I don't understand "Heightened Awareness".

Only the scout can have it. It costs 20, so it isn't cheap and this is what it does.

"Allies within close range of the character add a boost die to their Perception or Vigilance checks. Allies engaged with him add two boost dice instead."

Why doesn't the scout get any bonuses to his Perception or Vigilance?

And why, if everyone is huddled around the scout in a scrum (ie: in the engaged range band) should that increase everyone's Perception or Vigilance?

And lastly, this seems to be one of the few (if not only) talent that directly benefits other players and not the character spending his XP to get it. Seems odd.

Hmmmm.... 30 views and not one reply. Anyone got something?

You are correct. Have you brought this up to erratta folks yet?

Per the wording of the talent, both in the Character Creation section and Talents section, it works as described. The Scout's allies get a bonus to Perception & Vigilance checks, but the Scout doesn't.

Now it could be that the designers figured that an Explorer/Scout would already have three or four ranks in Perception and Vigilance at that point, making the extra boost dice somewhat redundant. Only problem is, an Explorer/Scout doesn't have Vigilance as a career skill, so they may only have one or two ranks, though they do have a nifty re-roll talent as a pre-req to Heightened Senses.

Given this is exactly how the talent was worded in the Beta, and was brought up at least once or twice during the Beta testing period, it's probably a safe assumption that this is more of a "benefit the party" than "benefit myself" type of talent. If you don't want to help your party avoid danger, then you don't need to buy it, since it's a dead-end talent.

Maybe the Scout just puts everybody else on edge - like having a known thief in the party! Doesn't make much sense...

I think thematically the idea is that a Scout is kind of guiding or leading the party, and making everyone more aware of their surroundings. I don't know why the Scout doesn't get the benefit too.

I think it would way more worth the XP price if it was a passive Talent, but it does cost an Action to activate.

I would think of this as the Scout "leading" the party in some manner to "be alert".

"You watch over there, if anything moves... and you, just don't sit, there, watch our six. You watch that flank, lots of places for an ambush on your side... anything up at point, Jaxxon? No? good. ok, everyone, keep your eyes peeled."

You activate it, lead - give orders, dispense scouting wisdom, what have you. The party then benefits from your talent.

As for the engagement bonus, I think of this as the same thing but now you're all standing back-to-back, as strange and ominous sounds emanate from the jungle just beyond the campfire...

Thanks for the cinematic. The scout telling everyone to be more watchful makes sense and the back to back visual is nice, it's just a pity the scout himself doesn't get the bonus.

I'd liken it to going on a safari with a tracker. When in the bush, the tracker alerts the group of tourists to much more than they'd see without one because they're looking where he is looking, stopping when he is stopping, listening when he is listening, looking at spoor he finds; doing as he does... as well as, as he says. It's because the tracker is very good at his job, he's the most perceptive of the group.

As someone before has said, maybe those bonuses are already built into the scout through the player buying the requisite skills, because there are no talents that augment his perception (other than the reroll ability of "Natural Hunter", which includes the non-career skill "Vigilance").

There are lots of stealth bonuses for the scout. Maybe it's the name "Scout" that's tripping me up. Someone who scouts ahead should **** well have great perception, otherwise his report back when he returns to the group is going to be "light on detail".

I don't know enough to house rule anything, still reading the system, and thankfully its a fourth tier talent so it's a way down the road... we will only play our first session 3 weeks from now (and I'm seriously looking forward to it), but this is a little borked to me.

I think house ruling this one would be pretty simple, just simply give the scout the same bonus. The scout benefits from everyone following his directions too, right?

Sometimes decisions like this are made for the purpose of game balancing and if you do end up changing it, always keep an eye on game balance and revert if it throws something out of whack (I personally don't think this situation would be a problem.)

Sometimes, the designers just goof and that's why "revised" and "second editions" are made (besides getting more of our money.)

I think house ruling this one would be pretty simple, just simply give the scout the same bonus. The scout benefits from everyone following his directions too, right?

Sometimes decisions like this are made for the purpose of game balancing and if you do end up changing it, always keep an eye on game balance and revert if it throws something out of whack (I personally don't think this situation would be a problem.)

Sometimes, the designers just goof and that's why "revised" and "second editions" are made (besides getting more of our money.)

Yeah. Pretty much this. Or you could get creative with the interpretation of the rule since the Scout technically is "an ally to himself", and is technically always "engaged with himself", he should get the boost.

edited to add: As others have pointed out this is an active skill, so I don't think it's game-breaking to extend the talent to the scout himself, even though it seems to have been designed as a group utility buff.

I'd imagine that a Scout who's busy making sure everyone else is hyper-aware is going to be a little distracted himself, and not able to be quite so super-focused.

In your standard group of 4-6 players, the talent's going to be handing out anywhere from 3 to TEN extra boost dice for two skills. I'm not sure I'd agree that that is a disappointing ability, even if the Scout himself isn't getting it. It's also worth considering that the Scout will certainly be getting benefit from it - remember that Vigilance covers initiative, and once the order is set anyone can go anywhere. A tight group getting two boosts to everyone-1 in the party for initiative sounds pretty solid.

<shrug> Makes thematic sense, and seems powerful enough to me.

Does the character with Heightened Awareness count as an ally?

Does the character with Heightened Awareness count as an ally?

Most cases in RPGs, "ally" does not equal "self," so I'd say no.

mrvander gave a pretty good case for why the Scout wouldn't get the benefit of this talent. Namely, they're too busy telling everyone else to be on their toes to gain any bonuses themselves.

I'd imagine that a Scout who's busy making sure everyone else is hyper-aware is going to be a little distracted himself, and not able to be quite so super-focused.

In your standard group of 4-6 players, the talent's going to be handing out anywhere from 3 to TEN extra boost dice for two skills. I'm not sure I'd agree that that is a disappointing ability, even if the Scout himself isn't getting it. It's also worth considering that the Scout will certainly be getting benefit from it - remember that Vigilance covers initiative, and once the order is set anyone can go anywhere. A tight group getting two boosts to everyone-1 in the party for initiative sounds pretty solid.

<shrug> Makes thematic sense, and seems powerful enough to me.

Yeah, too bad the party aren't with him when he's making stealth rolls while scouting ahead for them. He could use their vigilance bonus to make the initiative roll. Unless of course he's still in short range and talking non-stop on the comms. "Harry check over there. Sarah, behind you. Max, stop eating that ration pack and use your ears. Francis, get out your glowstick. Jeremiah, hang a little back to check that no-one is following you. Harry don't look where Jeremiah is looking. Max, are you listening? Sarah what is Max doing? Guys... pay attention and above all. Be. Quiet."*pause* [fails perception check]"We're clear up here." /sarcasm. chuckle. sorry i couldn't resist.

I hear what you saying, and mathematically adding a single boost die to one of two skills to each of them (or more if huddle together back to back) is mechanically powerful. Something a "leader-type" would do more than a "scout-type" in my opinion, but thanks for the input. Good to see variety in the interpretation.