Ask a question, get an answer

[Chausse]

Hm I'm sorry I'm not sure your answers are compatible, I guess JohnDoe makes more sense though

[JohnDoe244]

Hm I'm sorry I'm not sure your answers are compatible, I guess JohnDoe makes more sense though

There's possibly a difference between being Blind and the exact mechanical effect of a given Charm. Natural language and all.

Or Vance is wrong (they do say Ask the Devs isn't official errata).
Or I'm wrong (I have been known to make mistakes, from time to time).

I personally think it makes sense than being Blind lowers your defence, and the Corebook has rules to support realising this in play.

[The Wizard of Oz]

Oh, honestly I think John's suggestion does make more sense, I just thought I should say what the developer said. It may be a balance thing.

[Chausse]

Well it's obvious that a penalty to defense is much more penalizing than to attack, hence my question. I was sure it was the case for injuries, but for others I didnt remember

[The Wizard of Oz]

If you think -3 Defence is too punitive and -0 Defence silly, you could have them take -3 to the dice pool used to calculate Defence. It's a bit annoying if you suddenly have to calculate it in the middle of combat, but not a huge deal.

[JohnDoe244]

If you think -3 Defence is too punitive and -0 Defence silly, you could have them take -3 to the dice pool used to calculate Defence. It's a bit annoying if you suddenly have to calculate it in the middle of combat, but not a huge deal.

I really feel like all penalties should apply to the pool.

RAW they apply straight to the value, but that basically means doubling the value of the penalty. Which is really harsh. Plus it means a -1 Wound Penalty means more to the character with an odd number of dice in the pool, making the extra even die do something.

[The Wizard of Oz]

I really feel like all penalties should apply to the pool.

This is how they worked in 2nd ed, and it was more... balanced, I guess? Less death-spirally? But it's just a hassle to work out in the middle of combat, everyone's going back and recalculating their pools, whereas if -1 Wound Penalties give you -1 Defence, it's simpler.
Not a huge difference, but there's enough cognitive load in 3rd ed in combat anyway.

making the extra even die do something.

Generally speaking, it gives you a higher excellency cap.

A Solar with Dex+Dodge 7 has Evasion 4 and can buy +3.
A Solar with Dex+Dodge 8 has Evasion 4 and can buy +4.

That doesn't always apply exactly to other splats though.

[Blaque]

My understanding was that penalties apply directly to Defense values to make them more significant on purpose. That some Solar Charms kind of trivialize them kind of to me is a bit where they overshot on the Charms end more.

[Amdramnar]

Has anyone written a basic guide to persona? I have read a lot of the reviews and question/answer threads but these seem more toward how to go beyond the basics. I am interested in a basic understanding of the charms, their interactions, and a good starting character designs.

I have read most of the threads out there but they are more geared toward a good understanding of the basics. Our group is used to less complicated games but are thinking about giving this a try.

A lot of the discussions seem based upon the persona and different intimacies. What about using the persona to fill any unfilled roles in our group (stealth, investigation, etc.)?

[Kelly Pedersen]

Has anyone written a basic guide to persona?
[...]
What about using the persona to fill any unfilled roles in our group (stealth, investigation, etc.)?

I don't know of any basic guides, but I can try to give the basics. I haven't played or run anyone who dipped heavily into the persona charms, mind, so this is all based on just reading the charms in the book.

Heart-Eclipsing Shroud is the basic charm of the whole persona tree that everything else builds off, so you'll have to take it. It lets you create different personas with different intimacies and effectively different personalities from yourself.

Hundred-Faced Stranger is where you can start customizing the actual stats of your personas. It lets you pick new favored Abilities, convert your dots in a variety of Abilities into others, and gives half your XP to the other personas to buy more Abilities. Note that by my read of the charm, you have to choose one of each of the pairs of Integrity or Presence, Bureaucracy or Linguistics, and Ride or Sail when choosing how many dots you get in other Abilities - so, if you have Integrity 5 and Presence 4, that would only contribute 5 dots to your pool, not 9.

Legend Mask Methodology lets you buy different charms than your main personality has, allowing you to really customize your personas. This is where it really starts getting useful to fill various niches in your group. It does make it more likely that a persona's Intimacies will bleed back into your main personality, though.

Draw The Curtain increases the percentage of XP your personas gain, allowing them to get more powerful.

At Your Service lets you create a temporary persona on the fly, customized to meet the needs of a target. The elements of this persona have to be drawn from your existing main personalities and personas, so if you want to create a master sea captain for someone, one of your personas should have good Sail and some charms for it, for instance.

Fugue-Empowered Other lets you borrow the Ability rating and any charms from that ability from another persona for a single tick. So if you're a gentile scholar, but you happen to have a persona who's a dashing sword-maid, you can borrow her Melee 5 rating when you need to attack the ninjas that have just broken into the library, without having to spend the hours it requires to switch personas completely. The duration means you can't rely very much on this for long term actions, though. Don't start a fight planning on borrowing the fighter-persona's skill for multiple attacks!

Soul Reprisal saves you from death once a story by "killing" your main personality and replacing it with one of your personas.

[Accelerator]

What kind of anima banner should a medicine supernal have, that is focused on the environment?

[Chausse]

I like the idea of some kind of animal tendering the wounds of his curbs, like a bear or a wolf. Both impressive and caring. Medecinal plants flying around the Solar or a huge tree protecting from harm seems good too, but maybe a little more blend.

[Accelerator]

I like the idea of some kind of animal tendering the wounds of his curbs, like a bear or a wolf. Both impressive and caring. Medecinal plants flying around the Solar or a huge tree protecting from harm seems good too, but maybe a little more blend.

Someone suggested a poppy.

[Chausse]

I must say I really suck at knowing plants and stuff so I dont know if a poppy is a good or bad choice

[Accelerator]

I must say I really suck at knowing plants and stuff so I dont know if a poppy is a good or bad choice

Poppy. Morphine. For the easing of pain and suffering. It may have a bit of a bad rap. But morphine is a legitimate painkiller, and has been used since ancient times by doctors.