Ask a Dev

[MoroseMorgan]

Thanks impernious, it may just be that I phrased the question better this time, but I'm pleasantly surprised by the reversal!

I had rationalized that as long as Defense + Soft Armor (or just Defense in the case of an Antagonist) was at least 4 it was the same as a Critical, but it recently came to my attention I had misread Soft Armor values and was adding an extra 1, so the math works out much better now.

[Joshua Reubens]

Do all psionic abilities require a roll? There was a lot of confusion at our game on Monday as to if the Basic Powers that did not mention successes still needed a roll to activate them.

[Bunyip]

Do all psionic abilities require a roll? There was a lot of confusion at our game on Monday as to if the Basic Powers that did not mention successes still needed a roll to activate them.

Yes, but the guidance on p.59 of TC Core applies. If the scene is ticking along narratively, the pressure’s not on and the stakes aren’t high, just declare what’s worked and keep moving.

[Eldagusto]

Do you think we could ever get some sort of Crossover product? Like maybe after Adventure is released we eventually could get a beefy book for making a cross splat team?

[IanWatson]

Do you think we could ever get some sort of Crossover product? Like maybe after Adventure is released we eventually could get a beefy book for making a cross splat team?

That's basically what Adventure! is already.

[Eldagusto]

That's basically what Adventure! is already.

Oh My God you are Right! Even more Excited for it now since I missed it the first time around!

[Anglix]

so if a Boikinesis uses GROSS MANIPULATION (••) and giving his body into armor getting Complete (3) and Hard (1) and uses his basic power FORM MASTERY and spends the xp to gain permanent access to the form, and then in 1 combat scene uses his FORM MASTERY to get his save ARMOR, but takes a wound to his hard armor. But on his next turn drops the power and as a reflexive action spending the Psi point cost re-cast the FORM MASTERY to get his save ARMOR again. As Transmogrify manipulates the biokinetic’s appearance is more than just cosmetic changes the mode modifies cellular structures. Would it come back with a fresh hard armor slot?

[Anglix]

so iv had answers on the discord about this also but i cant tell if the people replying are devs sadly i think they should make a admin roll so u can tell if its a dev talking on there or not.

but the question is about the gift "Ripped from the headlines" as someone pointed out it works like "take note of the specific wording and use that to your advantage if needed. “If the character is attempting to solve A problem” - emphasis mine - “substitute a character’s associated Skill for THOSE actions”. In other words, say the character is attempting to pick a lock on the door, that’s THE problem. He spends Inspiration and substitutes culture and picks the lock. Then he wants to use that Larceny to pick someone’s pocket, or crack a safe, or run a con game. Sorry, that’s not the action you can do. You can PICK LOCKS this scene. You don’t get the breadth of the skill like someone with the skill, you get the ability to solve one type of problem. No more locks in this scene to pick? Oh well."

or is it that u can use it as the full skill and do anything that skill covers?

[Bunyip]

so if a Boikinesis uses GROSS MANIPULATION (••) and giving his body into armor getting Complete (3) and Hard (1) and uses his basic power FORM MASTERY and spends the xp to gain permanent access to the form, and then in 1 combat scene uses his FORM MASTERY to get his save ARMOR, but takes a wound to his hard armor. But on his next turn drops the power and as a reflexive action spending the Psi point cost re-cast the FORM MASTERY to get his save ARMOR again. As Transmogrify manipulates the biokinetic’s appearance is more than just cosmetic changes the mode modifies cellular structures. Would it come back with a fresh hard armor slot?

Form Mastery is incorporating the alternate form and all its abilities into your noetic template. It’s not quite the same as a regular transformation, it’s not taking an ordinary action and seeing how many successes you get and crafting something new from psi. It’s sculpting the specific thing you want, binding it to who you are, and making it available via shortcut so you can transform into it with a reflexive expenditure of psi points.

So, with that in mind, certain effects will linger within your noetic template for a while. If your Form Mastery shape has Hard armor, and that armor gets chewed up, that’s actual damage lingering in your template. It does you no long term harm to your base form if you drop form mastery, and it doesn’t carry over if you have another form locked away in Form Mastery, but if you drop that one form and reapply it before the damage can ‘wash’ from your noetic template, you resume a form with chewed up Hard armor.

As for how long it takes for the damage to wash out of your template, the end of the scene seems like a reasonable length of time.

[Bunyip]

so iv had answers on the discord about this also but i cant tell if the people replying are devs sadly i think they should make a admin roll so u can tell if its a dev talking on there or not.

