Questions you shouldn't ask and answers you don't want...

[Jacob]

Players are encouraged to post all questions they may have in this forum. Our goal as a staff is to reply to all queries within 72 hours, either on the boards or via e-mail.

[weaseljester]

Hey there,
I saw your site and downloaded the rulebook and I gota say I love the concept. I do have a few questions though:
Is the rulebook completed? I noticed that there is no skill to buy heavy armor or large weapons in any header. The original concept of what I was thinking about playing was an automata with large amounts of armor and a chain saw like large weapon.

is this game located in the new england area?


Shawn

[Ken]

[Jacob]

I will add that you can likely achieve the effects you seek with judiciously purchased Qualities and in-game items.

As Ken said, we are working on making the website more user friendly. Check back in a day or two!

[weaseljester]

Sounds great,
I just wanted to start on a costume creation and would seem to be a waste to have bulky plates when I can just do lighter ones that look just as good.
I cant wait to see the updated rules.

Shawn

[Jacob]

Just to be clear:

PCs receive 2 armor for being in costume. In addition, automata can buy certain qualities like "Ironsides" and "Armor Plating" that can make them more durable.

We encourage the use of lighter plates--while you may need a prop to represent something like armor, the weight of the prop is irrelevant. For mobility and comfort, by all means, go light!

[Reddreamer25]

So now for a different question-

I am looking at playing halfbreed that uses a bow for ranged combat and then either a shield and claw or an ax and dagger (preferred) attack style in close combat. But I noticed that there is not a shield or bow skill and the only skill in game that allow two weapons requires the primary weapon to be a blade. So 1) do you allowed shields in your game and do I need a skill to you it, 2) do you allow bows in your game and do I need a skill to you it, and 3) do you consider an ax a bladed weapon.

Sam

[Jacob]

We consider axes to be bladed weapons, so (though most would find the notion quite odd for fluff reasons) you can, with the appropriate skills, dual wield an axe and a dagger.

We are presently discussing your question regarding the use of a bow, and will post a reply as soon as we are able.

[Jacob]

After deliberation:

Reddreamer/Sam:

In an effort to firmly entrench Lost Eidolons as a steampunk and lovecraftian game, archaic tools such as bows and shields are generally unavailable. That said, we are currently expanding the list of PC allowed firearms to include certain nerf or nerflike crossbow/bow options, which should be steampunked rather severely before use. These weapons will count as either pistols or rifles, as appropriate. We will make an announcement and expand the relevant lists when we have found suitable, widely available options.

[Reddreamer25]

After reading through the handbook again, I can understand your decisions on bows.

However I do have one final argument about shields. I can understand that you are trying to focus on the technological side of steampunk, but in truth steampunk covers both technology and "archaic" setting. One of the truly beautiful things about Steampunk is that you a savage standing next to a mechanic and no one questions it. When I think of steampunk I think of playing Final Fantasy VII. The game offered you a wide variety of characters to play with, from the human with the gun arm to a tribal tiger.

Now with that being said there are steampunk setting that don't have the primitive aspect to them or at least not to the point of Final Fantasy VII. Full Metal Alchemist comes to mind for this. The problem with comparing the Full Metal Alchemist version of primitive to your game's version is that in Full Metal Alchemist, the primitive people are not really primitive, they just choose to live simple (not using alchemy) compared to the main civilization (which does use alchemy) where in your world, the Dorr are a primitive people who embrace the primitive lifestyle, making it more towards the Final Fantasy VII version of steampunk.

Now with that all out there, you have made the Dorr a primitive people who can not use most, if any technology in the game. Coupled with their ability to use only thrown weapon for ranged attacks means that they are limited to pretty much front line fighters. This means, given that that you did not make them bigger and tougher than humans, they would learn other ways to survive in combat. Given that armor in the game is pretty much limited to Automata, and the fact that given the type of background that you gave the Dorr they would most likely not make armor, the invention of a simple shield, which greatly improves the likely hood that a warrior would survive combat is pretty much a given.

Now I can understand your desire to keep your game more technological side of Steampunk and limit/remove all "archaic tools" from your game, but you introduced an archaic playable race and pretty much limited them to being archaic. As such you must expect players to embrace that archaic lifestyle and bring the archaic tools into the game that fit with that lifestyle. Along with that come the unanswered question of bows (which now has been answered), shields, large weapons (such as spears and throwing javelins), and possibility their own form of magic (or at least a rewrite of the Faith header to allow for the more tribal view of the world).

Some might say that the shield might provide too much of advantage because now you can block incoming shots from Marksman, thus having them waste a trait. While that might be true, the shot would be wasted if they missed, the person dodged, or used avoid. and the same argument could be made for a swords man that uses a special attack only to have that attack blocked by the opponent's weapon. However, that being said, bullets although not necessarily more powerful than other attacks, do put all that power into a smaller area and thus allow for a greater general penetration (scientific studies show that a knife point produces a greater amount of psi at the point of impact but quickly lose it as the area of the contact increase were a bullet tends to stay the same). Because of this, if you did allow shields into the game you could make a rule that rifle shot are treated like spells packets in that a shield does not protect against them.

Also, one of the reasons that I bring this up is that you do talk about shields in the players guild. specifically you state that Feral Dorrs can not use shield due to their lack of dexterity of the their hands, implying that other Dorrs can. You also mention bows under then Dorr enter too. So when you might want to fix those entries afterwards