Frequently Asked TORG Questions
in
alt.games.torg and the Masterbook mailing list
last revision date 12/15/95
by Kansas Jim
This is the Frequently Asked TORG Questions list for the
alt.games.torg newsgroup and the Masterbook mailing list. It will be
posted on a semi-regular basis in the hopes of cutting down on the
number of questions that keep getting asked over and over again.
Some questions may not have one answer, either because West
End Games has never given a definite clarification or answer to the
question or because it is something that has no right or wrong answer.
Should enough questions ever be raised about Shatterzone and
Masterbook a seperate FAQ file will be created for them. For now,
many of the questions under Administrivia will apply to Shatterzone
and Masterbook as well as TORG.
TABLE of QUESTIONS:
- What is this newsgroup/mailing list for?
- Do I need to read both the newsgroup and mailing list?
- How do I subscribe to the mailing list?
- How do I unsubscribe to the mailing list?
- Where are the ftp archives and how do I access them?
- Who do I contact if I have a question or problem with the mailing list or the archives?
- What is the relationship between TORG, Shatterzone and Masterbook?
- What are WEG's plans for TORG?
- How can I contact WEG or OGP?
- Can I be a playtester for WEG or OGP?
- Can I submit material to WEG or OGP?
- What does mean?
- Who is Kansas Jim and why is he in New Mexico instead of Kansas?
- Are there any other TORG resources on the Internet?
- What material is available for TORG?
- What material is recommended for a beginning TORG game?
- Is there an index available? Errata sheets?
- What is the name of Darkness Device? What does it look like?
- How high do stelae zones go?
- When casting a spell do you add in your adds of the appropriate arcane knowledge when generating the magic skill total?
- How does spell construction work? How do the Nile Gizmo construction rules work?
- What does Elvis have to do with the Space Gods?
- Haven't I seen some of the cover art somewhere else?
- What's the GodNet MUD? What's the TorgMush?
- Is there a TORG email game I can join?
- What's the source of the name "Apeiros"?
- While in a pure zone of an alien cosm, you cannot create any kind
of contradiction. Does this mean that you cannot use a tool
supported by the local axioms but not supported by your
personal axioms?
- When using a long-range tool supported by the realm's reality but
not by your own axioms do you have to make a long-range
contradiction check?
- Do spells create long-range contradictions?
- Can I spend a Possibility point on my Reality skill check to reconnect?
- How often can I try to reconnect?
- What happens when undead creatures disconnect?
- Does a spellcaster take backlash damage if he disconnects while
casting a spell?
- If I roll a 1 on the die, can I spend a Possibility or use a Second
Chance card to avoid disconnection?
- Can ords create contradictions?
- Can a character in a reality bubble create any contradictions?
- How are reconnection numbers determined?
- Can Storm Knights be transformed by staying in an alien realm too
long?
- When are characters affected by world laws?
- Which world laws affect a character outside of his home reality?
- Can I buy adds in Honor or Corruption in Aysle?
- Can I use my Ayslish Honor/Corruption adds outside of Aysle?
- Who can counter a spent Possibility Point?
- Can NPCs negate Hero and Drama cards?
- Can werewolves hurt other werewolves/monsters that are resistant
to normal attacks?
- Can I buy off more than one wound/three shock points of damage
when I use a Possibility to negate damage?
- Can I 'save up' my damage and buy it off all at once?
- What is stun damage? How is it different from normal damage?
- How long does a K result last? How long does an O result last?
- How long does a Stymie result last? Can you have multiple
Stymies?
- Does a shield act like armor and add to your Toughness?
- How does Aggressive Defense work?
- Can I use my Dodge skill to defend against Unarmed/Melee attacks?
- Is the maximum damage value of a melee weapon the maximum damage I can
do?
- Where are the rules for falling damage?
- My character has a really high defensive skill value, which means
if he ever gets hit, applying the big bonus number that was
necessary to hit him to the damage is going to cream
Is there a way to fix this problem?
THE QUESTIONS:
The purpose of alt.games.torg and the Masterbook mailing list is
to provide a forum for discussion of TORG, Shatterzone and the Masterbook
series of roleplaying games. The newsgroup was originally created back
when there was only TORG and the TORG mailing list. When the TORG list
was renamed the Masterbook list and the other games were included it was
decided to not rename agt or create a new Masterbook newsgroup until
there was enough non-TORG traffic to warrant it.
Until the fall of '95 there was a crossposting mechanism in place
that sent newsgroup messages posts to the mailing list and vice versa,
so you only had to read one or the other to get both. Unfortunately
the gateway through which the crossposting occured had died so the
newsgroup and mailing list are now seperated and if you want to follow
all possible discussions you'll need to read both.
[Adapted from the BMW FAQ list]
You can subscribe to a BMW mailing list by sending mail to
the list request address.
You may subscribe to the distribution or digest form of the mailing
list. The distribution form "distributes" incoming mail to the mailing list
immediately. The digest form collects a day's worth of messages into a single
"digested" format and sends you only one (or a few, if the collected digest
is large) message a day.
