Well, it happened. I had a boring Sunday and wanted a break from making Megalopolis terrain, so I went through every Tactics Rules post on the forums and compiled the answers into a Tactics FAQ.
Since rulings are hardly ever actually confirmed by designers anymore (with the exception of Luther's stalwart participation), this FAQ has to be different than my SotM FAQ. The Tactics FAQ is full of stuff the playtesters said, with a green star next to anything which was confirmed by Luther or Christopher. I figure since the playtesters mostly know stuff since they asked all the same questions of Luther and Christopher during playtesting, it would still be helpful to see the answers, and as long as it's clearly stated what's official and what's not, there shouldn't be any harm.
I still need to clean the doc up before I post a link to it on my site, but I wanted to post a direct link to it here so that people could check to make sure I didn't screw things up too badly or miss something important. If you get a chance to look it over, please let me know if you find problems.
Spiff's SotM site: www.spiffworld.com/sotm
Excellent work as always Spiff! I've only glanced through but it looks good... I'll give it a proper read after sleeping.
Just assume I'm always doing that.
Damn it, Ronway!
It may take a while, but I'll go through this and note anything that's incorrect or partially correct, if you want more green stars. Right off I see a reference to Devestating Aurora checking line of sight and range like any other attack, when it's not an attack at all.
That's just the kind of double-checking I'm looking for, thanks.
When I was combing through the posts, I came across this thread. It has a lot of good questions in it, but many of the answers are contradictory, with different playtesters having different opinions of how to handle things. It might be helpful if you took a look at the questions and helped settle the answers, Luther.
Spiff's SotM site: www.spiffworld.com/sotm
What? Playtesters disagree?!
Many thanks for putting this together, Spiff, and thanks to Luther for providing assistance on official answers!
(We're working on getting this stickied.
)
"See, this is another sign of your tragic space dementia, all paranoid and crotchety. Breaks the heart." - Mal
Unicode U+24BD gets us Ⓗ. (Thanks, Godai!)
Playtesters are always right.
At least until those meddling game designers come in and start giving out official rulings.
Radius does not ignore elevation
This section is wrong. Radius, like origin, deals in hexes. From the lovely Page 9.
The attack still checks range from the origin point, and so the actual attack still counts elevation for range, but radius ignores it.
I believe that Approaching Zero will affect Impaling Structure damage. That seems pretty clear from other comments in that thread. Will need official word on it though.
Thanks. I must have misread what you were saying in the supporting post. I'll update that.
Spiff's SotM site: www.spiffworld.com/sotm
Hypersonic assault has an error, it says "including the last one if she ends her turn in a hazard space." Turn should be move in that sentence.
We need the Traps can all go in one space to be verified, it would be pretty easy to set up that trap and then use push to throw an opponent onto it for massive damage. Omnitron-Ambuscade could make great use of this in a skirmish since Omni can push targets within radius 2 of him 2 hexes, he could make sure the radius damage hit allies as well.
Okay. Wall of text incoming! Please feel free to fix any formatting/weirdness, or correct me if I use old terms; the words I use aren't necessarily the words that ended up in the rulebook. :) Some of these may just be quick notes for clarification; these should probably be rewritten in some sort of actual english. I'll also just copy and paste anything that looks right to me, for completeness (so you're not wondering if I just missed an entry.
“active” powers
//An "active" ability is any ability printed on your character panel (in the "innate powers"), or any ability printed on a Power Card that is in play. Abilities printed on Power Cards in your hand aren't active (even if something like Turret Mode lets you activate them).
sprint/aim/dodge
can any target use these abilities, even non-characters?
yes, those are actions which all targets may take unless otherwise specified. //note that the target has to be able to take actions in the first place; Baron Blade's turrets don't ever aim because they don't ever have actions.
companions
can companions damage the character which created them?
yes. even though character’s powers cannot damage themselves, companions
created by a character can damage that character. //Right, because they're different targets.
“destroyed” doesn’t mean you can never use them again.
//Right
companion rules from “uprising”.
