04-16-2018, 07:04 AM | #1 |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Montréal, Québec
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What does Bless do, actually?
Aside from its life-saving effect, Bless modifies all rolls (except rolls on tables) "favorably by +1" (or 2).
This is surprisingly simple for damage, the effects of healing or strength potions, the duration of perception or speed potions, breaking of stuff in a dropped quick-release backpack, or when the GM tells you to roll because you found 2d6 silver coins (which could easily be a GM roll, but if the player is asked to roll, that's how it works). The tricky part, surprisingly, when it is used for skills. A strict reading of the spell (DFS50) indicates that the roll, not the skill, is modified. This would mean Bless +2 would make critical failures impossible (by reducing an 18 to a 16), and would allow an Everyone's A Critical swashbuckler to critically hit on a 9 (by turning the roll into a 7). I'm almost certain the intent is +1/+2 effective skill, and that 17 remains an automatic failure, etc., but everyone in our group who's looked at it, on both sides of the argument, has come to the same conclusion - as written, it does the crazy thing instead. (If anyone thinks Bless +2 doesn't matter, a $26k power item (35 FP) allows a group to cast Bless +2 on everyone in town for $175 to $575 per PC, depending whether they have a cleric and how they go about it.)
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04-16-2018, 08:18 AM | #2 |
GURPS Line Editor
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Montréal, Québec
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Re: What does Bless do, actually?
Bless just gives a generic +1 or +2. That's it. As far as skills go, it's no different from +1 or +2 for "Favorable adventuring tasks" (Exploits, p. 6). As usual for modifiers to success rolls, it affects the number you're rolling against – not the total you roll on the dice.
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Sean "Dr. Kromm" Punch <kromm@sjgames.com> GURPS Line Editor, Steve Jackson Games My DreamWidth [Just GURPS News] |
04-16-2018, 08:27 AM | #3 |
GURPS Line Editor
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Montréal, Québec
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Re: What does Bless do, actually?
I should add that the "All the subject’s die rolls are modified favorably" wording is straight from GURPS and has existed since the Bless spell first appeared in the game. In all that time (well, in the 23 years I've been on the job), nobody has ever come to me with any interpretation other than "You get a standard skill bonus," so I think it's reasonably clear.
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Sean "Dr. Kromm" Punch <kromm@sjgames.com> GURPS Line Editor, Steve Jackson Games My DreamWidth [Just GURPS News] |
04-16-2018, 08:48 AM | #4 |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Montréal, Québec
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Re: What does Bless do, actually?
I'd literally never had Bless cast in a game until last night, and would have obviously house ruled it that way, but my current GM is intentionally running a "rules as written, no matter what" game, so it became relevant.
That's far better than the alternative, thank you.
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Per-based Stealth isn’t remotely as awkward as DX-based Observation. |
04-16-2018, 10:05 AM | #5 | |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: What does Bless do, actually?
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04-16-2018, 12:15 PM | #6 | |
Banned
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: 100 hurricane swamp
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Re: What does Bless do, actually?
Quote:
It's an 'expensive'* spellto aquire, so it just sounded on par. And I've only once ever seen a Character with the spell, so it never caused issue (though it's been cast by NPCs often enough in my games). In DFRPG where it's easier to get? That might cause issue. * Prerequisite-wise that is. Also in the +2 version is out of most caster's range. |
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