To subscribe to the distribution list, set your subject to SUBSCRIBE.
To subscribe to the digest list, set your subject to DIGEST.
Example: If you want to subscribe to the Masterbook Mailing List, your email
message headers would look something like this:
To: MASTERBOOK-request@gojira.monsta.com
Subject: SUBSCRIBE
To unsubscribe, send mail to
the list request address
and set your subject to UNSUBSCRIBE or UNDIGEST.
If you have FTP access (or FTPmail access), you may FTP to
gojira.monsta.com:/pub/lists/masterbook
where you will also find the seperate directories for Torg and Shatterzone.
You may also access the ftp archives through the listserver.
To do this, send email to
the listserver address.
The following commands
are available and you can use multiple commands in the text of the
email:
- CD
- - change your working directory
- DIR
- - lists the files in the current directory
- GET file
- - get a file from the list archive; compressed files will
be sent uuencoded. The compression format used by the BMW
is gz.
Example: if you want a listing of the files in the TORG subdirectory
your email will look something like this:
To: masterbook-request@gojira.monsta.com
Subject: <- no subject line is necessary
CD /pub/lists/masterbook/torg <- changes the working directory to torg
DIR <- asks for the directory listing
The listserver will then email you back with the list of files in
the directory. To then retreive a file you would send a second message:
To: masterbook-request@gojira.monsta.com
Subject:
CD /pub/lists/masterbook/torg
GET foo.bar
The listserver will then email you a copy of the foo.bar file. If
the requested file is compressed you will first have to uudecode it
and then use gunzip to decompress it.
The list administrator can be reached through email at
masterbook-owner@gojira.monsta.com
Both Shatterzone and Masterbook base their mechanics on the
mechanics of TORG, though there are enough changes that the games are
not 100% compatible. Masterbook is West End Games' new house system
and all future game releases from them will use that system, including
any possible sequel to TORG or revision of Shatterzone. The module
"War's End" (see next question) contains a set of TORG-Masterbook conversion
rules but so far no one has bothered to review or comment upon them.
WEG ended its involvement in TORG in August 1995 with the
module "War's End" which brought about a conclusion to the Possibility
Wars. There's been some talk about a post-War campaign sourcebook
for Masterbook but for now, WEG has no more plans for TORG.
WEG has licensed off the rights to TORG to Omni Gaming Products,
who have 'reset the clock' to an earlier point in WEG's campaign history
and are continuing the Possibility Wars with all-new material and events.
They have their own version of the Infiniverse newsletter and will
be producing modules sometime soon.
Since WEG is no longer involved in TORG most questions about
the game probably should be directed to OGP first. The regular mail
address for OGP is:
Omni Gaming Products
1452 Michele Dr.
Palatine IL 60067
and they can be contacted through email at the following addresses:
ogp@intr.net - official company email account
DeadBoy101@aol.com - Shawn Metcalf
vermic@aol.com - Steve Stelter
The regular mail address for WEG is:
West End Games
RD 3 Box 2345
Honesdale PA 18431
and the phone number is (717)-253-6990 9am-5pm EST during the week.
WEG can also be contacted through email at the following address:
weggf@aol.com - Greg Farshtey
totoro001@aol.com - Steven Browns
but you will probably get better results with a phone call than email.
If you want to be a playtester for WEG all you have to do is write
and ask them to put you and your group on their playtest list. Be
sure to specify which RPGs you are willing to playtest for (choices
are Shatterzone, Bloodshadows, World of Indiana Jones, Star Wars and
Paranoia) but be aware that being on the list does not necessarily
mean that you will ever receive anything.
OGP will post requests for playtesters to the newsgroup/list
as needed, so keep an eye out for announcements from them.
WEG does not accept unsolicited submissions for publication,
you will first need to contact WEG for a proposal form and submit
that for review.
OGP will accept submissions and/or proposals for Infiniverse
if accompanied by a proposal form. They are interested in (descending
order of interest) locale writeups, characters, rumors, short fiction
(500-5000 words) and pocket dimensions or cosms. For a more detailed
set of guidelines and a proposal form, write OGP either through normal
mail or email.
Here is a list of common acronyms in use here. Many are TORG
terms though some cross over into Shatterzone and Masterbook use. A
purely TORGian term is indicated with a '*' after it.