//These are right if they're straight from the rulebook
does incapacitating a companion earn you a skirmish/scenario point?
no, you’ve got to take out the actual character to earn a scenario point or
an incap for a skirmish. //Right
things created by power cards
if I play a card as a starting power, when does the thing it creates
come into play?
if you play ra’s “blazing tornado” power card (for example) as a starting
power, the tornado is created immediately and will start the game on the
board. the same applies to other things created by power cards in play
when the game begins. //If it ever matters (Ra needs to place tornado and unity needs to place bots, who goes first?), go in turn order, starting with 1.
if a card which creates something is removed from play, immediately
remove the thing it created. //Right
can you stack created things on top of other things?
//Basically the only thing that makes a space "occupied" is a target, and unless it says otherwise, other things can go in occupied spaces.
can you decide to make created things go away if you want?
//Right
how long do character-created hazards last?
//Right
when do hazard spaces activate?
//Right on all 4 sections
line of sight, range, and elevation matter when making hazard attacks.
unless otherwise noted, hazard attacks require line of sight to the target
which activated the hazard space. //Hazard attacks may be generated by non-targets (Like lava, automated hunter, rigged explosives), so "targets" here is technically incorrect.
overlapping hazards in a single space.
//Right
triggering hazards only trigger for the one what triggered ‘em.
//Right
how long does the effect of a movement reduction last?
//Basically, there's two things: Your Movement (that tells you what dice to roll and which to keep), and your Move Value (the result of the kept die). Adhesive Foam Pellets and co. reduce your Move Value, not your Movement. The Operative's poison I forget the name of affects your Movement, not your Move Value. Note that the Citizens and some other non-Character targets have "Move Value" printed directly on the card, because they don't roll dice.
movement reduction only affects normal movement.
//Abilities which use your Move Value (Like Hypersonic Assault or Overwhelm) do use your reduced Move Value. Abilities that don't reference your Move Value aren't affected by your Move Value changing.
can a push be a pull?
//Right
being pushed can trigger hazard spaces.
//Right
push is not the same as movement.
//Pushing is a kind of movement, but not all movement is pushing. Kusarigama isn't pushing, right.
who’s making the attack?
Attacks are made by targets, //or the environment. Lava again. The rest is correct though.
what is an attack?
//Right
line of sight needed for area attacks?
//Right
radius does not ignore elevation.
//This isn't correct. A Radius 2 attack can potentially hit any target within two hexes, as long as the dice make range.
check range for an area attack from the attack’s origin.
//Right
reach and area attacks
//Right. Reach does help the dice make range from the origin, but doesn't affect where you can place the origin or the radius.
do characters have line of sight to themselves?
//Characters do have line of sight to themselves, as long as they're on the map. (Ambuscade doesn't have line of sight to himself when he has Cloaking Device and is off the map.)
line of sight cannot cross gaps in the map.
//Right
you check range for melee attacks even though the target is
adjacent.
//Right
reach
//All 5 Sections right
vertex attacks
//effected in line 2 should be "affected". :P
using effect tokens against multiple targets
//Right
can I really put any characters on any team and have a balanced
fight?
//Right
are there other kinds of skirmishes besides just deathmatches?
does incapacitating a companion earn you a skirmish/scenario point?
//Only characters count -- basically if you have a turn order token, you're fair game
the penalty for getting incapacitated seems kinda weak…
//Might note scenario bonuses here. The real penalty is that the other team gets the bonus.
can you buff/debuff incapacitated characters while they’re down?
//Right. They're not targets, they're nothing. They just kinda lay there until they get up. They do still occupy the space though.
incapacitation wipes everything.
//Right
scenario powers
//Right. They're also "active" if it matters.
impulsion turret infinite loops
//Right
scenario #1: can you get two successes in one turn?
//Right
scenario #2: how do you win?
//Right
drones
//Drone Deployment gives the drone a full turn, not just one action.
token limit
//Let me get back to you on this one.
allies
//Right. The glossary should say "another character or target".
Going to start a new post for the Character Specific stuff.
Hot off the presses!
Tokens that go on the map, like Impaling Structure and Blazing Tornado, are counter limited. Tokens that go on character sheets or anywhere else, like Aim and Dodge, Attack and Defense +1 and -1, and Health Tokens, aren't counter limited -- if you run out, mock some up, or use a die to indicate the quantity.
