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Re: [HoE] Answers to my "Something About A Sword" post...



>That said, I don't think even 50% of Doomsayers have any idea Deflection
>exists.  If they do, how big a percentage have seen the Greater Reward

Perhaps.  But a few things come to mind for me...

1) Again, there is _never_ any reason to aim a Nuke directly at someone, as 
far as I can tell.  Is there...?

2) Malias is a Doombringer.  A slight difference, but presumably DBs have a 
little better chance of surviving an encounter with a powerful Templar than 
a Doomsayer.  At best, a DB may have survived an Atomic Blast or ICBM or 
something being Deflected back at them.

3) According to the Templars book, Templars now on (to put it bluntly ;) ) 
Silas' shit list .  Presumably they got there by being a formidable threat.  
Part of why they're a formidable threat is...well, Deflection.

4) The Greater Power lets the Templar deflect a Nuke directed against anyone 
(in which case #1 above is a moot point, true).  And it's true probably not 
too many folks have seen a Templar with that Greater Power (and survived).  
But a Templar only needs one level of Deflection to try and thwart a Nuke 
directed at him.  So I don't think this is as big a rarely seen tactic as 
made it out.

>used, so would think it moot to shoot the ground.  Another big Chuck of

Actually, it seems moot to shoot at the primary target of your Nuke!  Rather 
than, say, that piece of ground 2' away that doesn't get defensive bonuses 
or a chance to dodge or anything...  :)

>that were probably toast 1 second after seeing it used.  I would think a
>Doomsayer or Doombringer without intimate knowledge of the power would not
>shoot the ground.  On the other hand, one burned by the Greater Reward
>might not even send a Nuke at a Templar.
>

Again, the question remains:  why would a Nuke-user _ever_ aim directly at a 
target when you can simply say, "I'll target that spot in the air 1' to 
their left."?

>Example: Sheol, a Harrowed Doomsayer I play was stalking a suspected
>Anti-Templar, The Lord of the Waste.  I had a Templar ally (for one game)
>who had Deflection.  I had a clear shot at the Lord of the Waste, but did
>not fire.  why?  well, I could shoot a Atomic Blast, but what if she had
>Deflection?  I could shoot a Nuke at the ground, but what if she had the
>Greater Reward?  No, I stayed my hand.  Did she have either?  I still don't
>know, but she was/is a Servitor, so that point is moot.  The point is, I
>did think of it because my ally had it and I knew it.  If I had no such
>ally, I would have fired, and not at the  ground! that would be doing some
>serious metagaming.
>

Again, why would you fire directly at the person with a Nuke?  What benefit 
do you gain from doing that?  I can see why your character would be leery of 
throwing _any_ kind of ranged magical attack at a Templar given the scenario 
above.  But if you _have_ to attack (as opposed to just sitting there at 
range and doing nothing while the Templar uses Dead Eye and picks you off :) 
), the odds favor you attacking him (or anyone else) with Nuke by aiming it 
just behind or ahead or to the side of them.

>Most Green Robes don't have Templar allies.  They don't know what all they
>can do, except their famous Lay On Hands.  How much is legend?  If my
>Marshal had every one fire at the ground if I had a Templar, I'd be mighty
>sore.  As a Marshal, when running anything from Doomsayers to Hucksters, I
>think about what the Villain knows.  Is someone running around in a Tabard?
>well, if so, does the villain  know about Deflection?  I'd give the chances
>of the Green Robe Knowing about it as pretty low unless their Academia:
>Occult was real high.  Huckster, well, that would vary like mad.
>
>

Well keep in mind that "everyone firing at the ground" is not an option for 
most HoE-magical abilities.  It won't work for ICBM, or MIRV, or Atomic 
Blast, or Brain Blast, or...well, you get the idea.  So your Templar in the 
case above probably isn't going to be too sore, and the Marshall probably 
isn't going to do this tactic very often.

We are _only_ talking about Nuke here (and a relatively small subset of 
other "area of effect" attacks like, say, Arson).  And the fact that it is 
pretty easy to bypass Deflection is indeed a problem...but overall it still 
means that Deflection gives the Templar an ability that lets him bypass and 
reverse a wide range of attacks that other folks don't have.  His inability 
to generally use Deflection 1-5 (w/o the Greater Power) against Nuke just 
means in this one specific instance, he is on the same level as everyone 
else.

As for knowledge, I would agree that not _every_ Doomsayer might know this.  
But...in the example in question, we're talking Doombringers.  Who are 
specific hunter-killer types for Silas.  See #2 and 3 above.  Templars are 
on Silas "kill on sight" list.

But again, we come back to for any Nuke-user:  "Why not aim for the ground 
next to them?"  The only reason above I can tell is, "Because the players 
would be sore."  This doesn't really seem like a motivation most villains 
would take into account when you put yourself into their mindset.  :)

>just my view
>TBS


---

Steve Crow

"Worm Can Opener Extraordinare"

Check out my website at:  http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Stargate/4991/

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