AK Arcane Knowledge
ASAP As Soon As Possible
AY Aysle*
BTW By The Way
CE Core Earth*
CP Cyberpapacy*
DC Delphi Council*
DD Darkness Device*
Eo1 Everlaw of One*
Eo2 Everlaw of Two*
FAQ Frequently Asked Questions
GM Game Master, also Gaunt Man*
GMR "The Gaunt Man Returns" module (also TGMR)*
HL High Lord*
HLoE "High Lord of Earth" module*
IMHO In My Humble/Honest Opinion
IMO In My Opinion
Iverse Infiniverse newsletter*
KJ Kansas Jim
LB Land Below*
LL Living Land*
LOL Laugh Out Loud
Lo<> Law of *
LP Life Point
MA Martial Arts
MoO Many on One
NE Nile Empire*
NN Near Now*
NPC Non-Player Character
NT Nippon Tech*
OGP Omni Gaming Products
OoM One on Many
OR Orrorsh*
PC Player Character
PE Possibility Energy*
PoF Power of Fear*
PP Possibility Point*
PRC Possibility-Rated Character*
ROTFL Rolling On The Floor Laughing
RPG Role-Playing Game
SB Sourcebook
SG Space Gods*
SK Storm Knight*
TGM The Gaunt Man*
TK Tharkold*
WEG West End Games
WL World Law*
WotD Warrior of the Dark (also WoD)*
YA<> Yet Another
YMMV Your Mileage May Vary
[...] Indicates deleted material
grin
:-) Smiley (tilt your head to the left; its a smiling face)
8-) Kansas Jim Smiley (wears glasses)
:-/,8-/ Smirking Smilies
:-(,8-( Frowning Smilies
Smileys usually indicate that the writer is kidding or joking about
something; sometimes it is hard for people to detect sarcasm or joking
comments so a smiley is used to indicate these. For example: "WEG has
way too many editors on their staff!" You might think I actually
meant this, which is why I would include a smiley at the end of the
line: "WEG has too many editors on their staff! 8-)"
"Kansas Jim" is the net.identity of Jim Ogle, a radio telescope
operator in Socorro, New Mexico who has way too much free time on his
hands. Originally from Kansas, he picked up the name "Kansas Jim" during
his college years in New Mexico by wearing an 'Indiana Jones' fedora too
much.
Genichi Nishio has a TORG homepage accessible on the World
Wide Web at http://www.io.com/~nishio/torg/torg.html; it contains a
copy of the "What is TORG?" file (usually posted in conjunction with
the FAQ list), the November 1994 version of the TORG FAQ file, a
listing of available TORG products and a roleplaying guide to Japanese
culture with a focus on TORG applications. OGP also has a company
homepage at
http://www.intr.net/~ogp/
which has information on their
Infiniverse newsletter, TORG items they have available for sale,
several TORG-related Top Ten lists and an area for people who are
looking for fellow TORG players. TORG GM Doug Dawson has put details
about his TORG campaign on his webpage which can be found at
http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~ddawson/Torg/torg.html.
The House of Hassan Tea Shop is Jennifer Marquess' TORG webpage
and can be found at
http://www.afn.org/~afn34905/Hassans.html.
As of September, 1995 the following material has been produced
for TORG - many stores no longer carry TORG material in stock but
everything except the miniatures and comic books should be available
from WEG or OGP:
- Torg boxed set (includes Infiniverse newsletter (volume 1) #1)
- Infiniverse (volume 1) campaign newsletter (#2-40)
- Inviniverse (volume 2) campaign newsletter (#1)
- Sourcebooks-
- Living Land, Nile Empire, Aysle, Cyberpapacy, Nippon Tech,
Orrorsh, Land Below, Space Gods, Tharkold, Delphi Council
Worldbook (Core Earth sourcebook), Terra
- Adventures-
- The Destiny Map (with GM screen), The Possibility Chalice, The
Forever City, Cassandra Files, Queenswrath, Full Moon Draw,
High Lord of Earth, Operation: Hard Sell, Crucible of Pain,
Cylent Scream, The Temple of Rec Stalek, City of Demons, Central
Valley Gate, When Axioms Collide, The Gaunt Man Returns, No Quarter
Given, War's End
- Novels-
- Storm Knights, The Dark Realm, The Nightmare Realm, Strange Tales
From the Nile Empire, Dragons Over England, Mysterious Cairo, Out
of Nippon, Interview With Evil, City of Pain
- Supplements-
- The GodNet, Kanawa Personal Weapons Catalog, Pixaud's
Practical Grimoire, Creatures of Aysle, Kanawa Heavy Weapons
Catalog, The Storm Knights' Guide to the Possibility Wars,
Infiniverse Update (Volumes 1,2 and 3), Creatures of Orrorsh,
Kanawa Land Vehicles, Los Angeles Citybook, Ravagons,
Character Collection, Tokyo Citybook, Creatures of Tharkold,
High Lords' Guide to the Possibility Wars, Priests' Sourcebook,
Berlin Citybook
- Miniatures (by Lance and Laser)-
- The Gaunt Man w/Gibberfat, Baruk Kaah, Dr. Mobius, Angar Uthorian,
Thratchen, Pella Ardinay, Gospog, Ravagon, Bryce & Mara, Kurst &
Djil, Dwarf Tunnel Fighter, Elf Mage, Corporate Ninja, Giant Bruiser,
Jaz Fighter, Cyberlegger, Ryuchi Kanawa & corporate samurai, Jean
Malraux, Nile shocktroopers (?)
- Misc-
- Torg comic book issue #1-4, Stormshooters and Troubleknights
(a Paranoia/TORG crossover anthology book)
The following products have been generally recommended by
people on the list/newsgroup:
- Sourcebooks:
- Aysle, Cyberpapacy, Nippon Tech, and Orrorsh are generally
given good marks by most people. Aysle also defines the magic system,
Cyberpapacy defines cyberware and Nippon Tech defines martial arts.
