As a reminder I get the questions from all sources: Email, discord, facebook and blog comments. I do reword them a bit to fit the blog format and due to the fact that many are questions I have been asked by multiple people. 

If you post your question as a blog comment, I promise I will include it in the next week round up. (unless I skip a week, then itll be the next one after that :) )

General questions:

Do you ever make rules just for yourself that we don't get to see?

On occasion yes and usually for fun and my own enjoyment. I am currently working on a vanity project for myself which is basically 2nd edition 40K, adapted to various 19th century conflicts. 

Should I house rule when I playtest my own rules?

I think this is a bad idea unless you realise something is completely wrong. Play at least a few turns with the rules as you wrote them down, then revise and reset.

Five Parsecs questions:

How does recruiting work if my campaign crew size is not 6?

You substitute the actual crew size you are using for your campaign. Note that this is what you pick at the start, not your current crew. So if you are playing a 5 crew campaign, then you recruit automatically if you have less than 5 crew, instead of 6 as it says in the book. 

K'Erin with boarding sabre. How does the dice work?

Roll twice and pick the best (K'Erin). Then choose if you wish to reroll (Sabre). If you do, you must take the final result.

Is there an official answer to when you should determine the identity of a new rival?

The intent was to roll by the time you are fighting them, but a lot of players prefer rolling when the rival is assigned to you. It works fine either way. 

Five Leagues questions:

If I am backed into a corner and lose the combat but don't die, do I fight again?

Yes. You keep fighting until you die or win (pushing the enemy back). 

All 5X games:

Are enemies aware of my crew if they cant see them?

Yes. Unless an AI rule specifically refers to line of sight, assume the AI is always aware of your crew. You may of course choose to roleplay it a bit more realistically, but in that case you really ought to make it apply both ways. 

General questions:

Will you publish anything under the new ORC license?

Unlikely though a solid BRP system available under it could change my mind.

Weasel Tech questions:

Do individual swarm figures count as a kill for the "Contest" event?

Yes. 

Five Parsecs questions:

How does the "Looked worse than it was!" star option work with events or enemies that have special consequences such as vent crawlers?

Since the injury roll is ignored, any side effects, modifiers or restrictions are also ignored.

Should "Looked worse than it was!" be used before rolling or can I use it after I have rolled?

You can use it after rolling up all of your injuries. 

What happens if I lose the mission in an Invasion battle?

The criteria for leaving the planet is surviving the mission, not winning it. Though this is a great time to invent a special scenario.

Five Leagues questions:

Is the Old Dusty Manual cumulative with other skill bonuses such as those from character origins?

Yes. 

Do you lose the character origin bonus to a skill when you obtain the skill?

No. You add both to skill tests. 



I take these questions from my email, discord, facebook groups etc based on what questions are interesting, come up a lot etc. 

They are almost never verbatim, since I am usually paraphrasing a couple of questions about the same topic. 

If you leave a question as a comment on the blog directly, I will make sure to include it in next weeks round up. 

Five Parsecs questions:

 Is there any tool that helps add more details to a quest?

Expansion 2 offers more tasks to do as part of the quest, but there is not currently any table with additional fluff text. I do think that was a missed opportunity on my part, so keep an eye out for that in the future.

Why isn't there a Flanking rule?

In my original opinion flanking (as in moving to see the enemy with no cover) already increases your hit chance by 100% (for combat skill 0) so I didn't think it was required. However a lot of people want a mechanic that rewards that sort of maneuvering more explicitly, so you can download the proposed combat test rules on Facebook or Discord (or email me) and test a version that does just that. 

Five Leagues questions:

How do consumables and backpack slots work? 

The intended way they work is that each use of an item is a separate slot. However it is a common house rule to allow identical items to count as one slot like in a video game. I'd suggest limiting it to 3 per slot in that case.

What is the meaning of the reward table for the Fetch mission?

It is just a bit of extra fluff explaining how exactly you get paid for fetching the thing. The payment is your normal post game rewards plus anything listed in the table. I don't recall why exactly I felt that one mission needed more fluff but there you have it. 

General 5 X questions:

Would it be a good idea to have a recurring enemy that gets stronger? 

I think that's a really cool idea. If you face off a leader or personality I would probably make a die roll to see if they survive and become a recurring villain, then give them a new ability or trait. When you encounter another character of that type (f.x. another captain in Leagues) its a 50/50 chance of being your old friend. 