Onyx Path doesn’t have any control over the fan-created Trinity:Continuum Discord. If you want color coding or something, I’d suggest asking the administrator there.

but the question is about the gift "Ripped from the headlines" as someone pointed out it works like "take note of the specific wording and use that to your advantage if needed. “If the character is attempting to solve A problem” - emphasis mine - “substitute a character’s associated Skill for THOSE actions”. In other words, say the character is attempting to pick a lock on the door, that’s THE problem. He spends Inspiration and substitutes culture and picks the lock. Then he wants to use that Larceny to pick someone’s pocket, or crack a safe, or run a con game. Sorry, that’s not the action you can do. You can PICK LOCKS this scene. You don’t get the breadth of the skill like someone with the skill, you get the ability to solve one type of problem. No more locks in this scene to pick? Oh well."

or is it that u can use it as the full skill and do anything that skill covers?

I note that from the discussion over on that Discord channel, people engaged with you in good faith and worked through the various ways it could be applied. I’m a little skeptical of diving into it again because it appears from that conversation that you’re mostly trying to get ‘official’ ammunition so you can have another player’s character banned because you don’t like it.

But, the short version is that RAW the other player is conforming to the rules by being able to apply the skill to the situation as they have been. The alternative wording that you’ve emphasized was suggested if your SG was experiencing problems with the application of the rule and it was interfering with the game. Advice was also given that if this was the case the SG should talk to the player.

[Anglix]

im sorry if there was some miss understanding about my asking on the discord cos dont get me wrong iv enjoyed talking over things there with people and found it very helpful but as i said its said that if devs have been talking on there that i cant tell and iv been happy with the answers iv gotten there but my gm is a person that would want a ruling from a dev over other player its the reason iv asked here to get an answer from a dev.

also u point out that "Form Mastery is incorporating the alternate form and all its abilities into your noetic template" and with Transmogrify manipulates the biokinetic’s appearance is more than just cosmetic changes the mode modifies "cellular structures" change one would say that with dropping it and using Form Mastery again one is using the per-saved "cellular structures" from when they used the xp to buy that "cellular structures" as a Form Mastery.

cos if i was to just re-cast GROSS MANIPULATION (••) on my turn taking my action no one would say anything cos there are more then 1 psi power that lets u get armor like SHEATH (•••) from a Psychokinesis THERMOKINESIS power for example and no one would say anything if they re-cast there power and it renewed its self, and no where under Form Mastery does it say "certain effects will linger within your noetic template for a while" but does say under Transmogrify that Transmogrify manipulates the biokinetic’s appearance is more than just cosmetic changes the mode modifies "cellular structures"

[Bunyip]

cos if i was to just re-cast GROSS MANIPULATION (••) on my turn taking my action no one would say anything

You’re right, they wouldn’t, which is what I alluded to before. If you want to use your ordinary action, roll your dice and work with the successes you achieve, certainly do that. But Form Mastery gives you instant access at a low cost and without the risk of the dice turning against you, so it’s a little different from the ordinary use of a power.

Storypath, Trinity Continuum, and Trinity Continuum: AEon are all new systems. There will be emergent issues and edge cases and people looking to game the system in ways that weren’t originally thought of, or where we didn’t have word count to spell out every possible permutation. So when we get questions here or elsewhere we look to answer them as we can. If you want to apply the answer, please do so. If you want to question and debate and suggest alternatives, please take it to another thread.

But if you’ve come with your own answer already and you just want to do that, we’re not going to come and police your game. Go and have fun.

[SpectacularTentacular]

Hey, any way the aberrant folks can let some spoilers drop about some of the updates they did to aberrant? How does Durability work? How is Elemental Mastery working now? What can players take if they want to be mega-artists or something, will any of the Mega-Edges help them? How?

[Shepherdboi]

For the Augendis Vitakinetic powers, is it intended that you can use each one on a target multiple times, so long as each use boosts a different Attribute, Edge, or Skill, or does a new use override the old use, even if they target different things? For example, using Stoicism on yourself four times in order to boost your Resolve, Stamina, and Composure to seven dots, as well as granting yourself some handy Physical Edges.

While this wouldn't be too much of a problem for a starting character, given limited Psi points and low duration, once you hit Psi 4 (which can be done in as little as two or three sessions) and take the Favored Mode Edge, you've basically ensured you, your entire party, and any allies or hirelings, are all going to have maxed out Attributes and whatever Edges you need for days at a time, and you'll still start any conflict with a full Psi pool unless you get ambushed immediately after buffing someone.

[Bunyip]

For the Augendis Vitakinetic powers, is it intended that you can use each one on a target multiple times, so long as each use boosts a different Attribute, Edge, or Skill, or does a new use override the old use, even if they target different things?

One use per power per person at a time. You can use Stoicism, Direction, and Precision on a target at once, but you can only use Stoicism once. You’re free to drop a current use of the power and reapply it (with new psi expenditure) in the hope of improving the number of successes you get, but only one ‘instance’ of a given dot power will ‘lock onto’ the target’s noetic template at a time.