The Nile Empire is also good in most people's books. Opinion is
generally split on the rest of the sourcebooks, though the Living Land
SB is looked down upon by most people (being the first one written it
certainly lacks in comparison to the rest.) The Terra sourcebook is
useful for its revised gizmo rules and new material on pulp powers but
it is more useful for a stand-alone pulp genre game than as part of
the oveall TORG campaign setting.
- Supplements:
- Most of the supplements are considered optional by most people.
The only supplements that have received high marks are the first two
creature books (Creatures of Aysle and Creatures of Orrorsh), Ravagons,
the Infiniverse newsletter, the Infiniverse Updates, and the High Lords'
Guide to the Possibility Wars.
- Adventures:
- The Relics of Power trilogy are generally considered good
adventures, the first moreso than the rest. The three adventures are
The Destiny Map (which also includes the GM Screen), The Possibility
Chalice, and The Forever City. The mini-adventure compendiums
(Queenswrath, Full Moon Draw, and Cylent Scream) are also given good
marks. The Gaunt Man Returns also received generally good reviews,
but is meant for experienced characters.
An index for the boxed set can be found in issues #27-29 of
Infiniverse v1, in the High Lords' Guide to the Possibility Wars supplement,
or at the ftp site. The index at the ftp site was put together by someone
on the mailing list and may not match the official index published by
WEG.
The only organized errata information was published in Infiniverse v1
#2 and #7; errata for the TORG boxed set was in #2 and errata for the
Nile Empire sourcebook was in #7. There is more errata scattered through
the entire run of Infiniverse but no one has yet collected it into one
piece of information.
Information on most of the Darkness Devices can be found in
the appropriate sourcebook or supplementary materials such as the
Infiniverse Updates.
The following information is in the format of: Realm, (High Lord) and
a brief description of the Darkness Device. All Darkness Devices
are further described as being made of an obsidian-like material.
- Aysle (Utherion, Warrior of the Dark): Drakacanus,
- a large crown.
- Cyberpapacy (Pope Jean Malraux I): Ebenuscrux,
- a glowing cross both in reality and as a VX presence in the GodNet.
- Nile Empire (Pharaoh Mobius): Kefertiri Idol,
- a crocodile-headed idol.
- Nippon Tech (3327): Daikoku,
- a laptop computer.
- Orrorsh (Gaunt Man): Heketon,
- a stone heart.
- Living Land (Baruk Kaah, no one currently): Rec Pakken,
- a large copse of trees.
- Tharkold (Kranod, Jezrael): Malgest,
- an intricately carved rod (Jezrael is
holding it on the cover of the Tharkold SB.)
- Kantovia (Dairoga, Ayroa): Tagharra,
- a huge black headband with a single
curved horn protruding from the front. This is the form it held
while Dairoga (aka Kurst) was its High Lord, it's current form
as Ayroa's DD is unknown. [NOTE: This information is for WEG's
campaign history, OGP has made changes that affect this.]
- Aztec Empire (no HL): Huitzilopochtli (weets-eel-oh-POOCH-tiee),
- an idol of a fanged warrior in Aztec garb holding a bowl
over it's head to
catch the blood of sacrifices. This is the form and name that
Tagharra assumed during its time on Core Earth.
According to Infiniverse v1 #4, stelae zones usually extend 15 kilo-
meters above the ground surface and 150 meters below the ground surface.
Nippon Tech and the Cyberpapacy have extended their stelae zones to reach
low Earth orbit, about 250 kilometers.
No. The only time you add an arcane knowledge to a magic
skill is to determine if you can learn the spell and during the spell
design process. When casting a spell you use just the appropriate magic
skill value.
These two topics are too lengthy to be covered in this
document. Perhaps someday a step-by-step description of each process
will show up in the archives but until then you are on your own. You
can post specific questions about the processes to the list and there
will be people who can help you out though.
The Terra sourcebook presents a revised version of the gizmo
rules that goes to great lengths to make the process as painless as
possible, including a worksheet that leads you step by step through
the process. If you're having trouble with the Nile rules you may
want to check it out.
Officially there is no established connection but the King
is pictured on the cover of the Space Gods sourcebook. One of the icons
in the light blue background is an Incan-style representation of Elvis,
complete with microphone and that famous hairstyle.
There are several scattered over the front and back cover; the
easiest one to locate is on the front cover, very close to the word
'THE' on the spine of the sourcebook.
Several people have suggested that Elvis was an Akashan, one
of Those Who Wait, or even an Ayslish elf (the plural of Elvis is
Elves, and there is a connection between the elves and the Space
Gods). But other than Elvis the edeinos (an entirely different story)
there is no official mention of Elvis in the TORG material.
