Turantula's page

If a party encounters a monster that is not stock from the books, how would you handle that information via knowledge checks?

As an example, let's say they're facing off against a hill giant with a couple levels of fighter and increased physical stats. First off, would the DC be based on the monster's current HD, or the HD of the base creature? What happens if the party rolls in between those numbers? (Well, it sure looks like a hill giant, but you can't be sure?) Certainly I wouldn't expect the players to find out *that it has fighter levels in particular*, but if the monster is using unusual weaponry and armaments how would that rank in the scale of useful information? Similarly, if the monster is, say, 4 points over the standard strength of a monster of its type, would that be something the player should be able to tell from a Knowledge check? Should it be one of the first pieces of information given? Should you exhaust the base creature's abilities before getting into that? Is all of this just GM discretion?

So, this might sound stupid, but hear me out.

The wording on the Temple of Besmara is really weird. As far as I can recall, there is no other card in the game that adds "one or the other" trait to your checks. Do we know for sure that we get to choose it? That seems like the answer that would make the most sense, but there is no documentation anywhere I can find that supports it. Other possibilities include random determination, or alternating back and forth.... or maybe it's even supposed to be restrictive rather than additive, as in "a check that has the pirate trait may not also have the swashbuckling trait, and vice versa".

Please understand, I'm not trying to disagree with you. In fact my tendency is towards concurrance. I'm just wondering, how do we know for sure? Where, if anywhere, does it say exactly what that means?

My team is running into a real problem with Inside Lucrehold. Since all of the henchmen are Draugr Captains, there is a very high chance (every attempt so far) of there being one at the Temple of Besmara location. Now, the Draugr Captain is immune to the Swashbuckling trait, and the location Temple of Besmara gives all checks "the Pirate or Swashbuckling trait". So, is the Draugr Captain sitting at the Temple of Besmara just completely invulnerable? Even if you chase the villain to that location, you have at best a 50/50 shot of encountering it before the Captain, and encountering the captain makes you pitch your hand unless you have armor to absorb the 27 damage you're about to take.

It just seems like it can't be the spirit of the game that there exists henchman that is literally impossible to hurt. I think this is an unintended effect of the two cards in tandem. Thoughts?

From the Skulls and Shackles FAQ:
If I have a power that doesn't say when it can be used, when, under what circumstances, and how many times can it be used?
Whenever you could otherwise use a power, when it makes sense, and as many times as is allowed. If you use it in between steps, you can use it any number of times. But if you use it during a check or step, only once.

Resolution: On page 8 of the S&S rulebook, under Your Turn, add the following to the end of the first paragraph: "You can play cards and use powers without limit in between these steps, as long as they don't say they can only be played at certain times."

This seems to contradict the statement that since the ability in question doesn't specifically say you can use it at that time, it can't be used then. By this reading of the FAQ, the ability can be used whenever it makes sense as long as there isn't a specified restriction. An argument could be made then that you could use the ability as soon as the card's before you encounter and before you act conditions have been filled, autodefeating the barrier without need of a check since it doesn't specify that it requires a check to be made to defeat like similar powers do.

For the record, I agree with the assessment that it *shouldn't* be usable to defeat barriers without checks like the enemy ship, but by the strictest reading of the rules that I can muster, it feels like you can. I guess I'm wondering if there's a mistake in the wording, though I didn't see an FAQ dealing with this power.

As a Musketeer, Lirianne can take a power feat for the ability to discard a weapon in order to defeat a barrier with the Cache, Lock, or Skirmish trait. So, what happens when Lirianne encounters the Enemy Ship henchman? It is a barrier with the Skirmish trait. Similar powers state that it allows you to succeed at a check to defeat the thing it's letting you defeat, in which case this would not be a question, as there is no check to defeat the Enemy Ship, but Lirianne's power skips that phrase and simply allows you to defeat.

Therefore, where you would summon a random ship and make a check against the ship, reading Lirianne's power it seems I could just discard a gun and defeat the barrier without even bothering to see what the ship was (forgoing plunder and the ability to seize anything). Thoughts?