enemies not in your line of sight or a full-round action to search a square).
Q: If a Jedi had the Quick Draw feat and wanted to draw his lightsaber, would he still have to use another swift action to activate the lightsaber?
A: No. The "draw a weapon" action normally includes everything necessary to render that weapon immediately usable, including deactivating the safety on a blaster pistol and activating a lightsaber or vibroblade. Weapons are designed to be drawn and armed very quickly, so the GM generally shouldn't require a separate action unless there's some unusual difficulty in play (such as when the wielder isn't proficient with the weapon). Similarly, you don't have to spend a separate action to deactivate or disarm a weapon when you holster it.
However, it is important to note that this applies only to the actual "draw or holster a weapon" action (that is, moving the weapon either to or from a holster, hanger, sling, and so on). It does not apply when picking up or dropping a weapon, nor does it apply when using the Stealth action to use sleight of hand to get the weapon in your hand without attracting attention. In these cases, you're not getting the weapon in your hand as efficiently as you would when drawing or holstering it.
OK, so we now have the official ruling - Quick Draw is actually useful for lightsabers. If/when we play Dawn of Defiance again, I might actually pick this up for my Jedi. BTW, can anybody find any reference in the rules to blasters having safeties, or having to be activated or deactivated when being drawn/holstered? I like the ruling (Quick Drawing a lightsaber includes activating it), but the rationale seems to rely on rules that aren't actually in the rules.
Q: Can you use serenity to get an automatic natural 20 when using a vehicle weapon? If so, doesn't this make it devastatingly good?
A: This isn't clear in the text, but the answer is no.
Serenity says that "your first attack roll . . . made in the following round is considered to be a natural 20." This use of "your" was intentional, an artifact left over from earlier phrasing that made this point more clear: Any reference to "your attack roll" means that it applies only to a personal, hand-held weapon, but a reference to "an attack" (or attack roll) is not limited this way.
As described on page 144 of the Saga Edition rulebook, "Your attack roll with a ranged weapon is 1d20 + base attack bonus + Dexterity modifier + range penalty (if any)." However, on page 167, it says that "An attack roll with a vehicle weapon is . . . 1d20 + base attack bonus + vehicle's Intelligence modifier + range modifier." This difference in phrasing was intentional and meant to show that two different processes were occurring. Since an attack with a vehicle weapon is never made as "1d20 + base attack bonus + Dexterity modifier + range penalty," it is never technically "your attack roll" (first or otherwise), and thus it can't benefit from serenity. (The Force power battle strike is another example of this.)
Originally, this was part of the justification for why Luke had to turn off his targeting computer to use the Force and blow up the Death Star. With the targeting computer off, the proton torpedoes basically became improvised ranged weapons, and he was limited to a very short-range shot (within the same starship-scale square) due to the lack of computer assistance. However, Luke could use his personal ranged attack bonus and thus qualify for using a Destiny Point (or even battle strike, which we originally considered making his first Force power).
Obviously, this explicit distinction was lost while condensing everything to fit in the available page count, but the remnants of it ("your attack roll") are still there.
Huh. That still isn't terribly clear. Apparently you can't use Battle Strike - or a Destiny Point! - with vehicle weapons. Would have been nice for that to have been made clear in, you know, the rules. Or at least the vehicles sourcebook. Our whole ambush-the-drug runners encounter last session would have played out much differently if we had used these rules. I especially like how players and GMs were supposed to have picked up on the vital technical distinction between "your attack roll" and "an attack roll", which apparently makes a huge difference. Did anybody notice this? Is there anything remotely resembling this explanation in the actual rules? Or were we supposed to intuit this with our Force powers?