Items
Why can’t I use every item I want my character to have?
We’re trying something a little different with Ardent rules. Where a lot of established games have focused on high power ceilings, permanent character upgrades, and reaching the proverbial “Level 20”, we’ve focused more on giving the flexibility to try new things and collaborating with others.
The flipside is that it will be harder, if not impossible, for any one character to get every ability and be the best at everything. This is deliberate; we want players to collaborate with each other and experiment with using tools to solve problems laterally, as this both promotes better game and embodies the spirit of the game world.
A degree of permanent changes are possible through the Cybernetics items, but for the most part we want players to be able to change items between events so they don’t feel so locked out of particular abilities because of how they’ve built their favourite characters.
Can I trade with players to get other Division’s Specialist Equipment?
Yes but you won’t be able to use it.
Your character only knows how to use your own Division’s Specialist Equipment. This is a hard limit in game to limit access to the strongest items and require the different Divisions to work together.
Because of this limit, we block players from being able to purchase items they can’t use from the Ship’s Shop accidentally.
Is it feasible to combo using items in game?
Items are intended to combo/be used together, because this is fun and can lead to unexpected results!
Example: you can use a System Analyser to check what a system is doing, then a Calibrator to change it. This could be used on something like a turret – the System Analyser will tell you what it’s set to target, and the Calibrator will let you change that target. You could just go straight to using the Calibrator but might miss out vital information.
Can I add multiple upgrades to a single item?
Yes, but it may not be wise. It will all be counted as one overall item, and a FAULT or Static call would disable the whole thing!
You could have a Basic Energy Shield (grants 3 EHP) and then attach four upgrades to it (each giving +1 EHP), to get an item that gives 7 EHP total. Which is quite a strong energy shield. However, in a year or two when it becomes time to Maintain that item, each of those individual upgrades will add to the cost, making it a lot more expensive to upkeep than if you’d managed to find one strong upgrade that granted +4 EHP.
Can I combine multiple items into one physrep?
For certain base items, yes, so long as they’d use the same sort of physrep anyway. We’re allowing this to help with out-of-character costs, because we’re aware this is a very physrep-heavy game. This question is about Equipment specifically, not Upgrades (for which are much more flexible). We are trialling this at Event 1 and we’ll determine whether it stay in game based on how it’s received. Before then, double check with us before comboing something.
For example, combining a Healing Gun & Injector would be fine! Combining a Sword & Basic Energy Shield would not. Two of the same item cannot be combined (use upgrades!)
There are of course some concerns, and we don’t want people to use this to get around needing upgrades. We’ll be watching this closely.
How it works:
- Two of the same Equipment cannot be combined together to make a double-strength one.
- The Equipment must have the same sort of physrep requirements.
- These pieces of Equipment are treated as being “ad-hoc’d” together, much like attaching an upgrade to something it wasn’t designed for. It is a permanent merge.
- The merged Equipment is treated as 1 Item for the purpose of negative effects; a FAULT card affects everything on that physrep, and a Static call will disable the whole lot.
- The merged Equipment pieces are treated independantly for the purpose of Upgrades; if you have a Healing Gun/Injector, you must choose the Healing Gun OR the Injector to add each specific Upgrade to.
- For Maintenance in the future, if you can’t afford to maintain everything at once, the whole lot stops working.
- You can only use one of the Equipment pieces at a time if they share a physrep; you have to stop using one to activate the other.
TL;DR: Yes you can (for specific similar items). They will count as 1 item when receiving downsides because they share a physrep. You can only use one of the equipment effects at a time, and must stop using one to start using the other. Upgrades will be added to each item independently.
Can I use more than one Basic Energy Shield at a time to get more EHP for cheap?
No you can’t. If you want more EHP, you need to use upgrades or buy a better energy shield. The same ruling applies to armour; you can’t buy two sets of Basic Armour and wear them both at once to gain double the AHP.
You can only have one active Energy Shield Equipment on you at a time (this doesn’t include Upgrades on other items). When that Energy Shield reaches 0 EHP, we still count it as “active”. It needs to physically leave your person before you can start using another piece of Energy Shield Equipment. This Equipment is always passively “on” and cannot be deactivated unless it is broken by a FAULT card.
The in-game reasoning for this is Energy Shield Equipment interferes with each other when active. We’re taking a bit of extra time to work out the specifics of this because one of you will undoubtably try and use this effect for an alternative purpose and we want to be prepared for when that happens and give a consistent response.
Can items be shared/traded/borrowed by other players if needed for an encounter?
Absolutely yes they can. But we would remind players, it’s cooler not to do everything yourself, and teamwork is fun. It is also not cool to OC pressure other people into giving or lending you items
You’re in charge of getting your own stuff back if you lend it to someone!
