Rules Interpretations

2014 Edition

These are current interpretations of rules elements from the Rules Committee. They are either too detailed to make it into the rulebook, or will be worked into future editions of the rules. Last updated 2014-Jan-12.

• Alcohol and Poison: Alcohol is considered a type of poison in Quest, for the purposes of Immunity to Poison, Cure Poison, Poison, Poisoned Grasp, etc. Because we have no official system for dealing with the effects of alcohol, and no one's worked out an interface with the optional rules, the effect of using a poisoning spell to make someone drunk will depend on how the victim wants to RP it.
• Blocking Staves and the hands-free rule: The exception applies to all spell casters, not just to mages. All spell casters are attuned to staves, and can cast Combat spells while using a blocking staff, without needing to take Battlecast.
• Bows: If a bow is hit by any weapon (even an arrow) the bow is broken, and made pretty much a worthless stick. In dire needs, a bow can basically be used as a one shot blocking staff. And it has happened. Broken strings are more rare now, but they do happen on occasion.
  The archer in question is out of the fight, and then when they have time, they go off into the woods for about ten minutes or so, pick out a nice branch, and string it. Yes, very unrealistic, but in a system where there are no other weapons that can be permanantly lost, it's a concession in fairness.
• Bowstrings: When a bowstring "breaks" or is "burnt," the archer must destring and restring the bow before using it again, to simulate finding and putting on a spare string.
• Casting spells while carrying people: Just because you can carry a person while casting a spell on yourself, doesn't mean that the spell affects them, too. (Examples: Teleport, Safe Retreat/Journey, Wraith Form, Barkskin.) Note that a dead body (not just one that's unconscious or bleeding) is inanimate, and thus acts like "equipment" and not like a "person."
• Changed Natural Talents: When rebuilding a character to fit the new 2001 rules (and only at that time), if you have free points, you can purchase Exceptional Strength if the new version is appropriate to your character.
• Dispelling Mass Safe Journey: Mass Safe Journey is a spell with a single effect; although it includes other people in its protective aura, it's centered on the caster. Thus, to dispel it, you only need to cast Dispel Magic once, and you can touch any person surrounded by the aura, but it won't work if the caster has a Magic Absorption (or a Spell Immunity to Dispel Magic).
• Drop Item, Fling Item, and Heat Item: These three spells affect the item(s) regardless of whether the target is holding them with one hand or two hands. Drop Item and Fling Item must be cast once per person holding the items, because they only knock the items out of the hands of the target. Heat Item can be cast just once, because the items become hot regardless of how many people are holding on to them.
• Emotion (Fear): Because the Emotion spell is less powerful than the Fear spell, using the Emotion spell to instill fear will only produce an effect similar to Aversion.
• Fake potions: Anyone can make fake potions, labeled with a level up to their level in Alchemy. So someone without any Alchemy could make a fake with a level of 0, which is enough to fool someone only if they don't look too closely.
• Fortify is merely meta-magic applied to a base spell (the same as Reflect and Redirect) and does not fundamentally alter the base spell in any way.
• Free Poison: You can make doses of poison without spending any marks, but the poison lasts only for that one game. Doses of poison made using 2 marks are normal, and last indefinitely. And thus there's no advantage to making a dose of poison with 4 marks.
• "Game Over" and Check-out: The cut-off point for Miracles and Healing Debt is at check-out. A GM's "game over" call is merely a signal that the NPCs have stopped doing things, and that PCs should rapidly resolve anything they're involved in, check out, and help with clean-up. Any actions taken in between "game over" and check-out must be acceptable to all parties. For example, although you probably cannot kill someone in this time, you could probably resurrect someone.
• Great swords: Although there are light hits from great swords, remember that they're pulling their blows for your own safety. Do you really want them to swing harder with that thing?
• Half-mahiri can disguise their race by wearing a hood and baggy clothing. Full mahiri can, too, but it takes more effort. And the gem does stick out of their forehead, so the raised bump can be seen and identified.
• Human shields: For safety reasons, at no time should anyone use themselves as a human shield in combat as a matter of precaution. This includes, but is not limited to, role-playing a character, Safe Journeys, Safe Retreats, within a Safe Circle or in any way during an active combat situation, as this endangers both you and the person you may be trying to protect in boffer combat. While it looks cool and seems brave, in-game it's just too dangerous.
• Multiple casting: Normally you can only cast one spell at a time, and other casters may cast their spells in between your spells. However, you are allowed to cast the same spell multiple times, quickly enough that other casters may not interrupt. (For example, "I cast the spell of Stun Grasp 5 times!".) However, these castings are merely in rapid succession, and do not occur at the same time - if the first spells are reflected back at you and you are incapacitated, the later spells are not cast at all (and their spell points are not spent).
• NPC point grandfathering: If you created a character before September 1998 (when Character Debt and FPCs were introduced), and you spent NPC points on that character during creation (to boost their initial point total), and the character has not exceeded 20 points, then you can reclaim up to 4 of those NPC points from that character, and rebuild the character using Character Debt. Alternatively, if the character has not exceeded 18 points, you can reclaim all of their NPC points and convert the character to an FPC.
• Out-of-game healing and Miracles: If a PC dies during a game, and is taken out-of-game to an out-of-game healer who brings him back to life, then a Miracle must be used to allow the character to be played as a PC again, because the healing took place outside the confines of the game. However, if the PC were to be brought in-game to an in-game healer who brings him back to life, then no Miracle needs to be used, because the healing took place inside the game. (The same principle also applies to lesser injuries and Healing Debt.)