Yes; the cover art on _Kanawa Heavy Weapons Catalog_ and _The
Storm Knight's Guide to the Possibility Wars_ are what WEG calls
'secondhand art'. The art for KHVC is from the home release of the
coin-op arcade game "Contra" and the SKGPW art is from the adventure
game "Alternate Reality: The Dungeon". Also, the cover art from the Land
Below sourcebook has appeared as a cover of the comic book "666 - The
Number of the Beast." The cover of the Berlin Citybook was previously
used as the cover for the TORG novel "City of Pain". The cover of the
module "When Axioms Collide" has been used in other places as well but
I do not have any specific references.
Both the GodNet MUD and the TorgMUSH are interactive, multi-
player computer game environments that are accessible through the
Internet. However, at this time both of these environments have been
shut down though the GodNet was at some point in 1995 supposed to be
in the process of being revived.
There have been at times TORG campaigns being run through email
but currently there are none running or looking for players. A post to
the newsgroup or mailing list asking is probably the best way to locate
one.
The following information was kindly provided by Neferset
(I'm assuming the spelling she uses, Aperios, is the actual Greek
name and not a misspelling.)
"The Pre Socratics (or quite a few of them anyway) spent their time
trying to divine the 'one'true thing (element) behind the 'all'
(everything). I'm not even sure element is not anachronistic...
Basically, they wanted to know what indivisible thing made up all
things. Anaxamander said that it was the unbounded or the limitless,
which in Greek is Aperios. Both before and after him (but still withing
the Presocratic timeline/tradition) philosophers had claimed that the
'one' was some sort of metaphorical substance. Thales, his teacher,
claimed it was water in all of its various forms. Anaxemenes claimed it
was air. Anaxamander claimed that his Aperios was pure matter that was
not particulate and had no definitive quality of property."
"Also, the Greeks imagined the void in opposition to this unique and
underlying one. They never defined properly how it is possible to have
nothing if the definition of nothing is no thing, or that which is
not--since by defintion, every that is isn't that which is not by logic
alone. However, their void or no-thing can loosely translate to Torg as
the Nameless One."
"It is also worthy of note that the Pythagoreans were mostly interested
in 'the void'. From whichever point of view you take, in Presocratic
Philosphy, no-thing was always in opposition to some-thing. Anaxamander
just gave us a convenient word by which to call it."
While you are in a pure zone of any kind you are for all
intents and purposes a person from that cosm. You can do anything
that is supported by the cosm even if your own reality won't support
it because you are no longer part of your home cosm (unless you put up
a reality bubble, in which case you can preform actions contrary to
the reality you happen to be in).
No. Since the tool is no longer physically connected to the
character the realm supports the existence of the tool. It is only
when the realm the character is in doesn't support the tool that a
long-range contradiction check is necessary. Note though that the
character may still disconnect when using the tool.
No. Spells remain connected to their caster through the
pattern of the spell so there is no need to support the effect of
the spell at a distance.
Yes. While disconnected you cannot gain any new possibilities
but you can still spend them. Note though that any character who
possesses the Martial Arts style of Ninjitsu is prohibited from
spending Possibilities on any use of the Reality skill, including
reconnection. Also note that disconnected people cannot create Reality
Bubbles.
The official ruling from WEG is that a character who
disconnects in combat or when the party is engaged in some form of
action requiring dice rolling can attempt to reconnect every round.
If he hasn't reconnected by the end of combat (or whatever) or
disconnects in between dice rolling events (such as at the beginning
of a scene due to contradictory equipment) the character is allowed
one attempt per scene to reconnect. If a scene happens to last for
more than one day, the character is allowed one attempt per day to
reconnect. This also applies if the character has not reconnected by
the end of the adventure (once per day).
Officially a disconnected undead creature doesn't stop moving
or become a corpse. It does lose any special powers that it might have
possessed but is still capable of movement and whatever amount of thought
it was capable of before. A disconnected vampyre still has its very high
attributes and skills but is no longer especially invulnerable to
attacks or able to drain the life force from a character. But, the
undead creature also loses any of its special weaknesses so that
vampyre is no longer bothered by garlic, holy symbols, or whathaveyou.
Unofficially, some GMs may have all disconnected creatures
(not just undead) conform to the attribute limits of the reality in
which the creature disconnects. Another possibility is that like
disconnected elves, giants and Tharkoldu an undead creature that dis-
connects in a reality with a low Magic axiom may start dying (or in this
case, cease to function).
An answer has not been decided upon by the list. One opinion is
that a spellcaster doesn't take any backlash damage because the
disconnection cuts off the magical energies to the spellcaster before
he fries his brain. Another opinion is that the backlash occurs first
and then the spellcaster is disconnected. Yet another opinion is that
the backlash energies will 'wait' for the spellcaster to reconnect and
will then flow in and fly his brain. Of course, if the spellcaster
disconnects but still would have overcome the backlash value (a mondo
spellcaster and/or a wimpy spell) then there's no problem....
WEG's answer on the subject was that spellcasters will always
take backlash damage from failed spells but this was just based on the
backlash rules in the Aysle sourcebook without apparently taking into
consideration the disconnection.
No. According to WEG disconnection is a powerful enough event
that there is no way to avoid it once the Everlaw of One catches up to
you (ie, when you roll that disconnection).
