Section Three: Mechanics of Reality
26. 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?
27. 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?
28. Do spells create long-range
contradictions?
29. Can I spend a Possibility
point on my Reality skill check to reconnect?
30. How often can I try
to reconnect?
31. How/when do I make contradiction
checks for tools that do not require a dice action, like armor?
32. What happens to armor when a character disconnects?
33. What happens when undead creatures
disconnect?
34. Does a spellcaster take backlash
damage if he disconnects while casting a spell?
35. If I roll a 1 on the die, can
I spend a Possibility or use a Second Chance card to avoid disconnection?
36. Can ords create contradictions?
37. Can a character in a reality
bubble create any contradictions?
38. How big is a reality bubble?
39. How are reconnection numbers
determined?
40. Can Storm Knights be transformed
by staying in an alien realm too long?
41. When are characters affected
by world laws?
42. Which world laws affect a character
outside of his home reality?
43. Can I buy adds in Honor or Corruption
in Aysle?
44. Can I use my Ayslish Honor/Corruption
adds outside of Aysle?
45. Who can counter a spent Possibility
Point?
46. Can NPCs negate Hero and Drama
cards?
47. Can a character buy adds of Faith
in a religion from another cosm?
26. 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?
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).
27. 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?
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.
28. Do spells create long-range contradictions?
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.
29. Can I spend a Possibility point on my Reality skill check to reconnect?
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.
30. How often can I try to reconnect?
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).
31. How/when do I make contradiction checks for tools that do not require a dice action, like armor?
For a tool or ability that does not require a dice action to be used a contradiction check is made at the beginning of the Scene to see if it causes disconnection or not. A contradiction check may be made for each seperate item or for the sake of expediency similar items (such as clothing) could be grouped together and checked with one die roll.
32. What happens to armor when a character disconnects?
WEG's official answer is that it "temporarily transforms" into something more appropriate to the local Tech axiom (for example, kevlar becomes plate armor in Aysle) but this raises several disturbing questions about the transformation of all items a character may be carrying while disconnected so most of the people on the list/newsgroup do not agree with this ruling. Two alternatives seem to have the most support:
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 whatnot. 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 disconnects in a reality with a low Magic axiom may start dying (or in this case, cease to function).
34. Does a spellcaster take backlash damage if he disconnects while casting a spell?
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 their answer gave the impression (to me anyway) that they had not even considered how disconnection might figure into it..
35. If I roll a 1 on the die, can I spend a Possibility or use a Second Chance card to avoid disconnection?
No. According to WEG disconnection is a powerful enough event that there is no way to avoid it.
36. Can ords create contradictions?
Yes. However, they cannot create long-range contradictions of any kind. Of course, only ords who have not disconnected can create contradictions.
37. Can a character in a reality bubble create any 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 contradiction in a dominant zone of your home reality.)
38. How big is a reality bubble?
Despite the name there is no area of effect for a reality bubble, only the character who created the bubble is affected by it.
39. How are reconnection numbers determined?
The formula that WEG used (most of the time) is as follows:
40. Can Storm Knights be transformed by staying in an alien realm too long?
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.)
41. When are characters affected by world laws?
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 of course 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 (unless in a reality bubble of course.)
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 #42 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 interpretation. 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).
42. Which world laws affect a character outside of his home reality?
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)
Way of Zinatt *
Aysle
Law of Honor/Corruption * (See question #44 for more
on this)
Core Earth
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 or 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.)
44. Can I use my Ayslish Honor/Corruption adds outside of Aysle?
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 a normal skill, 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.
45. Who can counter a spent Possibility Point?
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 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 Possibility. 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.
46. Can NPCs negate Hero and Drama cards?
Yes, it is the same as negating a Possibility.
47. Can a character buy adds of Faith in a religion from another cosm?
Yes. The only time this might be a problem is if the character is from a reality like the Living Land which has a Spirit axiom high enough that only one mythos is accepted and all others are a contradiction. The character can still purchase Faith in another religion if he wishes but because it is a contradictory skill the first add will cost twice as much as it would normally cost and whenever he uses his Faith skill he will have to make a contradiction check.
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