[freddieflatline]

Orange eyes= Hestaby or another player in the field?

Hestaby was my first thought too, but Sukuyan Vampires are orange-eyed.

I thought about those too, but was hoping for the dragon.

With luck our Lady of the tangerine gaze is allied with Unca K and she is just looking out for her associate to ensure the completion of the job.

If not, well Red can go over the buzzards and the bats with her then.

I do not know.  This maybe a setup for Kane to get someone close enough to kill the old brigand.  There is at least one Cuban Vamp that is associated with the pirates who run out of the island. Then there is the fact that they talk about Renfield and the Orange eyes.  I think that dev/grrl is in a lot of trouble.

[thePrimarch]

I posted a review on DriveThruRPG yesterday.

Not gonna lie, this book really made me itch for a vehicle mod system. I can't wait to mount HMGs loaded with DU ammo and set with underbarrel lasers onto a fully kitted-out Ares Roadmaster. I've got a Desert Wars campaign I've been planning for ages that really could use this -- and can make great use out of the mods this book provided.

Also, the C2 stats were a well-needed addition, I've got to say. Nice to see that C2 grenades are a possibility again.

I do not know.  This maybe a setup for Kane to get someone close enough to kill the old brigand.  There is at least one Cuban Vamp that is associated with the pirates who run out of the island. Then there is the fact that they talk about Renfield and the Orange eyes.  I think that /dev/grrl is in a lot of trouble.

Honestly, it's probably a setup for dev/grrl to kill Kane. Its a good setup: there's tragedy involved, a reason for Jackpointers to stop trusting dev/grrl, an interesting plot twist, and we've already got at least one Cuban who wants Kane dead (Gingersnap) who might have started this plot in the first place. Throw in a possibility for /dev/grrl to get turned into a vampire -- or for Red to have to rescue her from said vampire(s) -- and you've got a pretty interesting potential story arc.

As such, it should instead be a plot by vampires to force Kane to help them steal the Gingerbread Man's lost horde of ancient Orichalcum coins, so that /dev/grrl and Gingersnap are forced to team up to rescue Kane and steal the Orichalcum back.

[ScytheKnight]

Am I blind and have missed it... or has there simply not been a Street Date announced for this yet?

I have players chomping at the bit to get their hands on gear from this...

[Crimsondude]

Am I blind and have missed it... or has there simply not been a Street Date announced for this yet?

I have players chomping at the bit to get their hands on gear from this...

No street date yet.

[cbsmith]

So reading the book more.

Practice, practice, practice from page 191 doesn't almost invalidate the Aptitude quality from the core? I could have read it wrong but from what i understand it does the same with a small limitation (no available for unarmed, melee or shooting skills) for 12 karma less.

You know, I read it that way for a brief moment, but "Practice, Practice, Practice" increases the *limit* on a skill by 1, *and* it only applies to non-combat skills.

[cbsmith]

Well done book. Question, also about spellblade, what does the spellcasting skill have to do with the spell and if it is sustained then the user must have either a PQ or a foci if he wants to keep it up during combat, correct?

Spellblade is totally confusing me. Despite the long description it is missing a lot of points of clarification. Obvious questions come to mind:

• Is there any way that a spellcasting role impacts the spellblade?
• The "works like Powerbolt or Powerball, affecting physical objects and capable of parrying and resisted by armor" quote is completely non-sensical, since powerbolt/ball is a direct spell that uses a straight body test. I'm presuming it works more like Punch/Clout, except your attack skill is AGI + Weapons Skill instead of Spellcasting + Magic.
• The related "works like a Manabolt or Manaball" isn't much better, but I'm guessing the idea is it is like a usual melee attack test AGI + Weapons Skill vs. Reaction + Intuition, except the limit is the spell force, and the damage bypasses armour, but still gets resisted by Body (just not armour). It'd be super nice to have that clarified though.
• I'm guessing since only the caster is allowed to use the blade, that means you either get some kind of sustain ability or you get stuck with the sustain penalty. That seems pretty harsh for the PowerBlade, but a pretty good deal for the ManaBlade.

[ScytheKnight]

Is there any news on a Street Date?

[freddieflatline]

Is there any news on a Street Date?

It is out chummer.

[Darzil]

Sorry if I've missed something, but trying to understand the point of Focused Archery.

As your damage equals the lowest of your strength, your Bow's rating and the arrow's rating, being able to fire a bow above your own strength is fairly niche, as the damage is not increased, and the downside of this power is therefore pretty rough.

The only uses I'm seeing so far are :

Using a bow, say three ratings higher than your strength, using Strength Attribute Boost (in a game where House Rules allow it to affect more than dice pools), and always being able to use the bow regardless of your number of hits.
Using someone else's bow.
Getting a small increase in range.

The downside makes it look like it should have just increased your effective strength for purposes of archery instead.

[ScytheKnight]

Sorry if I've missed something, but trying to understand the point of Focused Archery.

As your damage equals the lowest of your strength, your Bow's rating and the arrow's rating, being able to fire a bow above your own strength is fairly niche, as the damage is not increased, and the downside of this power is therefore pretty rough.

The only uses I'm seeing so far are :

Using a bow, say three ratings higher than your strength, using Strength Attribute Boost (in a game where House Rules allow it to affect more than dice pools), and always being able to use the bow regardless of your number of hits.
Using someone else's bow.
Getting a small increase in range.

The downside makes it look like it should have just increased your effective strength for purposes of archery instead.

Not to mention taking damage if you use it more than once per combat round when any archer worth their salt is going to have at least 2-3 initiative passes.

This one goes into the "What the hell where they thinking?" basket alongside the Data Trails Echo that boosts Encryption/Decryption, a 4th Edition mechanic!

[Darzil]

That was indeed the downside I referred to.

[jim1701]

Hard Targets also has Dynamic Tension Bow on pg 179 that allows you to change the rating from 1 to 10 with a simple action (wireless bonus makes it a free action.)  There is also no rule that says your arrows can't be of a greater rating than what your current rating is so you could just go with all rating 10 arrows if you wanted to.  Alternatively you can use the Quickdraw Quiver on pg 186 to allow you to draw the desired specific arrow you need for a given shot. 

You can start combat with the bow dialed up to 10 (or whatever your max would be with the power) fire your shot then dial it down to your normal rating with a free action and proceed on firing normal arrows to the end of the turn. 

[Mirikon]

Yeah, I think of it like using Power Attack in D&D. Don't use it all the time, but when you need a heavy hit, you got one ready.

[ScytheKnight]

It's still a bit of an odd power, and poorly written to mesh with how bows are supposed to work in the first place.

[Darzil]

Yeah, I think of it like using Power Attack in D&D. Don't use it all the time, but when you need a heavy hit, you got one ready.

Well, a long range hit, anyway, as the DV is the lowest of strength, bow rating and arrow rating, and the power doesn't change your strength.