From: jogle@zia.aoc.nrao.edu (Jim Ogle (Ks. Jim))
Newsgroups: alt.games.torg
Subject: INTRO: FAQ List, Part Two
Date: 7 Apr 92 07:57:31 GMT
Article-I.D.: zia.1992Apr7.075731.1476
Organization: National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Socorro NM


			    TORG FAQ LIST
			   (Apr. 06, 1992)
			    By Kansas Jim
			       Part Two

	This file of FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) will be posted
on a semiregular basis in the hopes of cutting down on the number of
repetitive posts asking the same questions that have been answered
many times before.  It isn't that some people are stupid and keep
asking the same questions over and over again, its just that newer
subscribers may have missed the last time a particular question was
discussed and haven't gone to the Black Marble Wombat and accessed all
of the archived files.  Rather than forcing people to read through
untold megabytes of archived files, the 'distilled wisdom' of the Torg
list will be contained in this file and (hopefully) periodically
updated with new FAQs or rulings on old FAQs.
	Some questions will not have one answer; there are some
subjects that the list is unable to agree upon and West End Games has
not provided a ruling on In cases like these the more popular answers
will be covered and it will be up to the GM to determine what he does
in his game.

	A question marked with a '*' before it has been changed since
the last version of the FAQ list was posted.  New questions are also
marked this way.

TABLE OF QUESTIONS:

PART ONE
  1. What the heck's a Black Marble Wombat?
  2. How do I get these archived files?
  3. How can I contact West End Games?
 *4. What sourcebooks/modules/supplements/etc are currently available
	for Torg? 
 *5. What products are due to be released and when?
 *6. Will WEG be releasing an updated map anytime soon?
 *7. How do I subscribe to Infiniverse?  Do I have to subscribe?
  8. Can I be a playtester for Torg?  Will they take my submissions?
  9. Is there an errata sheet available for Torg?
 10. Where can I find Baruk Kaah's stats?
 11. What's the Rogues Gallery?
 12. When are characters affected by world laws?
 13. 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?
 14. Can Storm Knights be transformed by staying in an alien realm too
	long?  
 15. 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?
 16. Do spells create long-range contradictions?

PART TWO
 17. Can I spend a Possibility point on my Reality skill check to
	reconnect?  
*18. How often can I try to reconnect?
 19. What happens when undead creatures disconnect?
*20. Can werewolves hurt other werewolves/monsters that are resistant
	to normal attacks?
 21. Can I buy off more than one wound/three shock points of damage
	when I use a Possibility to negate damage?
 22. Can I 'save up' my damage and buy it off all at once?
 23. What is stun damage?  How is it different from normal damage?
 24. How long does a K result last?  How long does an O result last?
*25. How long does a Stymie result last?  Can you have multiple
	Stymies?
 26. Who can counter a spent Possibility Point?
 27. Can NPCs negate Hero and Drama cards?
 28. Does a shield act like armor and add to your Toughness?
 29. How does Aggressive Defense work?
 30. Does a spellcaster take backlash damage if he disconnects while
	casting a spell?
 31. Can I use my Dodge skill to defend against Unarmed/Melee attacks?
 32. What does Elvis have to do with the Space Gods?
 33. How does spell construction work?  How do the Nile Gizmo construction
        rules work?
 34. If I roll a 1 on the die, can I spend a Possibility or use a Second
	Chance card to avoid disconnection?
*35. Can I buy adds in Honor or Corruption in Aysle?
*36. Is the maximum damage value of a melee weapon the maximum damage I can
	do?
*37. Haven't I seen some of the cover art somewhere else?
*38. Where are the rules for falling damage?

---

17. Can I spend a Possibility 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 discipline 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.

18. How often can I try to reconnect?

	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 the character does not
reconnect by the end of an adventure, he may only attempt to reconnect once
per day.

19. What happens when undead creatures disconnect?

	A disconnected undead creature doesn't stop moving or become a
dead body.  It loses 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.

20. Can werewolves hurt other werewolves/monsters that are resistant to
	normal attacks? 

	Werewolves and other special creatures like them possess no
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 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 may be resistant to normal forms of attack.

21. Can I buy off more than one wound/three shock points of damage
	when I use a Possibility to negate damage?

	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:

	1. three shock points of damage
	2. a Knockdown
	3. a Knockout condition (K, O, or KO)
	4. 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.)

22. Can I 'save up' my damage and buy it off all at once?

	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.

23. What is stun damage?  How is it different from normal damage?

	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 the Death Pits)!

24. How long does a K result last?  How long does an O result last?

	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.

25. How long does a Stymie result last?  Can you have multiple stymies?

	According to WEG (Infiniverse #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 (rolled 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.

26. Who can counter a spent Possibility Point?

	The person being acted against is the only one that can negate
a spent PP.  If a group of characters is being acted against by
someone who uses a One-On-Many action and spends a PP, any one of the
group being affected can negate the possibility.  In certain
situations, such as one player actively defending for another, you can
negate a PP spent by the attacker on the action (at GMs discretion).

27. Can NPCs negate Hero and Drama cards?

	Yes they can.

28. Does a shield act like armor and add to your Toughness?

	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.)

29. How does Aggressive Defense work?

	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.  A penalty of -2 is
applied to the bonus value before adding it to the defensive value
(but there is a minimum of +1 since it is an active defense.)  A
penalty of -4 is applied to the bonus value before adding it to the
attack value.  The penalty also applies to the damage value.

30. Does a spellcaster take backlash damage if he disconnects while
	casting the spell?

	An answer has not been decided on 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 so far has been that spellcasters
always take backlash damage from failed spells but this was just based
on the backlash rules in the Aysle sourcebook without considering the
tricky matter of disconnection.  They are still looking into the
matter.

31. Can I use my Dodge skill to defend against Unarmed/Melee attacks?

	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.  

32. What does Elvis have to do with the Space Gods?

	Aside from the 'Elvis Was A Space Alien' headlines of the
tabloids, the King of Rock-and-Roll is featured 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 outrageous hair.
	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 a Space God, one
of Those Who Wait, or even an Ayslish elf (the plural of Elvis is
Elves) which suggests a connection between the elves and the Space
Gods.  These are all unfounded rumors though as there is no actual
connection or even mention of Elvis anywhere in Torg (except Elvis the
edeinos, and that's another story).

33. How does spell construction work?  How do the Nile Gizmo construction
        rules work?

	These two topics are too lengthy to be covered in this
document.  Eventually, 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.

34. 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 once the Everlaw of One catches up to
you (ie, when you roll that disconnection).

35. Can I buy adds in Honor or Corruption in Aysle? 

	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 any adds; they
must all be earned though honorable/corrupt actions.

36. Is the maximum damage value of a melee weapon the maximum damage I 
	can do?

	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, not 17.

37. Haven't I seen some of the cover art somewhere else?

	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".

	(Thanks to Michael Eaton for the information on this question.)

38. Where are the rules for falling damage?

	They are hidden in the description of the Climbing skill on
page 52 of the rulesbook.  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 active defense) 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.  

End of PART TWO.
-- 
Kansas Jim (Jim Ogle, Torg guru)
jogle@nrao.edu (NRAO-VLBA, Socorro New Mexico)
"I'd be apathetic if I cared."