• Out-of-game injuries: If you've suffered a leg injury, but still want to play in Quest, you can take the Lame disad and get the normal 2 points. When your leg gets better, you can get rid of the disad or switch to other disads (although if you choose to get rid of the disad, you also lose the points it gave you).
• Persuasion: If you use a Persuasion improperly, then it counts as a fumble, and you can try again later. (Example: "you're depressed, go kill yourselves.") However, if you use it correctly and it doesn't work, then it counts as a failure, and the use was wasted for that day. (Example: your victim was specifically warned about you in particular.)
• Reallocation of points: Players who develop a permanent out-of-game situation that prevents them from using their character's abilities may reallocate the points from the now-useless ability free of charge. To help maintain continuity, they may only increase an ability by 1 level per game with this free transfer (they may, however, spend XP normally to speed up the transfer, or transfer points into several different abilities at the same time, or spread the transfer across multiple games). In other cases, like a temporary injury or the camp ban on archery, you should either come up with an in-game reason why your character isn't using the skills, or just not play the character. If appropriate, you can take a disad and then freely get rid of it (and its points) after the temporary situation goes away.
• Restraining spell casters: Spell casters who use spell books (mages, clerics, and mystics) may be prevented from casting spells by restraining their arms (for example, by binding them tightly behind their back). Clerics are no different from mages and mystics in this respect: the "hands-free" rule doesn't apply to this situation, as it's merely a restriction on what can be done while casting Combat spells. If the spell caster has the Missing Arm disad, you only need to restrain their one arm. (Although they may hold their spell book in their missing arm, that doesn't by itself grant them the ability to cast spells. It's a disad, after all.) As IP does not require a book (it mainly represents natural abilities), the only way to stop IP users from casting spells is to keep them unconscious. (A hog-tied lizardman would still be fast, and so could still cast Blink; it just wouldn't get very far.)
• Rootfoot: You may use Rootfoot on other parts of the target's body touching the ground, such as hands or knees. Other objects, such as walls, boulders, trees, people, animals, and weapons do not count—the target may only be rooted to the ground.
• Rootfoot then Thunderclap: Thunderclapping someone who is rootfooted will not necessarily break their limb (and thus cause a limb wound).
• Safe circles extend upward into a roughly egg-shaped dome. They will take care of normal bodily functions, such as eating and excreting, and will provide fresh air to breathe. They will not prevent you from going mad, aging, dying, or being killed by something else inside. They will keep water out if the area floods (and thus, presumably, they keep out rain and fire). They extend underground, so you can't burrow under the edge.
• Safe spell differentiation: You can tell the difference between Safe Retreat and Safe Journey spell effects if you have Cleric Initiation and are close to the effect. Just ask the caster OOG, and they'll whisper the answer to you.
• Safe spells cast underwater: Safe Retreat and Safe Journey will allow affected targets of the spell to breathe underwater. Safe Circle creates an impermeable barrier around the caster which will simply produce a sphere full of water, with all the breathing difficulties that result from such an environment.
• Spell Effect Priority: If a spell is cast on someone, with an effect that contradicts a previously-cast spell's effect, the newer spell's effect takes precedence. For example, casting Emotion: "Bravery" would cancel out a Fear, but a future casting of Fear would cancel out the Emotion.
• Spell Immunity & healing magic: You may cast a Spell Immunity to a healing spell on someone, thus preventing them from being healed by that spell for an hour. As Resurrect does not require the use of a body, this will not affect the success of a Resurrect spell—all it will do is prevent the reuse of the old body, forcing the creation of a new one.
• Stealth:
  • Attacking: You can't attack while using your Stealth card to hide, since this is incompatible with the rule that you must be making "a reasonable attempt to hide". This includes sapping, which is still an attack.
  • Direction: Waving and moving the card all around you will hide you from anyone around, provided there's a reasonable attempt being made to hide from everyone. (People won't be able to suddenly see you the instant the card turns away from them.) Of course, you will need to stay tightly glued to your cover or shadow while you're attempting this.
  • Hiding while observed: If someone is watching you while you try to hide yourself using Stealth, you are not hidden from them. You will need to place some cover or shadows between you and the observer before the Stealth skill will let you hide from them.
  • Moving silently: Stealth lets you move silently, as long as you are making a reasonable attempt to stay quiet.
  • Picking pockets: When picking a pocket, you may only take one item at a time. Interior pouches and other collections of items count as a single item, as does a handful of loose change (or of other tiny objects). Taking more than one item requires more than one use of the skill, which will effectively lower your Stealth by one. It's "pick-pocket," after all, not "cut-purse."
  • Sleight-of-hand: Stealth does not allow one to do sleight-of-hand tricks.
  • Tracking: Stealth doesn't explicitly allow you to move in a way that prevents someone from tracking you, mostly since we don't strictly have a tracking mechanic.
  • Using the card: The card must be held in hand; it cannot be attached to your clothing or an object.
• Teleporting to an in-game location: In-game Teleports are restricted to the current contiguous in-game area. In-game Teleports are only guaranteed to take you to places that you've seen during the current game (at the GM's discretion, in-game areas you saw at a previous game might have changed too much for successful teleportation).
• Weapons Skill: Between games, you may shift points in Weapon Skill around as much as you like. During a game, you may not shift points. However, points spent on a category (in particular, "Weapons" and "Shields") are cumulative within that category. Thus, if you have 12 points in Weapon Skill, and at check-in you decide to put all 12 points into the Weapons category, you can use any single weapon worth up to 12 points, but you cannot use shields or armor, cannot florentine, and cannot throw weapons overhand, throughout the entire game. At the next game, you may choose to put your 12 points into different categories.