So I have a question about skills. According to the FAQ if you don't have a skill, you get a d4 for it.
So if I run into a Diplomacy check, and don't have Diplomacy, I am rolling a d4, and NOT my Charisma? Right?
But if the card says Charisma Diplomacy, then I can roll either (defaulting to my charisma). Am I interpreting this right?
I have been considering any Diplomacy defaulting to Charisma since it is generally a Charisma skill, but in reading that FAQ I had the thought I've been doing it wrong all along. MOST checks list both an attribute and a skill, but some only list the skill.
And that makes the boon that adds to diplomacy checks are adding to a d4, not whatever my Charisma is. Again, since to use the boon I have to make that specific kind of check.
Lightbulb moment. Geh. So many ways I've messed up playing the game so far. Glad we are not too far into it. Heh.
Yep, sounds like you have a good grasp on it now. In most cases, if a skill is listed for a check, a pure stat is also listed. But if you want to use a boon that only adds to a specific skill and you don't have that, you would need to use the skill "untrained" (roll a d4) to use the boon for the check. In most cases, a lot of characters would be better off just using the stat if there are blessing available.
I think the most common use of the d4 rule is with attack spells. They usually list that you use the Arcane or Divine skill + some extra dice for your combat check. If characters don't have that skill, they can still use the spell using the d4 rule and then banishing the spell.
And yeah, playing the game can be a bit of a learning process. My group messed up pretty heavily against Iesha Foxglove in the second scenario of Adventure 2, but now I know better for the next time I play it and for when similar situations pop up.
I got confused in the beginning because they say if you don't have the skill you get a d4, but then there are some skills listed on my character card that has the d4 listed. I'm thinking why only have some skills listed as d4 and not others? Then I figured that the listed skills with the d4 must be a basic skill that other skills are based off of or something.
Every character has all six of the 'stats' (which means nothing in this game). In this game they are all skills. Just some characters have some listed that wouldn't need to be. This is a nod to the RPG where those six stats are not skills at all but a separate kind of thing. Also almost all of them are able to be raised through advancement, where most people will never get to pick up a NEW skill.