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Halflings and luck

Posted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 7:57 am
by albcann
Guys,

New to DCC but not new to RPGs having played D and D in the glory days in the 70s and 80s. I have a question about Halflings and luck. On page 60 of the rule book, the third paragraph under "Good Luck Charm" says that a halfling can burn Luck to help allies. Then, a couple of sentences later it says, "The halfling's Luck modifier can apply to any roll made by an ally: ..." Are these two separate benefits? Does this mean that the Luck Modifier can be used at any time for an ally and that is a separate from the Halfling's ability to burn Luck for allies? For instance, can a Halfling burn a Luck point to add +2 to a spell check of a Wizard AND without burning Luck also throw his/her +2 modifier (Luck score is 16 in this case) on an attack roll for a fighter?

I hope the question is clear.

Albcann

Re: Halflings and luck

Posted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 6:53 pm
by MrHemlocks
WOW! I never noticed that. So I guess the halfling can do both...least according to the rules.

Re: Halflings and luck

Posted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 9:29 pm
by maxinstuff
I believe it is referring to the modifier that results from burning luck - not to the halflings base modifier.

Think about it - after burning a few points of luck his lowered modifier would start to NEGATIVELY affect everybodies rolls.

I'm sure this is not the intention.

Re: Halflings and luck

Posted: Tue Jul 09, 2013 5:28 am
by albcann
That's what I thought but it is not what it says - the word "modifier" is problematic in this case. Actually what you say can support my interpretation of the rule because now the halfling player must think twice about burning Luck points because, in doing so, he/she affects ability to throw the luck modifier around to help the party.

Albcann

Re: Halflings and luck

Posted: Tue Jul 09, 2013 11:08 am
by GnomeBoy
Okay, yes, the word 'modifier' is problematic in it's usage there.

But if it was an additional ability, I think it would have been called out more. Since it's tossed in at the end of the paragraph, I think it's still talking about the subject of the paragraph, namely burning luck to add to another player's rolls. It's a modifier, not The Modifier.

Re: Halflings and luck

Posted: Tue Jul 09, 2013 11:50 am
by Eyeball360
As I've always said: If there are two ways to interpret the way something is written, and one makes more sense than the other, it was probably meant to mean that way. :wink:

Re: Halflings and luck

Posted: Tue Jul 09, 2013 12:28 pm
by Skyscraper
GnomeBoy wrote:Okay, yes, the word 'modifier' is problematic in it's usage there.

But if it was an additional ability, I think it would have been called out more. Since it's tossed in at the end of the paragraph, I think it's still talking about the subject of the paragraph, namely burning luck to add to another player's rolls. It's a modifier, not The Modifier.
This is also my understanding.

Re: Halflings and luck

Posted: Tue Jul 09, 2013 6:13 pm
by themightyeroc
maxinstuff wrote:I believe it is referring to the modifier that results from burning luck - not to the halflings base modifier.

I agree with maxinstuff, I never thought of it being used any other way. But, you could try it and see what happens!

Re: Halflings and luck

Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 4:31 am
by albcann
Yes -- I've been swayed by the popular sentiment. The paragraph flows if it is understood that the word "modifier" refers to the luck burn. If it was intended that addition of the modifier were to be used in addition to burning of the luck, there would been an "Also" or a "Furthermore" thrown in.

Thanks for the clarification everyone!

Albcann

Re: Halflings and luck

Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 8:17 am
by Skars
Could this be in reference to the "Luck modifier" each character receives due to his birth augur during character creation? So other characters in the party can make use of the halflings augur as well as his burning luck ability. That's the way I interpreted it, at least. :)

Re: Halflings and luck

Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 9:16 am
by GnomeBoy
Skars wrote:Could this be in reference to the "Luck modifier" each character receives due to his birth augur during character creation? So other characters in the party can make use of the halflings augur as well as his burning luck ability. That's the way I interpreted it, at least. :)
Whoa. :shock:

Can of worms. Opener. Wow.

But they are organic, so it's all good.

If that's not a rule, it so should be.

Re: Halflings and luck

Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 9:44 am
by Skyscraper
I thought it might refer to the player's luck modifier. Because, we all have one of course. We just didn't get to consult our Real Person Sheet yet.