Yes. However, they cannot create long-range contradictions of
any kind. Of course, only ords who have not disconnected can create
contradictions.
Yes - according to the section of the rules concerning reality
bubbles you can still create contradictions in a reality bubble but
they will all be four-case contradictions (like creating a contra-
diction in your home realm.)
The formula that WEG used (most of the time) is as follows:
- - To determine the difficulty for a character from realm A to reconnect
in realm B, first find the largest difference in axioms where A is
greater than B.
- - Take that difference and then add +1 for every other axiom in realm
A that is higher than realm B.
- - Next you add in a "fudge factor" based on the current value of the
difference: if the value is 0-5, add +3; if the value is 6-10,
add +2; if the value is 11-15, add +1; and if the value is
greater than 15, leave it unchanged.
Basically, that's it. However, WEG has often fudged the value even
further to reflect world laws and other intangibles not reflected in
the axioms.
No. A possibility-rated person can only be transformed as the
result of a reality storm (natural or invoked), even if the character
has no Possibilities. Only Ords and equipment can be transformed by
long-term exposure to an alien realm's reality. (Equipment carried by
stormers is safe from transformation as long as the stormer has not
disconnected.)
When a character is in his home realm he must abide by his
world laws; there's no way of getting around it. It's when a
character enters an alien realm that things can get complicated.
Characters that leave their home realm carry their world laws
with them as long as they remain connected to their reality and are
not in an alien pure zone. If the character should disconnect or
enter an alien pure zone he loses his world laws. Stormers who have
erected a Reality Bubble may use their native world laws in an alien
pure zone for the duration of the Bubble.
The use of native world laws while in an alien realm is a
1-case contradiction. Some world laws are always affecting the
character (such as the Nile Empire's Law of Morality) and the GM
should roll at the beginning of each scene to determine if this causes
the character to disconnect (as per the rules for passive use of
items, like armor). Other world laws will affect a character whenever
he attempts a certain type of action (like the Cyberpapacy's Law of
Heretical Magic) and the die roll the character makes is used to
determine if he disconnects, even if the realm he is in supports the
action(such as Cyberpapal Witch casting a spell in Aysle). The last
kind of world law is one that the player can voluntarily decide
whether or not to use (like the Nile and Land Below's Law of Action).
Again, the die roll the character makes is used to determine if the
character disconnects or not. Note that some World Laws (like the Deep
Mist in the Living Land) do not create effects a character can use or
will be subject to outside of his realm, so there is no need to make
contradiction checks for these World Laws. See Question #40 for more
information.
Characters in an alien realm are also subject to the world
laws of that realm. The only way a character can avoid being
subjected to the alien world laws is to put up a Reality Bubble (ords
are just out of luck). Part of the alienness of being in another
realm is that the character finds himself acting in a different manner
and has no control over this (being deceitful in Nippon, suspicious in
the Cyberpapacy, purely Good or Evil in the Nile, etc).
Being affected by an alien world law is a one-case contradiction
because the character's reality doesn't support that world law. As a
result, GMs and players may have to check for contradictions every scene
that a character is in an alien realm (such as a Core Earth character in
Nippon Tech being affected by the Law of Profit), whenever a character
does something prohibited by a world law (a Core Earth character in the
Nile performing a Grey act) or whenever a character does something
affected by a world law (an Ayslish priest performing a miracle in the
Cyberpapacy.)
WEG has said on GEnie that this was not their original
intention for world laws but a strict reading of the rules does
support this. What they had intended was that while in a realm you
could use those World Laws without contradiction but using your own
World Laws in an alien realm would still be a contradiction. If a GM
wishes to run things this way, WEG said it was all right with them.
Note that if you run world laws the official way (alien world
laws cause a contridiction), WEG has pointed out that the Akashan Law
of Acceptance will allow a character from that realm to use alien
world laws without it causing a contradicion unless it is a world law
that is in conflict with Akashan world laws (like the Law of the One
True God in the Cyberpapacy; see the Space Gods sourcebook for more
information). And of course, the Akashan Law of Acceptance will let
visitors to the Space Gods realm use their world laws and the Akashan
world laws without creating a contradiction.
Note that the Orrorshan Power of Fear is a special exception
to the normal rules concerning world laws, as it can affect characters
in Reality Bubbles and Orrorshan Horrors can use the Power of Fear
against other people outside of Orrorsh (such a use does require a
contradiction check however).
The following World Laws either affect a character or can be used by
a character when he is not in his home reality. A World Law marked
with an "*" is one with some effects that may not affect characters
outside of their home reality. World Laws marked with a "%" are ones
whose status have been in dispute on the mailing list.