“approaching zero”
//This is incorrect. Absolute Zero is both making the attack and dealing the damage. The Impaling Structure is a reference point for where the hazard spaces are and where the origin of the attack is. The Move Value (not movement) is reduced if damage is dealt.
“impaling structure”
//Right
“fueled freeze”
//Right
"automated hunter"
//Right
“cloaking device”
//Right. Looks like the second paragraph should be under Rigged Explosives though.
"rigged explosives"
//All looks correct
“cloaking device” and “rigged explosives”
//Right
“feedback plating”
//Right
“devious disruption”
//Right
“displacing teleporter”
//Right
“devastating aurora”
//Right. Basically a skirmish has the scenario bonus of award victory point. Also, Devastating Aurora isn't an attack, so the second paragraph is erroneous.
“return with the dawn”
//All looks right.
“occular beams”
//Right
omnitron, area attacks, and hazard spaces
//If I remember correctly, the way Omnitron ended up moving is you pick one hex, count hexes from there like any other character, then the final hex has to be one of the three that he ends up in. So while actually moving, he's only really in one space at any given time. I know this made it in the rulebook somewhere, but I don't have it in front of me.
“omni-reaper”
//RIght
poisons
//Right
proletariat and area attacks
//Right. He's a single character, but multiple targets.
“overwhelm” and “duplicate”
//When you use overwhelm, you tell all Proletariats on the map "hey, do this action". Since they want to do something simultaneously, the active player chooses the order. Then they all do it. The new spawns weren't around when overwhelm was used, and don't get retroactively added to the queue.
“blazing tornado”
//Right
“fire blast” and “flame spike”
//Right. He also gets to flame spike every time someone triggers Blazing Tornado (if both are active of course).
“living pyre”
//RIght
“the staff of ra”
//Right
“hypersonic assault”
//Right. Another note: this ability uses her "move value", so if it's increased or reduced, use the modified value. This ability doesn't inherently ignore elevation.
“hud goggles”
//Right
“synaptic interruption”
//Right
“unrelenting momentum”
//RIght
bots are only in play as long as their card is
//Right
bot incapacitation
//Right
“go bots!” innate power
//Right
tricky bot swapping
//Right. Maybe mention that the reason you can't pick up and put down the same bot is because of the general rule about power cards?
“decoy projection”
//Right
“foresight” example
//Right
Also, if there's anything else that anyone wants answered for the FAQ, let me know and I'll make words appear.
What's your favorite color?
Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.
-Robert E. Howard, "The Tower of the Elephant"
Fantastic. I'll try to update the FAQ soon and then post it to a regular spot on my site.
Spiff's SotM site: www.spiffworld.com/sotm
Ecru.
@Luther;
Just want clarification that all traps can all go on one space.
It may seem to be a bad idea, but when you team Ambuscade, Operative and another character that can move enemy characters (say Proletariat?) it becomes a great way to blow someone up. I've caught 2 heroes in the blast, they don't often survive, and with Operative-Proletariat it is easy to pull off.
Hero A ends their turn.
Ambuscade drops every trap next to them.
Hero B does stuff.
Operative pulls Hero 2 next to the traps.
Hero C does stuff.
Proletariat knocks either A or B into the traps, both get blown up.
Hero 1 stands up, and you repeat.
If the second hero runs far enough that Operative can't push him over you don't worry about it and just have Prole knock hero 1 into the traps.
It is a nasty thing to face in scenario 4 of uprising, and the only way to stop it is to win scenario 2. In skirmishes it is broken. If this is legal for tournaments it is going to stink.
Rules-wise, this all checks out. As written, all the trap tokens can go in one space.
Strategy-wise (for a skirmish), you have Hero C who can't get caught in this because of where their turn falls. Hero B can only get caught up in it if they stay where the Operative can make range to them from next to the explosives. If all three villians coordinate in this way, they get a bunch of attacks on Hero A, and that's good, but what about B and C? If Ambuscade gets incapacitated before Proletariat's turn, or he loses the Rigged Explosives power another way, the setup is wasted.
Like any balance discussion, it's possible that it is in fact over the line of acceptable power level. But I think there's more that can be done in response than is being acknowledged.
Running just frees up operative to fight normally, while often Hero B is taking themselves out of the fight by staying out of LoS or range.