Do I have to declare my shots when I pick who to activate?

No, in both titles we never do anything like that. You always activate one figure at a time, resolve all of their actions (and any outcomes of those actions) and then activate the next figure.

For example if Biff shoots a K'Erin, then when Boff activates next, that K'Erin is gone and does not block movement, sight or anything else you can think of.

Why isn't X in the book?

Pick one of "I didn't think of it" / "I didn't think it would fit" / "It would be too much to explain" / "I just sort of liked the other option better". 

I try to add as many options and customization tools as I can think of but you have to be careful because it is easy for that stuff to get way too complicated. 

Weasel Tech questions

Why is it called that?

For a long time "Weasel Tech" was a fan name for a hypothetical NWG mech game. Once I decided to write one, I wanted to give the fans a nod by using the same name. 

General "5x" questions

Can I loot items off enemies?

Not intended in Parsecs or Leagues. 

If you want to add a house rule you could allow it in Parsecs but the weapon is only usable in the current fight. For Leagues, you might allow replenishing bow ammo if you move into contact with a casualty. 

Five Parsecs questions

Once and for all how do existing Patrons work?

When you create your crew each Patron you have offers you a job in the first campaign turn. 

From campaign turn 2 onwards existing Patrons are just added to your die roll to find a Patron (The more people you know, the greater the chance one of them has something they need done). When you find two or more job offers, randomly pick from your existing Patrons to see who one of them is. 

Once and for all how do quest clues and rumors really work?

I apologize for the convoluted wording. First you can treat "clue" and "rumor" as the same thing if it makes it easier. 

If you don't currently have a quest, any and all clues/rumors regardless of source contribute towards GETTING a quest. (resolved in pre battle step 5). Once you receive a quest, all clues/rumors are discarded.

If you are on a quest, all clues/rumors count towards the current quest (resolved in post battle step 3). Once you complete the quest, all clues/rumors are discarded. 

You can never ever have two potential or ongoing quests at the same time.

Five Leagues questions

When a random item is damaged, do you include items that cannot be damaged in the selection?

Yes. If that item is selected nothing happens. 

Where am I after completing a delve level?

You are camping in the wilderness for the purpose of events and campaign actions. 

General questions

Do your games use a formula for points values?

Clash on the Fringe did and Laserstorm did. Others generally have not. I find formulas to be really frustrating to work with because it essentially doesn't save you any time.  

Generic rules questions

If a rule just says to place something X inches from a location (like the center of the table) how do I do so?

It usually means to place it randomly. Make an appropriate random direction roll and place it the indicated number of inches in that direction. For example placing something 1D6" from the center would mean rolling a D6 (for distance) and a D10 (for the direction). The raised tip of the D10 is the direction and then move the indicated number of inches in that direction from the center.

Five Parsecs questions

What happens if I don't get a Rival or Patron or Quest?

You fight an Opportunity mission. By the rules you always have a tabletop battle every campaign turn. As a house rule, I don't think it hurts anything if you allow the crew to lay low for a turn, as long as you pay upkeep. 

Is the Seize the Initiative test considered a Savvy test for the purpose of items like the AI Companion?

As intended: Only items and abilities that specifically say they affect Seize the Initiative apply.

Five Leagues questions

Is the route created by the Map Making Kit permanent?

Yes, you will always have that specific route.

I am drowning in discovered locations!

If you are getting overwhelmed by locations popping up, feel free to cap them. A maximum of 5 unexplored locations at any one time is probably plenty. For the purpose of keeping your map tidy, you can have newly placed things coincide with old locations you already explored (even better if you remember what terrain setup you did).

General questions

Will you appear on my youtube channel, podcast or other thing?

I am happy to do interviews. Just email me at nordicweaselgames@icloud.com and we can figure out the details. 

Will you give me feedback on my game?

My time is often limited, but drop me an email and I am happy to talk about it. The odds are better if it is a single, self-contained question. 

If you would like me to do in-depth paragraph by paragraph feedback, I am happy to assist for a fee.

Five Parsecs questions

What happens to Rumors at the conclusion of a Quest?

They are all discarded. 

If an existing Patron offers me a job but I turn it down, do I lose them?

No, Patrons are only lost if you accept the job and fail.

How do Area weapons work when using non-minis combat?

Officially they only hit the target figure like any other weapon. If you want a house rule roll a 5+ to hit a random second opponent. 

