[shinryu]

i only want devs or freelancers to reply in this thread, since only they know what they are talking about with regard to the intent of this rule. anyone else is SPECULATING and that is not what i need. looking for word of god here

presuming that the faq/errata's forthcoming publication does not prevent discussion of this in some way, i would like the definition of touch triggers to be clarified. specifically, some people read "next living thing" to touch the preparation as "next living thing OTHER than the mage" that touches it, while others read it as "next living thing INCLUDING the mage" that touches it. this has obvious implications for the use of such preparations.

in addition, it would be nice to clarify the definition of "touching" here. skin contact, through gloves, through armor, aura contact, within ten meters? depending on the person i've seen basically all these definitions, and official rulings would be greatly appreciated. thank you.

[Kincaid]

You realize the GenCon just started, right?

[Giabralter]

The definition of Touch trigger is the same as a touch only spell p. 281
"Some spells can only be cast on targets that you’re touching. You don’t need to see these targets, but you might need to make an unarmed attack to make contact with an unwilling target. Touching a target through clothing, armor, or a layer of paint is acceptable."

As for who, "Next Living Being" includes the mage. Once the preparation is complete and the mage lets it go of it, it's live.
ex. Mage handing the preparation to another person or if you're going to save it, put it in a box or jar.

You can also work in the direction of a Touch spell with a command trigger. ex. something to throw at a person or put on a person and then trigger with a simple action. that way you wouldn't worry about the preparation accidentally going off and still have -4 to drain

Hope this helps.

[Daedalus]

The definition of Touch trigger is the same as a touch only spell p. 281
"Some spells can only be cast on targets that you’re touching. You don’t need to see these targets, but you might need to make an unarmed attack to make contact with an unwilling target. Touching a target through clothing, armor, or a layer of paint is acceptable."

As for who, "Next Living Being" includes the mage. Once the preparation is complete and the mage lets it go of it, it's live.
ex. Mage handing the preparation to another person or if you're going to save it, put it in a box or jar.

You can also work in the direction of a Touch spell with a command trigger. ex. something to throw at a person or put on a person and then trigger with a simple action. that way you wouldn't worry about the preparation accidentally going off and still have -4 to drain

Hope this helps.

Are you a developer of freelancer?

[Unahim]

Are you a developer of freelancer?

Why yes, I developer freelancers ^^

[Black]

Its a tough job.   

[Shinobi Killfist]

The definition of Touch trigger is the same as a touch only spell p. 281
"Some spells can only be cast on targets that you’re touching. You don’t need to see these targets, but you might need to make an unarmed attack to make contact with an unwilling target. Touching a target through clothing, armor, or a layer of paint is acceptable."

As for who, "Next Living Being" includes the mage. Once the preparation is complete and the mage lets it go of it, it's live.
ex. Mage handing the preparation to another person or if you're going to save it, put it in a box or jar.

You can also work in the direction of a Touch spell with a command trigger. ex. something to throw at a person or put on a person and then trigger with a simple action. that way you wouldn't worry about the preparation accidentally going off and still have -4 to drain

Hope this helps.

Are you a developer of freelancer?

Honestly there are maybe 2 or 3 people who can answer your question.  The guy who wrote the chapter, and jason hardy probably.  If you have been following the discussions on these boards it seems clear that being a freelancer or developer is not enough since each person had their own little job and what happened in other sections of the book they really aren't sure about.  They can make a better guess than others but actually know the answer, meh most likely not. 

[Crunch]

Anyone who could answer the question to shinryu's standards (assuming that there were such a person) is probably at Gencon.

[Reaver]

noticing a little trend here with Shinryu.....

[Michael Chandra]

Now now, let's not get personal shall we?

[Serafina]

First, it's called a Contact Trigger. Be clear what you are talking about.

Second, the rules are currently pretty clear if you read more than that one line.
Page 281, "Choose the Target" states "Touching a Target through clothing, armor or a layer of paint is acceptable" in regards to targeting Touch-Spells. Assuming that the same rules apply to Contact Triggers is hardly a stretch, since the mechanics are named the same throughout the entire chapter.
Nowhere does it say or suggest that the maker of a Contact-Preparation is immune to it's effects. Assuming that you can control the finishing of the Preparation sufficiently that you don't blast yourself is not a stretch because they would otherwise be utterly unusable.
Nothing says that transporting a Contact-Preparation isn't possible. In fact, one sample preparation implies that you can: "A DeathTouch alchemical spell with a touch trigger bound to a credstick, acid-etched with a haiku in kanji. It is left in some barrens, just waiting for someone to pick it up." That implies that it's carried to that location and then left there.


Yes, a FAQ or even an Errata is highly desirable - if only to make it clearer for those of us who don't connect the dots spread throughout the magic-chapter.

[Unahim]

Actually, it could have just been created on the spot, no problem.

[Serafina]

Actually, it could have just been created on the spot, no problem.

Could have, yes. Given that it takes a few minutes of obvious arcane activity, it seems unlikely to me. But yes, that's the weakest link of evidence - without the others it'd be meaningless.

[Reaver]

Now now, let's not get personal shall we?

I try to never get personal.... and we will have shall have to see if I am correct.... not gonna say anything more.

[Daedalus]

Honestly there are maybe 2 or 3 people who can answer your question.  The guy who wrote the chapter, and jason hardy probably.  If you have been following the discussions on these boards it seems clear that being a freelancer or developer is not enough since each person had their own little job and what happened in other sections of the book they really aren't sure about.  They can make a better guess than others but actually know the answer, meh most likely not.

Yes but there is a hierarchy in the value of opinions.

tier one - J Hardy, Bull, and chapter writer
tier two - Developer
tier three - Freelancer
tier four- All the rest of us

My group will play by RAW based on tier one rulings, accept tier two ruling if they make sense to the group by consensus, and use tier three as guidelines until we can get tier one or two rulings. Tier four opinions are mostly irrelevant to us because they are based on interpretation of the same rules we ourselves are reading and interpreting with no additional knowledge of what went into the design process. Many of them are good ideas, but they are just as much conjecture as our own ideas. Please don't take that as an insult, we just prefer to play RAW, and RAI and none of us can say definitively what the RAI is because we didn't write or develop them.