Ambuscade takes a card in play and an action to set traps when it is time, other than that he's doing his normal stuff.
Proletariat needs one copy within range, and we were often able to get attacks on other heroes besides just the push.
It didn't work every round, but the other team had to stay away from each other and be aware of where Proletariat and operative were in order to avoid it. In trying to avoid it they really took themselves out of the match and let the villains dictate the flow, and they still got caught in it several times.
I've updated the FAQ with Luther's comments and posted a new copy (I've included the Tactics official rulebook with mine so it's all in one place). Now that everything's been confirmed by a developer, there's no need for green stars anymore, so those are gone. When I get a chance, I'll post a proper link on my site.
From now on, the Tactics FAQ will be like the SotM FAQ - only officially confirmed stuff goes in it.
Spiff's SotM site: www.spiffworld.com/sotm
Oh, something else I forgot to note -- anything I say here or elsewhere can be superceded by rules or clarifications posted to the main Sentinel Tactics site, or by Christopher. Not that anyone should assume otherwise, but just in case there's ever a discrepancy somehow.
Shyeah, like he'll ever get around to posting clarifications to the Sentinel Tactics site. He's way too busy for that. ;)
Spiff's SotM site: www.spiffworld.com/sotm
I couldn't find anything in the FAQ about Luther's favorite color.
Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.
-Robert E. Howard, "The Tower of the Elephant"
You should check the IAQ. It's updated less often though.
In O-V's section, it's confirmed that he cannot be hit by the same hazard as he meanders through it; but what about in cases of Impaling Structures? If he is on top of three structures, can he not be attacked by all three? Say, for instance, Omni's 2nd scenario where he doesn't move. End of turn comes around and he gets walloped thrice for each structure because they are each separate radius 0 attacks, or only once because only one hazard attack can occur against him?
They are seperate hazard attacks and he would qualify for each of them normally.
However in that specific Scenario Omnitron is not a target so they would have no impact.
Omnitron is 3 hexes but 1 target, so if he enters a space with a hazard he triggers it, but if he is sitting on multiple hexes of one attack it is one attack against one target, and it only hits once.
One of the harder things about Omnitron is when he moves, he is only occupying 1 hex while he moves. You pick 1 of his hexes, you move him the appropriate number of hexes and then set him back down so that he covers the ending hex.
He can actually move through a path that is one hex wide that has hazard spaces on both sides and not get hit.
However when he ends his move he occupies all three hexes, which also means he enters all three hexes, but again as one target.
I would imagine that the section you're referencing would simply mean that each Impaling Structure would hit him just once as he wandered across them, but as skippy mentions, there's nothing there keeping multiple hazards from each hitting him normally.
Spiff's SotM site: www.spiffworld.com/sotm
What kind of power have you given him man? He can change your favourite colour at will!
Stop lurking, it makes you look like a villain target
When you do things right, people won’t be sure you’ve done anything at all
I'm ok with that.
Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.
-Robert E. Howard, "The Tower of the Elephant"
How can I give him a power he already has? How do you know your favorite color wasn't bequeathed by His Great Benevolence?
Just as long as he doesn't change his mind when he gets to the head of the line.
Looking at Luther's response to your section about pushing, I see he confirmed that Kusarigama can move Omnitron. However, though I haven't seen the original version, the format of the comment suggests to me that the section originally read "Pushing is not the same as movement" and he suggested the language "pushing is a type of movement, but not all movement is pushing." which, combined with the fact that he only explicitly confirmed the statement about Kusarigama, implies to me that the FAQ may be wrong about Bunker's susceptibility to push in turret mode.
Now, I would normally tend to assume that since he assented to the section and didn't mention anything about Turret mode, that he was tacitly agreeing with you, though the ruling is counter-intuitive to me. However, the language "can't be moved" is used in scenario descriptions (specifically Omnitron acts 2 and 3) to describe things that seem intended to be stationary, such as buildings and scenario markers. The statement about turret-mode Bunker being susceptible to push implies that such things could also be pushed, which seems unlikely. Also, I wonder if suggesting the wording "push is a type of movement" was in fact Luther's roundabout way of telling you that "can't be moved" applies to push as well, particularly since he only explicitly confirmed your assertion about Kusarigama.
