I just had a thought on multiple Flak Jackets. Officially, they are
cumulative, though this is often seen as such an afront to the imagination
that house rules are made against it. After all, a person can only wear
one flak jacket, right?
But there are a great number of allies in the game that are conceived of
as a group of individuals rather than a single individual. It does not
seem inherently contradictory that one such ally could benefit from
multiple flack jackets, does it?
Such allies include: The Bruisers, Goth Band, Gypsies, The Knights, Loyal
Street Gang, Order of the Hermes Cabal, The Slashers, and Werewolf Pack.
Evidently, the game designers have a low opinion of the effectivenes of
lowly mortals, since in most cases it takes alot of them to have any game
significance. The most extreme case is that of an entire band of Gypsies,
which together can only do 1 bleed, 1 damage, and has only one life.
Allies that are not obviously plural could be thought of in that way.
Political Ally might have an entourage; Muddled Vampire Hunter might
have a cute girlfriend; Outcast Mage might have an apprentice; Arms Dealer
might have several employees; etc....
Normally, such puny mortal retainers are too insignificant in game terms
to take note of. But give one a flak jacket, and he might prove enough of
a distraction to an attacker as to be able to prevent 1 point of damage to
his friend in a combat before he bites it. The benefit might well be in
addition to the benefit gained to the minion by wearing his own flak
jacket.
Vampires too may be though of as normally having retainers, mortal
buddies, dupes, patsies, and hangers-on that are normally too
insignificant to take note of in game terms. I am certain that the prince
of the city, at least, would not normally be found alone. Certainly in
the case of a prince, many of his powers come not from his inherent
abilities, but from the assistance of those he controls. Certainly a
vampire with a Palatial Estate has lots of servants that are not
significant enough to take note of in game terms. Perhaps if he takes
care to outfit some of his buddies, servants, or whatnot with protective
gear it is conceivable that they might be some significance in combat.
We already know that equipment *posessed* by a minion is not necessarily
carried by him in "story" terms. Thus, for instance, Ghoul Retainer can
use a weapon posessed by the employing minion.
Oh yes, and I have just figured out how it is that a Leather Jacket can
protect me from an Assault Rifle. You see, I bought this young punk a
leather jacket, and he is so grateful that he now hangs out with me all
the time and thinks I'm real cool. Thus, when someone comes after me with
an Assault Rifle, the loyal punk leaps to my defense and gets blown away.
Unfortunately, both the punk and the leather jacket are now completely
ruined.
Flak Jacket might work similarly, but be more re-usable.
Similar logic might be applied to the cumulative benefit of IR Goggles,
etc.
Lupus Australis
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Lupus Australis <jbwh...@dorsai.org> wrote:
>I just had a thought on multiple Flak Jackets. Officially, they are
>cumulative, though this is often seen as such an afront to the imagination
>that house rules are made against it. After all, a person can only wear
>one flak jacket, right?>But there are a great number of allies in the game that are conceived of
>as a group of individuals rather than a single individual. It does not
>seem inherently contradictory that one such ally could benefit from
>multiple flack jackets, does it?
The idea of how multiple Flak Jackets being cumulative can be
translated into some form of "real world" logic has been bantered
about the newsgroup on several occasions. The best explanation I've
heard (besides the one that says it's just a card game...) is that
you should perceive multiple purchases of Flak Jackets (or any other
cumulative effect parallel) as reivesting for an improved version.
One Flak Jacket is the equivalent of wrapping yourself in Gradma's
down quilt. Two is the equivalent of going to an Army-Navy surplus
and getting a WWII vest with some steel plates stitched inside. Three
might be getting you up into the kevlar police issue range. Any more
than that, and you're definitely a well equipped drug peddler/ bank
robber.
Of course, I see most efforts at rationalizing how cards in a card
game interact as futile, when extended beyond the cards themselves.
We are talking about the same Flak Jacket that, when wrapped around
your arm in a Rutor's Hand ritual, makes it hurt so much less...
>Such allies include: The Bruisers, Goth Band, Gypsies, The Knights, Loyal
>Street Gang, Order of the Hermes Cabal, The Slashers, and Werewolf Pack.
>Evidently, the game designers have a low opinion of the effectivenes of
>lowly mortals, since in most cases it takes alot of them to have any game
>significance. The most extreme case is that of an entire band of Gypsies,
>which together can only do 1 bleed, 1 damage, and has only one life.
I'll keep playing the game... Many generals throughout time have seen
the benefit of severing the leadership of a band by removing it's
leader. You can extrapolate the disbanding of these groups by the
targetting of a key individual...
>snip balance---->this way madness lies ;-)
>We are talking about the same Flak Jacket that, when wrapped around
>your arm in a Rutor's Hand ritual, makes it hurt so much less...
Perhaps I am missing the point, but a Flak Jacket can't prevent the damage from
a Rutor's Hand, can it? The superior version specifically allows the damage to
be prevented, but since this isn't happening in combat what cards prevent
damage? The question of Rotschrek(SP?) could be applied as well, is the
vampire attempting to inflict agg. damage to himself, by cutting of his own
hand?
Deep Thoughts
by Jack Handy
"Handy" get it! Hand-y as in Rutors hand. Hahahahahahah. Oh shut up!
Jason
SirTemple wrote:
>
> >We are talking about the same Flak Jacket that, when wrapped around
> >your arm in a Rutor's Hand ritual, makes it hurt so much less...
>
> Perhaps I am missing the point, but a Flak Jacket can't prevent the damage from
> a Rutor's Hand, can it? The superior version specifically allows the damage to
> be prevented, but since this isn't happening in combat what cards prevent
> damage?
The superior version has errata to treat the damage "as if from a strike
in combat." Therefore, the damage can be prevented by Flak Jacket.
> The question of Rotschrek(SP?) could be applied as well, is the
> vampire attempting to inflict agg. damage to himself, by cutting of his own
> hand?
Rotschreck can only be applied when the vampire attempts to inflict
aggravated damage on his opponent (or opponent's retainers) in combat,
so no. (More errata).
--
L. Scott Johnson (vte...@wizards.com)
Official VtES Net.Rep for Wizards of the Coast.
(*) - Subject to review by Rules Team