Ask a Dev

[literatzi]

Q-Tech questions:
1. Buying Qtech item requires the Q-Tech experience cost listed in page 94 or do you need to build it as in the rules of q-tech construction?
2. I believe Qtech construction referencing Q-Tech Mega Edge is referring to this Experience cost, not to the Mega Edge itself. Is that right?
3. Can you attune to a device (maybe temporarily) without paying the experience cost?

Seconding this. The wording and the way things are spread out makes it hard to understand how this is supposed to work. The cost for starting with a Q-tech item is also really unclear.

• Do I need to purchase the Artifact Edge, and then the Attunement Edge?
• If I want to start with two Q-tech items do I purchase Artifact twice, Attunement, and then the Q-Tech Medge-Edge?
• Do I need to pay 12xps per rank of the Q-tech Device to attune it on top of those costs?

[Zeea]

Thirding this. The Q-Tech rules don't make a lot of sense and openly contradict each other in places, and the quick character templates seem to be using completely different rules.

Page 233 says you can't use Artifact to acquire Q-Tech devices. It does say novas can attune one piece of Q-Tech, and Attunement and Q-Tech edges can allow for more. But there's no rules for _owning_ Q-Tech, just how much you could attune if you did get them. Are we supposed to assume a nova can start with as many ranks of Q-Tech devices as they can attune?

Let's say I want a character to start with a blaster than works like Quantum Attack 2, a force field that works like Quantum Field 2, and a flying device that works like Flight 2. How would I make that character, how much does it cost to equip/attune all three of those devices, how much Quantum do I have to pay to fire the blaster each time, and how much Quantum do I have to pay to turn on the Quantum Field or Flight?

EDIT: On page 237 it says "the player must spend Experiences to purchase the item as the Q-Tech Mega-Edge." But that's not how the Q-Tech Mega-Edge is written as working.

[econclark]

I am a bit curious how the variable power tag works. Am I thinking about this right? Say you want a quantum attack that can be used in close combat and also has the following tags, range 3 (variable 3) [so you can turn the range on and off], area 2 (variable 2) [so you can turn the blast on and off]

Is that right or do you have to buy variable for each possible combination effectively making mini power suites? This is rather confusing to me. If it is the case that Variable is just the Technique mega edge but confined to the same power that also makes it quite easy.

I know that this would be very expensive with all the power tags, but it is worth it for the example.

Also, how does the variable tag interact with the negative power tags? What if I wanted to have a power that was always restricted, but the restriction was variable for instance?

[Florin]

Not a mod or a dev, so my apologies if I'm stepping on toes, but only devs are allowed to answer questions in this thread, and they apparently are not answering any Aberrant questions right now (probably due to being in the middle of the errata phase.) If anyone actually wants an answer right now, you should probably post a new thread or in one of the other Aberrant threads where people are discussing how things work in the backer PDF.

[Zeea]

Just to be clear to the devs here, my posts aren't exactly urgent questions or anything. It'd be nice to get a dev answer, but I'm not expecting or demanding one and especially not expecting one any time soon with everything going on with work and world events in general.

[eddyfate]

Hey all! If the Q-Tech, variable tags, or other Aberrant stuff is confusing, it would be great if specific concerns were put into the errata form, so we can have everything in one place and look to see if anything needs clarifying. Once the rulebook is finalized, then we can answer lingering questions here, but yeah, our focus right now is on the errata. Thanks!

[eddyfate]

If you need the errata form link, here it is! https://forms.gle/CkJ5GXjny32nPauW7

[malladin.ben]

We've just started playing, so apologies if this is an obvious question, but we're wondering how Small Unit Tactics works - does the character need to take an action to give an ally the +2 enhancement, or do they just give it to someone every turn. Or is there some other mechanic for how it works that I've not found?

Thanks

[impernious]

We've just started playing, so apologies if this is an obvious question, but we're wondering how Small Unit Tactics works - does the character need to take an action to give an ally the +2 enhancement, or do they just give it to someone every turn. Or is there some other mechanic for how it works that I've not found?