If you interpret his comment the way I do, and merely left the statement about Bunker in by mistake, it's an easy fix. If you feel that his comment confirmed the statement, I would request that we get an explicit ruling regarding whether targets which "can't be moved" can be pushed.
Edit: basic proofreading (spelling, punctuation)
Edit: just realized how badly I necroed this thread. Perhaps I should have started a new topic. If so, my apologies.
I'm confused. What was the original question? Bunker with Turret Mode can't be pushed, because he can't be moved.
Yeah, pushing is movement. So Bunker can't be moved by Kusarigama but Omnitron-V can.
I find that to be bizarre thematically, but that's how the rules work.
In my head there, it's because Bunker in Turret Mode is embedded in the ground, whereas Omnitron is just hard to shove around.
@Luther
Ok, that's what I got out of your original comment, but the last clause of the pushing section of the FAQ still reads "Turret-Mode Bunker could be pushed." which confused me. It says a little earlier on that pushing is movement, so I'm guessing Spiff just missed it when he updated it after your rulings. I was just trying to point it out, but since I was unsure whether it was left in by oversight, or because he misinterpreted your earlier comment, I was trying to present an argument that your comment actually implied Turret-Mode Bunker couldn't be pushed.
It looks like this is the thing he's referencing:
That last clause in the last sentence should be removed? Or is it correct that you can still Push Turret-Mode Bunker because it doesn't say he can't be Pushed?
Spiff's SotM site: www.spiffworld.com/sotm
Don't know if you saw this. it might have hid behind my too-long post. Anyway, it seems pretty clear.
Well, that's the relevant portion anyway. It follows a brief expression of confusion at what I was trying to say in the preceding post (the long one.)
I agree, pretty clear. I'll update the FAQ to show that because Turret Mode Bunker can't be moved, he can't be Pushed.
Spiff's SotM site: www.spiffworld.com/sotm
Question:
Proletariat has a clone next to Champion Bot and Visionary.
Proletariat has a clone far from them but by an enemy target.
He attacks that target. Does he get the +2 dice from Champion Bot and the dice swap from Visionary? Part of me says "yes" because all Proletariats are the same Proletariat, but part of me says that is a really mean combo.
Edit: Also asked in its own thread now.
"Deja-fu? You've heard of that?"
- Lu Tze, Sweeper, Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett
In the FAQ, a couple of things:
Wraith's section has Unity's picture.
Tachyon's section mentions using the Block dice instead of the Blocked dice with Synaptic Interruption.
"Deja-fu? You've heard of that?"
- Lu Tze, Sweeper, Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett
On the first page of your Tactics site, under "Ambuscade's Traps," it says land mind instead of land mine. Just a small typo observation :)
Steam Username: General Specific
You gotta know when to hold 'em,
Know when to fold 'em,
Know when to hold fast
And when to turn loose!
For clarity's sake, it might be worth mentioning in Proletariat's section that "enemy" works like "ally" in specifying a character rather than a target, if indeed that is the case, and definitely woth mentioning if it isn't. It's relevant for Visionary's "Demoralize", and possibly others, though I can't think of any.
Another good thing to include might be that Legacy and Visionary's Decoy Projection can take an attack for (and switch places with) their protectee even if they are both in the radius of the same area attack, effectively defending the attack twice (once normally and once for their protectee).
I only ever want to put official info in the FAQs, so if one of the game designers makes those points, I'll be sure to add them.
Spiff's SotM site: www.spiffworld.com/sotm
It appears the Tachyon Hud Goggles was answerd differently. So that her lightning barrage ability can be used more than once.
https://greaterthangames.com/comment/109102#comment-109102
Edit: As a side note is there any chance this could be posted with a printer friendly version?
HEY! Love your faq, used it many times.
Found out today though that the "Unity/GO Bots/ unlimited actions on the bots" ruling in the faq is wrong according to Christopher
Just wanted to share the knowledge and tweet "convo"
https://twitter.com/GTGChristopher/status/626921904679469057
Thanks!
"Quintessential Tactics Experience: Arguing Over Range" - Worlds Tournament 2015
In the same thread on Twitter Christopher acknowledged his mistake and said that Paul's ruling is the correct one.
Crush your enemies, drive them before you, and laminate their women! - Guise, Prime Wardens #31