How do fine items interact with resist rolls? Like, if you had a leather vest that had silver stitching of runes to protect you from the supernatural, and you were attacked by something supernatural, how would your resist roll take the fine item into account?
How do fine items interact with resist rolls?
How do fine items interact with resist rolls?
Stress cost of the resistance roll is divided by two?
Well in the case you mentioned it might just work like any armor absorbing the stress cost once.
So like an amulet of protection, you just figure it’s ablative and burns off once. If it is NOT a one-shot item, then just recharge it during the recovery action?
I mainly ask because Resist has fewer tools than other system areas. You don’t get adjustment from controlled, risky, or desperate situations, for example (which is where I’d adjust fiction for weapons or tools.) Defensive stuff has fewer tools to work with.
I may be wrong about this, my understanding of the current rules is a little shakey. But resistance is used to reduce the harm, so…perhaps just reduce it more? Keep it fictional?
Dylan Green I think the fictionalization comes in setting up the dice roll, but I’d be reluctant to adjust it after the roll based on fiction.
Like, Heng benjamin suggested that whatever the cost is, you know it will be halved, so you know that before you roll. That’s cool. I’m less okay with adjusting it after involving the dice, or they aren’t doing their job.
Maybe something like -1 stress to resist, or -2 stress if it is fine, or something. Hm.
I guess I’m saying that the GM and player should take the effect of silver rune stitches into account in setting the stakes before dice hit the table rather than after the fact.
Dylan Green I agree, exactly. Where I hesitate is that for weapons and tools, that would come into play by deciding whether it was controlled, risky, or desperate, and thinking of complications.
Resist rolls don’t have contexts and complications, just a number of stress. The only variable I can see is deciding whether the consequence can be avoided or reduced.
Last time you were arguing how resist tests were random and proposed to add degree of resistance. now we have: ok, the shot from this electroplamic snipe is gonna blow your heart. roll nope, nothing happened, you lose 0 stress. You suggested that a resistance roll could only reduce this to a grievous non immediately lethal wound. With the silver coated jacket, maybe this is nothing more than a fleshwound?
Heng benjamin I could totally see agreeing that a wound that would normally be reduced be avoided. Interesting suggestion, that a wound that would be “death or avoid” could become “injury or avoid.” That makes sense too.
Thanks to you, I was thinking of giving threat rating to situations (a desperate fight against two tugs will not have the same level of seriousness of serious consequences than a desperate roll against a crowd of mad possessed whispers).
If this treat rating is formalised, it becomes easy to diminish it by one if you have the good item.
Or you just have Colin great and simpler idea 😉
Heng benjamin One of the things I like about Blades in the Dark is that there is this collection of rules, different ways to mechanize challenges, and you pick what works best for a situation.
Just like you can do a simple roll, or fill a clock, I could see having some resistance aids that are ablative, and others that adjust threat levels. =)
Reducing the consequences is the way to go, IMO. The GM sets the consequences based on the fiction, already. The silver runes are part of that assessment.
John Harper Right, I’m certainly thinking about this from the GM’s point of view. How would a player’s fine defensive item help?
I think it is useful for me to think of making a save or die effect instead be save or damage, with the fiction affecting the framing of the question.
Also the possibility of taking damage instead of facing death or worse, so a fine item can give you a reason NOT to spend the stress to avoid the consequence altogether.
It is interesting.
Maybe think of it the same as a fine offensive item, but in reverse. A fine item increased the effect level of a PC’s action. So a fine defensive item decreases the effect level of a harmful action.
Hm. Effect levels change complications, segments filled in, and level of success. But with resist, I think the only three things you can adjust are what the consequence is if accepted, whether it can be reduced or ignored altogether, and potentially a modifier to the die roll. It seems like a different set of tools to work with.
I mean, you can always adjust the fiction. That’s not mechanical. I also get not wanting to adjust the die roll.
Anyway, just thinking through how it works. It seems to me the main impact of a defensive item is fictional, rather than having some of the mechanical heft of other kinds of objects. I’m not sure that’s bad. I just want it straight in my head.
It’s mechanical if Level 3 harm becomes Level 2 harm.
It’s mechanical if a complication clock gets 1 tick when it might otherwise get 2 or 3.
Same as an offensive item, in reverse, right?
I see! I was just thinking of overall reducing from “Take the complication” to “Take a lesser version.” I wasn’t even thinking in terms of harm levels.
These online discussions are very useful to me. =)
Me too! 🙂