- Akasha (Star Sphere)
- Aysle
-
Law of Honor/Corruption * (See question #42 for more on this)
- Core Earth
- Law of Glory
- Law of Hope
- Law of Prodigy
- Cyberpapacy
- Law of Heretical Magic %
- Law of Suspicion %
- Law of the One True God %
- Land Below/Above
- Law of Action
- Law of Savagery
- Living Land
- none
- Nile Empire
- Law of Action
- Law of Morality *
- Nippon Tech
- Law of Intrigue *
- Law of Vengeance %
- Orrorsh
- Law of Eternal Corruption %
- Power of Corruption %
- Power of Fear (Horrors only)
- Tharkold
- Law of Domination *
- Law of Ferocity
- Law of Pain *
- Tz'Ravok
- Law of the Most Real
- Law of Transcendence
- Law of Survival of the Fittest %
No. While the Aysle sourcebook does seem to suggest that you
can buy adds in these special skills, it also says that you may not
buy adds. The ruling from WEG is that you cannot buy adds with
Possibilities; they must all be earned though honorable/corrupt
actions (during character creation some characters can buy Honor or
Corruption adds with their skill points, which is what the Aysle SB
is talking about when it says you can buy adds.)
If it is an Ayslish character, then he can use whatever benefits
he receives as a one-case contradiction outside of Aysle. If it is a
non-Ayslish character who has earned Honor/Corruption while in Aysle,
WEG's official answer is that the character can use those benefits as
a four-case contradiction. However, WEGs statement is that this is
allowable since Honor/Corruption is a skill, but it is not; it is an
effect of a world law and non-Ayslish characters should not be able to
take the Ayslish world law with them when they leave Aysle, so some
sections of the list/newsgroup do not agree with WEG's ruling on this
matter.
The last ruling from WEG was that anyone who is on the scene
and aware of what is occuring can negate the possibility. So if a
group of heroes is confronting a Possibility-rated enemy and the enemy
spends a Possibility on an action that affects one of the heroes any
one of the heroes that is involved in what is going on (ie, not
unconscious or off in a different room or something similar) can negate
that Possiblity.
Not everyone on the list/newsgroup agrees with this ruling;
some say that a character can only negate a spent Possibility if he is
aware of it and it is being used to affect him while others say the
character can negate any Possibility used against him even if he's not
aware of it being used.
Yes, it is the same as negating a Possibility.
Werewolves and other special creatures like them do not innately
possess any special ability to inflict damage on other special creatures.
This is the official word from WEG in Infiniverse #11. However, it is
possible that the creature may be aware of the other creature's
weaknesses (such as being hurt by silver) and can use that to hurt the
other creature (the infamous 'silver claws' of the weretiger that Kurst
fought in the third Torg novel). There is also a special power that
Orrorshan Horrors may possess that will allow them to hurt other Horrors
that are resistant to normal forms of attack.
Yes. To review, spending a Possibility to negate damage will
enable you to remove three of the following four things and you can
double (or triple) up on what you remove:
- three shock points of damage
- a Knockdown
- a Knockout condition (K, O, or KO)
- one wound
Note that you cannot take multiple Knockdowns or Knockouts in a single
attack so the only thing you can buy off multiples of are wounds and
'shock packets' (three points per packet).
Also note that in the Space Gods realm, this rule is modified
by the World Laws of that realm. (See the Space Gods soucebook for
the details.)
Some GMs have ruled (and WEG runs it this way in Masterbook)
that a KO condition is really two Knockout conditions, not one, and
so it would use up two packets to negate a KO result.
No. Damage must be negated immediately after it is taken. If
you are being attacked by three opponents you cannot wait until after
each one has hit you and then remove damage based off of the final
total; you would have to remove the damage done by each opponent right
after the GM tells you how much damage you take from each one.
Stunning damage is caused by "non-lethal" attack forms.
Examples are blows from clubs, rubber bullets, fistfights, and
knockout gas. While it is still possible to be killed by these non-
lethal attacks it is less likely to happen.
Shock points and KO results are taken as normal, but a
Knockdown result is ignored, a Wound is reduced to a Knockdown, and
successive Wound levels are reduced by one (two wounds become one,
three wounds become two, etc).
Some GMs have come up with house rules to make some knockout
attacks less lethal and more likely to make people unconcious. For
example, a knockout gas may not do any wound damage at all, but each
wound result is treated as extra shock damage. This way, the
insidious Wu-Han can capture the heroes without killing them (so he
can then send them to his Death Pits!)
In the module "No Quarter Given" a knockout poison uses the
following mechanic - the subject makes a Toughness roll against the
strength of the poison; failure means the victim passes out. When the
victim awakens, to simulate the aftereffects of the poison he has a
small amount of shock damage and a K result.
According to the rules, an O result will only last for one
minute. A K result lasts for thirty minutes. The implication is that
a character will only be KO'd for one minute and then wake up (unless
the shock damage keeps the character unconcious.)
Some people on the list have suggested changing things to keep
people unconcious for longer periods of time. For example, making the
O's last for a longer period of time.
According to WEG (Infiniverse v1 #13) a Stymie lasts for only one
round and you cannot be affected by multiple stymies in that round.
Some GMs have expressed the opinion that this isn't severe
enough of a penalty and have ruled that a Stymie lasts until the
character's next reroll opportunity (rolling a 10 or a 20, the
character is Up, the character spends a Possibility) or the end of the
scene.