Thanks

Ah, a good question. I'll admit there are a few Edges that aren't worded exactly as I'd want them to be to be as playable as possible. It's supposed to be that whomever has the Edge can gain a +2 Enhancement to a combat action they are taking if they are doing it as part of a group effort. So say that if everyone in the team is concentrating fire on a single enemy, then the Edge user will get this +2 Enhancement to their attack. But if that person was attacking a target solo, then the Enhancement won't apply.

I hope that clarifies it for you!

[impernious]

Re: Aberrant Q-tech devices. Please please please submit errata before the form closes tomorrow, including any confusion you notice from technology.

In short, you need to have the Attunement Edge to have a single Q-tech device attuned to your character. If you have the Q-tech mega-edge it adds the number of devices you can have attuned (and seems to replace the attunement edge for determining what rank and how many right now, which I might make a note to change so that you can always have your attuned device from that).

So, if you want to start a character with a single piece of Q-tech and don't plan on getting more, you can purchase the Attunement Edge (for relatively cheap, IMO) and get a piece of up to rank 5 (depending on how many dots you spend in attune). But if you want 3 different pieces, you'll want Q-tech mega-edge. So in the example Zeea gave of 3 different rank 3 devices (2 dots of Quantum powers puts those devices at Rank 3) means the character will need 9 dots worth of attunement from the Q-tech and Attunement Edges. So the first device needs the Attunement Edge at 3 dots, then you'll want the Q-tech Edge to get the ability to attune additional items to get the next 6 Ranks worth of Q-tech. So if the character has Quantum 3, they'll need the Q-tech Mega-Edge at 3.

Please make a note in the errata form for me so I don't forget. The Q-tech mega-edge should also have language to include the q-tech device you can attune with the Attunement Edge.

Note that you don't use wealth to gain Q-tech because it is uniquely made by novas for novas. This isn't something you can purchase with money, only make. But certainly if you've spent the experience points for the Edges to have items, then that is where you are spending your xp rather than buying the quantum powers themselves, so you should absolutely be able to start with devices on the character sheet rather than having to make them in game. When you get (or make) a new Q-tech device, if you don't have enough edge-dots worth of space for attunement, then you'll need to purchase more dots in the Q-tech Mega-Edge to accommodate it. But the language on p. 237 can also stand to be cleaned up a little bit to reflect that.

As for how much Quantum - right now you spend 2 that you don't get back per rank of q-tech you have attuned. Then you spend the normal Quantum activation cost to use the item. If you feel like that's too costly, please submit a comment in the errata and we'll consider tuning it.

[Mateus Luz]

Thanks Danielle!

This made me rethink the way Super tech is gained by both Talents and Psions too. It made more clear what I was suspecting, Super tech is equipment, and so don’t cost XP, unless you take it too far from your pay check (2 x Wealth + Source).

[Zeea]

Thanks so much, impernious. That clears up a LOT for me.

[econclark]

Also, for crafting, There are some things that I still don't quite understand. What is the trade-off between Maximum Enhancement and Maximum Edge Dot? How do you add Tag bonuses? When do you have to take it up to the next Rank? Do Nova Specific Edges count as Inspired Edges?

[econclark]

for the modules, am I missing something or is it possible to just make a Mega Edge Module with as many dots in Technique as you can handle, and construct a power suite this way? Also since it is a module, you can construct other settings etc for it that you could possibly swap as quickly as an ordinary action? That part actually seems really cool if it is possible. not sure if that belongs in the errata.

Also, When you get Q-tech if it has quantum abilities, how do you determine how much space is left for edges/enhancements etc... before increasing the rank?

I like that there is a conversion for shifting the paradigm but that seems too restrictive to apply everywhere.

[malladin.ben]

I have a couple of questions about the stunts in the Aeon book (pg 275) -

Are these stunts melee or ranged or both?
How long does the defence penalty for Hobble last?

thanks