A Modular Question

Games Sentinel Comics RPG
#1

Greetings, folks! I have been creating a lot of characters to get used to how the process works, and I’ve run into a question that primarily applies to Modular, but may apply to other situations.

Most Modes in the Modular Archetype stop you from taking certain actions. For example, in Debilitator Mode, you can’t Boost, Defend, or Overcome. However, you also have a bunch of Abilities from your Power Source.

If you have an Ability that causes you to Attack, and then Boost with your Min die, which of the three following things would you rule?

  1. The Ability includes a Boost, so you can’t use it in that Mode.
  2. The Ability only Boosts as a secondary effect, so you can use it in that Mode.
  3. You can use that Ability to attack in that Mode, but it won’t Boost.
#2

I’m most inclined to say you get to do the attack but don’t get to use the boost portion of the ability.

3 Likes
#3

I’m with @Powerhound_2000 on this one. #3 seems correct to me.

Reason being, the Rules have no official notion of “secondary” or “primary” effects. There’s just Actions that are part of Abilities. The Rules don’t know care about relative die sizes for various Actions, they’re all equally part of the Ability.

Similarly, that Mode only stops Boosts, it doesn’t say that it prevents you from using other parts of Abilities that also happen to contain Boosts.

#4

I’m agreeing with the others, but also pointing out that the Switch ability is really weirdly designed aside the various no-Boost modes. I almost want it to “degrade” to other action types if it’s not available, otherwise you burn a whole action just to switch modes.

#5

#3 seems correct to me too, but it also seems to be a bit of an issue in conjunction with Abilities that Hinder you as an extra cost to having a stronger effect, turning the drawback of those Modes into an extra ability.

Angille: I think the simplest way to fix that particular problem would be to add a clause to the Switch ability that lets you Boost yourself even if you couldn’t normally do so, similar to how Bunker’s Ammo Drop works in the card game.

#6

I think 2… because you’re not doing the secondary as a move.