It has been pointed out that a Stymie result is not as harmful
as an Unskilled result; some GMs have decided that on the Interaction
Result Table a Stymie result also counts as an Unskilled result and
some GMs have reversed the positions of the Unskilled and Stymie
results on the Interaction table. Shatterzone and Masterbook have made
this switch on their Interaction Result Tables.
No. The adds that a shield gives you are added to your
defensive value if (and only if) you are actively defending (an
Aggressive Defense counts). The shield bonus is added to the bonus
value before you apply it to the defense value (and then if it is less
than +1 you increase it to that minimum value). If the attack
overcomes the modified defense value you get hit. If the attack fails
but by less than the amount of the shield bonus then the shield is hit
and takes damage. (Figure normally, using the Toughness value given
in the equipment description for the shield.)
An Aggressive Defense allows the character to actively defend
and attack at the same time. Only one bonus value is generated and is
added to both the attack and defense value. Because the first action
is an active defense the minimum bonus to the defense skill that you
can get from the roll is a +1, but because of the -2 multi-action
penalty this is actually a minimum bonus of -1. The rolled bonus
value is also applied to the appropriate attack skill, but with a -4
penalty.
That is the official WEG ruling on how Aggressive Defense
works; some GMs feel however that an active defense should always have
a minimum +1 bonus modifier. The -2 multi-action penalty is applied
to the rolled bonus value and THEN if the bonus value is less than +1
it is bumped up to a +1.
No. Dodge can only be used against Fire Combat, Energy
Weapons, and Missle Weapons attacks.
On a related note, Melee Weapons skill can be used to defend
against Unarmed Combat if the defender is using a melee weapon.
Unarmed Combat can be used to defend against Melee Weapons attacks if
the skill represents a martial art form. (This is different from the
actual skill Martial Arts though, which is a philosophy as well as a
combat skill.)
Also somewhat related, an unskilled person cannot actively
defend with the Melee Weapons skill. All other defensive skills can
be actively defended with even if the character doesn't have the
skill.
No, the maximum damage value given for melee weapons is the
maximum _base_ damage that the weapon can do. Any bonus to damage
gained through cards or die rolls are not considered when figuring the
maximum damage value of a weapon.
For example, if a weapon is listed as being +3/17 (where 17 is
the maximum damage value) any character who has a Strength of 15 or
greater will have a base damage value of 17, but if he were to roll a
bonus value of +4 the damage he does would be 21, not 17. And a
character with a Strength of 9 who uses cards and/or a good die roll
to get a bonus of +7 has a damage value of 19, he doesn't stop at 17.
They are hidden in the description of the Climbing skill on
page 52 of the rulebook. The falling damage value is found by adding
the character's weight value (60 kg = value 9, etc) to the value of
the height the character fell from (60m = value 9, etc) with a fall
from a height greater than a value of 14 treated as a value of 14 (due
to terminal velocity). A bonus value is generated by the GM and the
damage value is applied to the fallen character.
Some GMs have decided that a fall should always have a minimum
bonus value of +1 (much like Point Blank range) since the ground "always
hits" but this is not actually stated in the rules anywhere.
If a character falls and for some reason or another gravity is
not the only force acting upon him (for example, flying due to a Pulp
power or magic spell into the ground, being thrown at the ground by
someone, etc) the speed value is used instead of distance to determine
damage.
It has been pointed out that weight and mass are not the same
thing and that since the value table gives the mass value of a character,
gravitational acceleration must be accounted for to find the weight of
the character. This is done by adding five to the mass value. Not
everyone agrees that this is necessary or correct however so it is up
to the GM to determine if he wishes to use this or not.
This is generally considered one of the main problems with TORG
by some people, including WEG who changed the mechanic for Shatterzone
and Masterbook. Two solutions have been suggested on the list/newsgroup,
the first one being the method WEG uses in Shatterzone/Masterbook:
- - use the result points of the attack in place of the rolled bonus
number as the bonus added to damage. A variant limits this by using
either the result points or the generated bonus value, whichever is less.
One important thing to do when using this method is to change all of the
combat modifiers (Vital Blow, Blindside, etc) to reflect this change
otherwise they won't work correctly (Shatterzone did not make this
correction but Masterbook did.)
- - a slightly more complicated method is to use the difference between
the base skill values as a modifier to the generated bonus value. These
methods favor whoever has the higher base skill by either lowering or
raising the damage value in accordance with whoever has the higher skill;
if the offensive character has the higher skill, damage will be higher.
If the defensive character has the higher skill, damage is reduced.
Variants depend on whether or not modifiers (such as an Active Dodge) are
considered or just the base skill values are used and how the damage
modifier is determined (most suggest either running the difference
through the Power Push Table or dividing by some number.) One method
incorporates the Vital Blow maneuver by allowing characters to lower their
attack skill value by increments of two and increase their damage value
by increments of one. (Defending characters would get to do the same
thing to increase their resistance to damage.)
Kansas Jim, TORG guru (jogle@aoc.nrao.edu, NRAO-VLBA, Socorro New Mexico)
"I'd be apathetic if I cared."
This FAQ File is written and maintained by Jim Ogle.
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