The only things currently that can’t be shared are Cybernetics once they’ve been installed, because, well, they’re kinda attached to you.
How many charges are in a Power Cell?
One Power charge per Power Cell.
We’re keeping it simple for the first event; we may introduce variations in the future but for now, we’re keeping it to 1 Cell = 1 Power.
How do I charge my Energy Shield?
Energy Shields don’t automatically charge, nor do they use Power Cells. You need a device (like the Autorepair Tool), an Expendable item (a Charge Patch, which is a version of Repair Patches), etc. Because of this, Energy Shields don’t technically count as Powered Items, and so are immune to Static calls!
We’ll review these methods before Event 1 to make sure recharging Energy Shields is generally cheaper than repairing armour.
Is this allowed? [Image of a remote controlled Nerf Stampede mounted on the ceiling]
Yes, if you can OC make it.
For any form of automated, remote controlled, mobile, targetting, or other extreme mod on a blaster, email in with the specs and we’ll price it up IC on a case-by-case basis. We will also require photos of your electronics to make sure the wiring is safe.
If I IC lose a limb and replace it with a Cybernetic/prosthetic, do I get bonus points?
No, it will just be there for roleplay. Prosthetic limbs from IC accidents are provided freely by the Ardent. If you want it to do anything cool, you must find and buy an upgraded Cybernetic limb.
Why are Cybernetics so expensive?
Cybernetics are the most expensive items in game currently, since they are permanent upgrades which don’t require Maintenance or any resources such as Power Cells (at least the ones on the character creation list). Instead, they have a limited on how frequently the abilities can be used.
At the first event they might not feel like they are worth it, but they’re the only real way to gain certain types of abilities, and will financially pay for themselves over time the more you use them because they don’t cost any extra to use.
There is a limit to how many you can have installed at once before funky side effects start happening, so if you invest heavily in cybernetics, you’ll have to start picking and choosing later on!
Interacting with Others & the Environment
What is the mechanic for looting enemies?
We have the call “Search” that anyone can use! I’ve just updated the page so it’s more clearly laid out.
- Spend at least 5 seconds roleplaying searching a specific area something could be concealed.
- Announce “Search: [area]”, for example, “Search Jacket”.
- The target must tell you what is stored in that area and give you any Lammies.
If a crew member has despawned, it is too late to try and loot them. Depending on the mission, there’s a good chance they’ll respawn with the equipment again so you can have another chance at looting it.
I am hiding in a bush. I do not have the Stealth ability. I really do not want to get shot. A Monster sees movement and calls out “stealth?” Do I still respond (even though I am not using the Stealth mechanic), regardless of whether the character would give themselves away?
Questioning “Stealth” isn’t a formal call, but if someone does this to check if you’re in Stealth because they can’t see your finger raised, only respond “Stealth” if you are! If you aren’t, don’t say anything. Any word you say that isn’t “Stealth” can be heard by anyone IC around you. Alternatively, if someone’s coming towards you and making eye contact while you’re in Stealth, you can announce “Stealth” to confirm to them that you’re under the effect. If they’ve made a mistake, the crew member should immediately disengage.
We have a “Detect Stealth” call, but there’s never a need to announce yourself. Using “Detect Stealth” (whether announcing it or doing it secretly due to a specific covert item) allows you to see anyone so long as you can physically OC see them. So if you’re really good at hardskill hiding, you’re safe. We want to reward hardskill whenever we can.
If you hear another type of Detect call, like “Detect Lifeform”, you’ll need to announce yourself regardless, but that’s going to be very rare.
How bad are the consequences of risking going into an area without a gas mask, or touching an item without safety gloves? I appreciate it’s situationally dependent, but it would be good to know on average if I’d be rolling dice on getting a TRAUMA or outright losing a character.
We’ll generally be broadcasting risks like this before players do something. Mission briefing will include anticipated dangers, and risky items will usually have some sort of visual indicator.
At the first event especially, everyone’s going to be getting used to the rules, and we don’t want a “gotcha” moment where we’ve caught you out on OC grounds. For more difficult encounters, there will be less support, but we want to work our way up to these.
You won’t instantly lose your character from doing something wrong like this, and if it looks like you will from an honest mistake, we have backups (the Rescusitator, the Emergency Teleporter, and more to be discovered). We want it to be pretty obvious when you’re doing something that’s going to end your character so you can continue doing it knowing the risks.
Can players use radios within the game?
Yes, but we are currently figuring out the specifics on this as we have to look into licensing and must be compliant with certain regulations.
If you have professional knowledge with radios we’d love to hear from you!