[Alrician]

Combat Sense (the Spell, not the Adept power) increases DR for net hits-value and costs 3 drain. Plus bonus dice for surprise tests.
Amor (the Spell, not the gear) does the same without bonus dice and costs 4 drain.

Any explanations for that? Maybe Combat Sense should increase the defense test (reaction+intuition) and Amor the DR, and the drain should be reworked.

Anyhow, a spell that has to be sustained should not affect surprise tests. Thats like telling my kids: "If there is a sudden bang, cover your ears".

[Michael Chandra]

The nerf of Combat Sense means no more double-stacking of Combat Sense and Combat Sense for Mystics, so I rather like that change. If they want more defense dice, they can always use Increase Attribute instead. As for the Drains, Combat Sense seems a bit cheap but with Armor one could try to argue it can also apply to non-living beings.

As for sustaining: Not sure why that matters. Are you saying Increase Attribute and Increase Reflexes spells also don't apply in Surprise situations, since they're sustainable spells? Does the Armor spell also not count when you get surprised?

[Lormyr]

Any explanations for that?

Just poor design my man. It is clearly nonsensical. Combat Sense is even better still because it is a mana spell, meaning it can function in the astral where armor won't.

[Alrician]

As for sustaining: Not sure why that matters. Are you saying Increase Attribute and Increase Reflexes spells also don't apply in Surprise situations, since they're sustainable spells? Does the Armor spell also not count when you get surprised?

This was meant in a more provocative manner: If I know I will get surprised, then I am not surprised any more.


Thanks for your comments on both of my topics. I appreciate that even more, since those verification procedures are really annoying.

[Stainless Steel Devil Rat]

Any explanations for that?

Just poor design my man. It is clearly nonsensical. Combat Sense is even better still because it is a mana spell, meaning it can function in the astral where armor won't.

I was going to post the same thing but with the opposite conclusion: since Armor is Physical, it has more applications: drones, the team van, the random object or wall you're using as cover in a firefight...

[Lormyr]

I was going to post the same thing but with the opposite conclusion: since Armor is Physical, it has more applications: drones, the team van, the random object or wall you're using as cover in a firefight...

That's legit. I personally just don't see much value in those applications since few (if any) of those things will help you generate edge at present, and won't make the target more resilient to the incoming attack via increased soak or the like.

[Shinobi Killfist]

Any explanations for that?

Just poor design my man. It is clearly nonsensical. Combat Sense is even better still because it is a mana spell, meaning it can function in the astral where armor won't.

It’s probably why it’s one drain different though. I bet in their spell design package physical spells are +1 drain

Personally I think the spell should have kept its defense pool boost like 5e but just had rules about it not stacking.

As an off topic aside to their future magic book and spell design. I really think they should add the idea of indirect vs direct spells to all spells have a reason why some spells go against object resistance others don’t. List the base book spells with those changes. I think 3e has a list like that I’m one of their supplements, what spells are effected by object resistance. I’d add I think physical illusions should have been redone entirely. They’d be indirect and the tests both for people and machine would be perception or sensor based not resisting it. If it’s bending the light me mustering the will+logic won’t help me see through bent light but perception would let me see discrepancies. So I wouldn’t see bob underneath the illusion I’d just know that bob was covered by one.