Experimental Philosophy Qs (Art & Academe)

[gerg]

I've been reading through Art & Academe and had a few questions about the (very cool) Experimental Philosophy rules.

1. p. 72: The formula for Calculating a Nativity Horoscope should be Int + Artes Liberales + die roll, as per ArM5 p. 84, right?

2. p. 74: Why is the base level for the inception Where is the person N? equal to 4? The guidelines on p. 72 seem to clearly indicate a base level of 2, so that the inception would have overall level 4 (base 2, +2 Brief). I don't think it can be because we don't know where N is: all the other example inceptions seem to work as stated without knowing where the target is.

3. pp. 77-78: I'm confused about how theriacs that "trade" Wound/Disease Penalties for Fatigue work (see the two example theriacs Cataplasm of Mandrake and Soporific Sponge). Is the reduction to the Wound/Disease Penalty permanent (at least until that Wound or Disease changes), or does it only apply until the Fatigue levels are gone? If the latter, what good are such theriacs?

Thanks - G

[Mark_Shirley]

@gerg

I've been reading through Art & Academe and had a few questions about the (very cool) Experimental Philosophy rules.

1. p. 72: The formula for Calculating a Nativity Horoscope should be Int + Artes Liberales + die roll, as per ArM5 p. 84, right?

Errr, yes, it should be.

@gerg

2. p. 74: Why is the base level for the inception Where is the person N? equal to 4? The guidelines on p. 72 seem to clearly indicate a base level of 2, so that the inception would have overall level 4 (base 2, +2 Brief). I don't think it can be because we don't know where N is: all the other example inceptions seem to work as stated without knowing where the target is.

The level 2 guideline would tell you that the person is four miles west of here, or next to a river. Knowing that the target is in the County of Hainault would normally require an Area Lore roll, and thus fall under the level 4 guideline. However, this is not obvious from the reading, and I apologise.

@gerg

3. pp. 77-78: I'm confused about how theriacs that "trade" Wound/Disease Penalties for Fatigue work (see the two example theriacs Cataplasm of Mandrake and Soporific Sponge). Is the reduction to the Wound/Disease Penalty permanent (at least until that Wound or Disease changes), or does it only apply until the Fatigue levels are gone? If the latter, what good are such theriacs?

The anaesthetic effect lasts until the fatigue levels recover naturally. It is useful because a person with a Wound Penalty of 6 or greater cannot move without provoking an immediate Wound Recovery roll. Applying a Cataplasm of Mandrake at least allows him to get off the battlefield and into more sanitary conditions. True, his overall Penalty is still -6 (-3 for wounds, -3 for Fatigue), but he is decidedly better than he was.

Mark

[gerg]

Thank you Mark! (and no apologies necessary)

The Experimental Philosophy chapter is probably my favorite part of Art & Academe - but a close second is the description of the philosophers and their works with game-ready stats. I was excited to find Fibonacci and his Liber Abbaci already spelled out in a sidebar! Great work - it must have been fun to write.

[Mark_Shirley]

@gerg

The Experimental Philosophy chapter is probably my favorite part of Art & Academe - but a close second is the description of the philosophers and their works with game-ready stats. I was excited to find Fibonacci and his Liber Abbaci already spelled out in a sidebar! Great work - it must have been fun to write.

Probably my favourite project to date; especially waiting to see what Matt would come up with next! He was the one who did Fibonacci, and the rest of the Artes Liberales chapter, amongst other chapters. I really enjoyed seeing Fibonacci too.

Mark