Hi, I'm new to this forum, and new to 5th edition.
My troupe has a question about the virtue 'Puissant (Ability)', and I was hoping that someone could provide an answer.
Does the +2 apply whenever the character uses the ability in a way that requires a die roll, or only when the ability score forms part of the total that is rolled? To give a concrete example: if a character has Puissant Single Weapon, is the +2 added to all combat totals in which she uses her sword (including Initiative and Damage), or only to Attack and Defence?
My apologies if this has already been answered elsewhere on the Forum (I was unable to find it).
Ity is usedin any roll where the Puissant Ability is used. In practical terms, it is like having +2 levels in the ability. For example, ig you have puissant single weapon and an ability of 5, it would count as having an ability of 7 (5+2) when you calculate the totals.
In combat this affects attack and defence. Damage no, since this is a by-product of attack advantage (where you already took Puissant in consideration) and strength. Any roll that invoves the use of Single Weapon gets a +2. No more, no less
You can also use it in the lab, under certain circumstances.
Magic Theory 5 + Puissant Ability means that you can use 14 pawns of vis per season, you add +7 to your lab totals, you can have up to a +7 from shape and materials, etc.
Puissant does not count when 'studying, writing, or teaching' an ability. So in the above example you could write a summa on Magic Theory of level 2 only. It also would take you 30 XP to get to the next level.
The main gray area is with training. My rule would be that the above Magus imparts 10 XP (7+3) when training someone, but could only train up to level 5.
No. Puissant Ability state that "...get +2 to all totals which include it [the ability]."
At most you'd get to use 12 pawns in a season, since logically you must always add puissant after any multiplications.
I wanted to ask when Puissant Ability applies, as well.
So Puissant Ability does count when using the Ability as a cap? Are there any references for that? Especially given the Teaching example I'd say it doesn't - so you can't use any more vis per season or higher S&M bonuses just because you have Puissant Magic Theory. It obviously applies to Lab Totals, but not to any limits (which are often based on a singular ability and not a "total" to begin with) since it's not an actual ability increase. At least that's my take so far.
In that regard: Would Puissant Ars Notoria decrease penalties through Divine Auras even further? I tend towards saying no, it doesn't. But I'd love to hear some opinions on that.
