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Old 09-04-2021, 09:32 PM   #1
Michael Thayne
 
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Default Demon from Between the Stars: what is "darkness"

For purposes of the Demon from Between the Stars' Chameleon ability, what is "darkness"? Presumably not restricted to total darkness, or their ability would be pointless. But are they really meant to seemingly vanish given even -1 in darkness penalties? Really wish the wording had been clearer.
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Old 09-05-2021, 09:02 AM   #2
johndallman
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Default Re: Demon from Between the Stars: what is "darkness"

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Originally Posted by Michael Thayne View Post
For purposes of the Demon from Between the Stars' Chameleon ability, what is "darkness"? Presumably not restricted to total darkness, or their ability would be pointless. But are they really meant to seemingly vanish given even -1 in darkness penalties? Really wish the wording had been clearer.
A skim through the Exploits book suggests a darkness penalty of -4 or more. That's outside 3x the radius of light sources, and means bringing lights towards them is useful.
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Old 09-05-2021, 04:25 PM   #3
Michael Thayne
 
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Default Re: Demon from Between the Stars: what is "darkness"

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Originally Posted by johndallman View Post
A skim through the Exploits book suggests a darkness penalty of -4 or more. That's outside 3x the radius of light sources, and means bringing lights towards them is useful.
Does Exploits say that explicitly, or are you just inferring that from the fact that light sources give -3 out to 3x the listed radius? For what it's worth I tried finding something like that in Exploits but could not, but maybe you're better at skimming than I am.
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Old 09-05-2021, 04:57 PM   #4
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Default Re: Demon from Between the Stars: what is "darkness"

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Originally Posted by Michael Thayne View Post
For purposes of the Demon from Between the Stars' Chameleon ability, what is "darkness"? Presumably not restricted to total darkness, or their ability would be pointless. But are they really meant to seemingly vanish given even -1 in darkness penalties? Really wish the wording had been clearer.
'Partial Darkness' is defined at vision penalties of -1 to -9 (Exploits p9), so apparently yes, they fade at a -1 in darkness penalties, though there's also specific references in the Demon from Between the Stars of darkness penalties of -5 being significant.
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Old 09-05-2021, 05:10 PM   #5
Michael Thayne
 
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Default Re: Demon from Between the Stars: what is "darkness"

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Originally Posted by Anthony View Post
'Partial Darkness' is defined at vision penalties of -1 to -9 (Exploits p9), so apparently yes, they fade at a -1 in darkness penalties, though there's also specific references in the Demon from Between the Stars of darkness penalties of -5 being significant.
Are you referring to this line?:
Quote:
Against victims who can’t ignore ‑5 or more in darkness penalties, they may attempt Backstabbing (Exploits, pp. 57-58) repeatedly in the dark!
I saw that line but found it rather cryptic. Not really sure what it means.
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Old 09-05-2021, 05:52 PM   #6
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Default Re: Demon from Between the Stars: what is "darkness"

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Originally Posted by Michael Thayne View Post
Are you referring to this line?:

I saw that line but found it rather cryptic. Not really sure what it means.
I was referring to that line, and yes, I found it cryptic too. My guess is that's an unstated rule "vision penalty -10 = invisible", so chameleon 5 means invisible if there's another -5 elsewhere, but it's certainly not stated anywhere.
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Old 09-05-2021, 08:52 PM   #7
Michael Thayne
 
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Default Re: Demon from Between the Stars: what is "darkness"

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I was referring to that line, and yes, I found it cryptic too. My guess is that's an unstated rule "vision penalty -10 = invisible", so chameleon 5 means invisible if there's another -5 elsewhere, but it's certainly not stated anywhere.
Hmmm, maybe? Or maybe it's saying that things like Night Vision help counteract the Chameleon variant, because it's darkness-based? Rather confusing.
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Old 09-06-2021, 01:10 PM   #8
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Default Re: Demon from Between the Stars: what is "darkness"

Not in anyway based on cannon, but I had a passing thought that some sneaky monsters like this might be able to double darkness penalties to detect them. It might make the mechanics easier, and tracks for -5 being totally invisible.
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