Errata and Common Questions
Are armor penalties doubled in quicksand?
On page 438, it doesn't explicitly state that armor penalties are doubled; however, it is safe to assume that being in any kind of serious liquid should constitute additional armor penalties. The
Game Master is correct in using double penalty rules if the target's entire body is within the quicksand, but having only a foot caught in quicksand may not constitute double armor penalties.
Game Master's call.
Does Vital Stike, Power, and Rush work with non-lethal damage?
Yes, but remember that the damage type dealt by non-lethal damage is the same type of daamge applied to Vital Strike, Power, and Rush. It is STILL non-lethal damage.
Good armor and crossbows are expensive, is there any way to start with this gear at the start of the game without breaking the bank?
Work with your
Game Master about possible ideas. Look at the flaw "debt" or perhaps the Game Master can allow you to take "cheap" gear, in which the quality of such gear is suspect. Write down that the armor you have is of "cheap" quality, and the Game Master may imply a penalty if it fails.
My hit points are dropped to zero, am I actually dead?
No, the rules clearly dictate that you must be
below zero to die. Keep track of any health that drops below 0 as such hit points covert to permanent damage. This is important because permanent damage is generally
not recovered by spells that can revive someone back from the dead. A character that is at 0 hit points is treated as reaching absolute agony.
Wait, I can cast spells in armor?
While this may be strange in most systems, this is not the case in
Machina and Magic. Be aware that armor penalties are doubled for casting spells while wearing armor. A breastplate can save your life as a mage. You must also be aware that if a spell requires somatic components, you must have one WORKING hand free to cast spells. This hand cannot wear heavy gloves or gauntlets and cannot be strapped down by a shield unless you have the Arcane Armor Training characteristic (page 128).
Where are the druids? I see Wild Empathy, but no Druids?
We have plans in the future to include more magics and wonderful powers to the world of Dorian and the books of
Machina and Magic. The "Druid" as you know them in other settings is wildly different from real world druids and even more wildly different than Dorian's druids. Please follow us on our social medias to keep up with additional books and expansions.
Is it possible to cast a movement spell like Burrow or Aerial Flight and still move my entire move distance? Even with nimble toes?
Once page 400, it clearly states that you can move
once as part of any movement based spell. Casting a spell takes an action (in most cases) and thus can also be subject to splitting actions. You CAN, split your action in order to get additional movement, taking the other 3 rounds as your new form of movement; however, doing so is treated as making 4 actions as normal (and that makes it hard!).
Nimble Toes does not play into most forms of magical movement as it only applies to land speed and does not apply to flight, burrow speed, or swim speed. In a weird situation, if you had nimble toes and the spell
Burrow, you could make a single movement for free with nimble toes, cast the burrow spell, and move up to 3 times through stone only taking multi-action penalties associated with 3 actions (dice are reduced twice).
When am I allowed to use Slapshot or Flurry? And can I hold them as an action?
They may be used at
any time during your turn. They can be held as an action; but as a reminder, you may only hold a single action in any given round.
I think my players are cheating with the dice. The d4s are just TOO GOOD.
Statistically, they aren't as good as you think. However, they have a tendancy to land on the same numbers when players roll them the same way. It is best practice to make sure players aren't dropping their dice. If this is a problem, try a dice tower, or have people roll in the middle of the table.
How many story points am I supposed to hand out to players in a session, a quest, or a game?
There is no correct answer to this. Remember that these points represent a small amount of "energy" that is able to manipulate fate.
Is there any way to drink a potion as a free action and should I allow it?
No. Because this game is "grounded" in a sense of realism, drinking a potion as a free action does not work in this system. As a reminder, pulling an item out of a bag is an action unless item is put on a belt in such a way that it can effectively reached for the
Quick Draw charactersitic (such as a belt with potion holsters). As
Game Master, you may always make your own house rules; but this is a house rule we strongly urge against.
May I use Nimble Toes as a part of stealth?
Yes, and while it is not clearly stated in the book, we have allowed stealth to be applied to the movement of nimble toes (assuming you
do not sprint). The game master may forbid this call if the area is full of obstacles that may impede stealth.
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