justastra's page

Poisons and similar items can't be used with unarmed attacks. The worst instance of this is probably the energy mutagen, which 'suffuses your body with energy that spills out of you whenever you attack'... but not if you're using an unarmed strike. This is because of the 'unarmed attacks aren't weapons, and effects and abilities that work with weapons never work with unarmed attacks unless they specifically say so' clause.

I wish there was more space for the poisonous natural attack fantasy. There are venomous unarmed stances now, but they only do a very small amount of poison damage. It would be great if there was an alchemist feat to support this play-style, especially for toxicologist which is supposed to be the poison user. We could have poison spine leshies, lethal nagaji spit, komodo dragon iruxi, and liquid death dripping from all manner of claws and fangs in general; a toxin-focused alchemist shouldn't be limited to blades, bows, and blowguns (and.. bullets??).

As of now, it seems I have to choose being limited to 1d4 gauntlets and reflavoring them or not using poison at all which is sad and disappointing.

Would this be too powerful? Am I overlooking something??

A personal comm unit is pocket-sized device that combines a minor portable computer (treat as a tier-0 computer with no upgrades or modules) and a cellular communication device, allowing wireless communication with other comm units in both audio- and text-based formats at planetary range (see page 272). A personal comm unit also includes a calculator, a flashlight (increases the light level one step in a 15-foot cone), and several entertainment options (including games and access to any local infospheres). You can upgrade a personal comm unit to function as some other devices (such as full computers and scanners) by spending credits equal to 110% of the additional device’s price.

I have a couple of questions about how the bolded section works:

• Does the comm unit take on the addtional device's Usage and Capacity? Bulk? Hands?
• Can you upgrade the comm unit to function as multiple other devices? Would that increase its Bulk additively? Use the heaviest? Make the additional device lighter?

Additionally, it seems weird that you would only be able to build new devices into a comm unit. Can you upgrade computers and datapads like this too? I feel like I should be able to build a Chemalyzer into either of those if I wanted to. There is this passage for the computer Range module which maybe implies that comm units are special in this way... (or it could be saying that you can't control a comm unit to automatically gain secure, remote connections to other devices which I don't think was ever in question in the first place)

While most computers have access to remote systems and local infospheres, this connection does not necessarily extend to other devices. A computer that controls a comm unit can use that comm unit to send and receive messages but cannot use it to control devices. The range upgrade provides a secure, remote connection to a device which allows it to be controlled from a distance. Without this upgrade, a computer must be physically connected to the devices it controls with its control modules. Range I allows the computer to control a device wirelessly within 100 feet, and costs 5 credits (this includes the adjustments to both the computer and the connected device). Extending this range to 1 mile (Range I) costs 50 credits, while increasing it to planetwide (Range III) costs 100 credits (requiring an infosphere connection for both the computer and device).

Personally, I'm just trying to figure out a way to combine a Video Camera Scanner and a miniaturized Tier-1 Computer so my envoy can livestream using her fancy AbadarCorp smartphone.

I'm GMing Age of Ashes right now and one of my players has acquired a Dragonslayer Shield and a Ring of Energy Resistance. Given that the rules say that the "shield has resistance 10 against the damage type" whereas the ring says that the "ring grants you resistance 5 against one type of energy damage" (both are against fire in this case), would these effects both apply to one attack?

Example:
You fail your save against Fireball and follow the steps for applying damage, rolling to see how much damage it does and determining that it's fire damage. Next, you apply any immunities, weaknesses, and resistances you have. The ring grants you 5 fire resistance, so you subtract 5 from the damage roll. You then would take damage and use Shield Block as a reaction (the Dragonslayer Shield allows you to do so against attacks dealing the damage type it's attuned to) and as per Shield Block it "prevents you from taking an amount of damage up to the shield’s Hardness". The shield has 8 hardness, so you subtract 8 from the damage roll. As per Dragonslayer Shield, the shield's energy resistance "applies after reducing the damage for Hardness". The shield has 10 fire resistance, so you subtract 10 from the damage roll. The shield and shieldbearer both take any remaining damage as usual.

In the end, this means that (with these items) you can effectively have 23 damage shaved off of any fire-based attack by using Shield Block. Dragon-slaying indeed, or is the difference between you and the shield not significant enough to go against the usual rules against multiple resistances of the same type that you have stacking?

If I use a readied action to disarm an enemy if they attack and succeed, rendering them incapable of continuing their attack, do they get their standard/full action back to do something else, or do they lose that action entirely?