Unofficial FAQ and House Rules for Deliria
PREFACE: I love this game, I really do. I don’t, however, love how the system is presented. It is confused, inconsistent, and poorly supported. Thus, I have put together this unofficial FAQ with my interpretations and house-rules, which have been tested and balanced. I hope it helps folks to play the game and allows those who might have given up because of the system problems to give it a fair chance. Note that while some of the answers I give are from consultation with game designers, many are in direct contradiction to what they’ve said. I’ve chosen answers that I feel work.
CHAPTER 5: CHALLENGE
AND CHANCE (Basic System Rules)
Q. When it says ‘+1 Challenge Level’ does it mean to raise it one difficulty category (Simple, Easy, Average, etc) or just add one to the level (3, 6, 9, etc)?
A. The latter. So if you have a Simple Challenge (Level 3) in dim light (+1 Challenge Level) the number you are trying to draw against is 4. If it was also underwater (+3 Challenge Level), it would become 7.
Q. Is the Challenge Level for an attack the defender’s Prowess + 6 (like for any other Contest) or just their Prowess?
A. The former. So if you are attacking someone in a knife fight and their Agility & Martial: Bladecraft (Knives) is 12, you have to draw against 18 to hit them.
Q. Can a defender Counterdraw against someone attacking them?
A. Yes, but they need to have an action left to use.
Q. How do I determine how severe a wound my attack inflicted?
A. The chart on page 148 and 204 should more properly read:
Draw is equal or one higher than Challenge Level: Wound level attempted (Suffering)
Draw is two higher than Challenge Level: One higher than attempted (Wound)
Red Royal: Two higher than attempted (Crippling)
Red 10: Three higher than attempted (Mortal)
Triumph (Red King or ten higher than Challenge Level): Fatal
Wound levels for base
attacks are given in parentheses.
So, if you were attempting to Mortally Wound your foe and you drew a Red Royal, you would have inflicted a Fatal Wound. If you were merely attempting to inflict a Suffering Wound (the default), you would have inflicted a Crippling Wound.
CHAPTER 6: MASK AND
MIRROR (Character Creation)
Q. How many Favor Points does it cost to raise stats?
A. Use the table on page 228 and interpret ‘per degree’ to mean ‘per level purchased’. So buying up Body (a Grace Key) from 4 to 5 would cost 4 Favor Points, from 4 to 6 would cost 8 Favor Points, from 4 to 7 would cost 12 Favor Points, etc.
Problem: If I use Basic rules, my Deliria score is ˝ Mind, but if I use Advanced rules, it is Imagination – Wisdom. This produces wildly divergent results.
Solution: I suggest defaulting Deliria to 0 in a Basic game since it makes it consistent with the Advanced rules (since the Imagination and Wisdom scores are both assumed to be the same) and allowing it to be bought up with Favor Points if the player wants it higher.
Problem: The point costs for Vocation Aspects seem off compared to Grace Aspects, given their comparative numbers and the exponential nature of their increase with Key raises.
Solution: Since
Vocation Keys have no function if you are using Vocation Aspects, I would
recommend giving a straight 60 points to spend on Aspects and not worrying
about Keys at all. This is more balanced and consistent with the