Five Leagues questions

Can I sell damaged items?

Yes. The locals just use your cast-off weapons and helmets as scrap metal anyway. 

Does the aberration have to win for the Venom ability to apply?

No. It applies as long as it rolls a 6, even if it lost the exchange. 

Publishing questions:

Will you ever do a collaboration with X?

Possibly. I have collaborated in the past but it kind of feels like the stars has to align right: Both people have to be on the same page, into the same style of design and have both interest and time for the same project. It is usually easier for one person to contribute something to another persons project. 

Five Leagues questions

When exactly are pre-game potion use decided?

You can use them at any point during the setup sequence. For example you can use a potion after you have determined what type of enemies you are facing. It's not meant to be all that exact.

What exactly does it mean to survive a game for XP purposes?

A survivor is anyone that took part in the battle and did not die when rolling on the post-game injury table. 

Does Morale apply in Site battles?

Yes but only to enemies in sight of the casualties. 

General rules questions

Does a 6 always succeed and a 1 always fail?

Only if the rules explicitly say so. Parsecs and Leagues both do NOT use this for hit rolls. It is possible for a shot to be impossible or for a shot to hit automatically. (This is of course easy to house rule if you prefer).

I found an exploit!

For a game of the size and scope of Parsecs or Leagues there are probably a few. While more egregious (or silly) ones are something I track for future updates, I don't usually put a lot of priority in "blocking" exploits since they are 100% player driven. If you found a way to get infinite Credits somehow, ask yourself if the game would be more fun with infinite Credits. 

Publishing questions:

Is Nordic Weasel affected by the various OGL talk going on?

No.

What do you think of AI for game design?

At the moment, I think AI can be handy for making some quick drawings. You don't really get the benefits of an actual artist like revisions and you know, actually understanding what you are asking for, but some of the results can be quite fun. Rogue Hammer features a few pieces of AI art and some of them are quite cool.

For rules writing and design, I would say it is not useful currently. It mostly produces the equivalent of that guy in your gaming group who has never read the game you are talking about, but has strong opinions about it regardless.

Will we get more nice looking revamps of old titles?

I would like to for sure, but I am trying to not announce plans until I know they are for sure. 

Five Parsecs questions:

Expansion 2: Expanded mission extraction. Leaving the table in 3 turns is going to be really difficult on a 36x36" table.

Yeah, you should probably increase that to 4 turns on the larger table. 

Expansion 2: Non Minis rules. What happens if there is only 1 enemy left?

If there are less than 3 enemies left and you still have 3+ crew you should still generate 3 firefights. In any "excess" firefights you will fire but they will not. This is not clear in the rules. 

Rogue Hammer questions:

Transported units taking damage seems to be broken.

This will be fixed in 1.04. Transported infantry take 1 damage each time an attack penetrates the vehicles armor, 2 damage if it is wrecked. 

Is there a less open-ended option for measuring between units?

The text box on p.9 suggests using the squad leader figure to measure if you want a fixed point. Of course people using Epic troop stands or similar can just measure normally in any event. 

I answer a lot of questions but they are scattered across different locations and often don't get noticed. So I am going to try to capture some and post them to the blog every so often.

A round up of various questions from the last weeks. Questions are paraphrased and edited from their original format on facebook, discord or email and are thus not verbatim. 

Publishing questions:

Will the Five Parsecs expansions be available in print?

Yes, once the third expansion is released, the plan is to do a print compendium with some cool bonus content.

Five Parsecs questions:

Expansion 2: The Duck Back dramatic combat rule does not say how far the character moves.

Their basic move. In testing this was 1D6" instead but I decided to cut the die roll out. You can do it either way if you prefer. 

Why don't new characters roll on the character creation tables?

Originally I liked the idea that new arrivals would be blank slates to be developed in the game, but people really enjoy the character creation tables. Until we can make an updated game revision I suggest doing the following:

New characters roll normally but ignore all results of starting Credits.

Five Leagues questions:

How does Defensive Tactics work when I have a Parry?

As intended, Defensive Tactics is meant to use the highest die score, however I don't think you would break anything by letting the player pick either die roll. 

Weasel Tech questions:

Does the PL-C Beam weapon roll two dice to hit or roll once and hit twice?

It rolls two separate attack dice against the first target.

Questions about me:

Is Nordic Weasel Games your main job?

Yes.