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Old 04-16-2018, 07:04 AM   #1
ArchonShiva
 
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Default 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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Old 04-16-2018, 08:18 AM   #2
Kromm
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Default 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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Old 04-16-2018, 08:27 AM   #3
Kromm
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Default 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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Old 04-16-2018, 08:48 AM   #4
ArchonShiva
 
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Default 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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Old 04-16-2018, 10:05 AM   #5
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Default Re: What does Bless do, actually?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kromm View Post
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.
The other interpretation is an obvious enough way to interpret the rules, but it's also obviously horrifically broken (even more than vanilla Bless) so no-one has chosen to interpret it that way.
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Old 04-16-2018, 12:15 PM   #6
evileeyore
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Default Re: What does Bless do, actually?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kromm View Post
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.
To be fair to ArchonShiva, I've been running it the way he just described it for almost 30 years, and I've never once had reason to come to anyone at SJGames to question that 'ruling'.

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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