So I've been reading over every ounce of pertinent information to 3e and I have come up with a list (actually a short list) of questions that I feel we should have had answers to already, but have not. Of course, that's not to say the designer diaries are bad, actually, I quite like them and I like the speculation about them that occurs from how they're written...however, there are several questions from them that would ease our understanding of how they function:
1) What are on the actual sides of the dice?
I'd like a breakdown, side by side what's on the dice, (for example: On the Characteristic dice there are 4 Successes, 2 Boons, 2 Blank). I'd like to see it for every die. It has been a nagging question since the system was first introduced and it still is. I see rules that give skill dice, talent dice, fortune/misfortune dice, and I wonder, what does that actually mean? Why is getting fortune dice better or worse than Talent dice or the like. What are my chances of failure on a Challenge die versus a Misfortune die, and what are my chances for Boons, etc? This would help us, as a group, be able to gauge the effectiveness of the core mechanics and know how they play out in detail. I thought maybe FFG maybe didn't want us home-brewing our dice now, but now that the Emperor's Decree has been put out, I know we'll see them then, but I'd rather focus then on gameplay and enjoying the event rather than counting die sides.
I don't even think we'd need a designer diary dedicated to it, just a post here in the forums or a general announcement. I know the marketers wouldn't love that, but those who are here all the time talking about this game would greatly appreciate it. Has this been bugging anyone else but me?
2) How does contests between two characters work?
With more action cards being revealed, we need to know how these mechanics work. It is fundamental to all game systems and without the question answered the cards make little sense to how they will be resolved mechanically. Ultimately, when it comes to mechanics, the first question is the most important, but this runs a close second.
3) How do weapons, damage and how much damage a character can take actually work in the system?
I remember ynenn commenting on how all the design diary replies to combat training 102 focused on replies only concerning the recharge mechanic. The hit/defense system was straight forward enough and very clear. However, it was hard to speculate on how the card's damage modifier + weapon damage versus soak mechanism actually works since, at this time, there is no frame of reference. What I think was lacking from this is how many "hit points" for lack of a better term does a character have. How is it determined and how is their soak determined. How does a character get a base damage score? How is this as well determined, by weapon, base Strength, or what? Maybe the "Mook" rules would not have been received so critically if we truly understood how their ability to take damage is truly lower than a major NPC or PC. It's another nagging question I've had about the game. So we have all these new dice that give us different success methods, well, how is that going to work in the combat and damage mechanics has been a question burning on my mind since the system was first announced. We've had part a good starting point with the combat system, but this question is the third major question I feel we need to answer?
How do you guys feel about these questions and if you have your own, post them up!