Sorry if this has already been answered on here, but the wording for Taking Another Hero's Wounds (page 181 of the Core Rulebook) is a little confusing to me.
As worded, it looks a player must spend Raises to cancel another Hero's Wounds (as they would their own Hero's). However, I could also see the first line of this section being read as, "Before another character takes Wounds, you can use one of your own Raises to take the Wounds instead." (The italics are my addition to the rules as written.) This would make more sense to me, spending a Raise to get in the way of danger (since its an Action) and spending further Raises (if possible/desired) to reduce or cancel the Wounds.
I know its Rulings, not Rules for this edition, but I'm wondering how anyone else would play it, or if they had any insights from on high regarding this bit?
I read it the way you did: one raise to get in the way, and further raises to reduce the wounds taken, so you aren't the only one seeing it that way.
"Smilies exist because no one's bothered to create a sarcasm font." --Lost_Heretic
I always interpreted it as the wounds (Consequence) wasn't negated by the character taking the wounds but another hero could use thei raises one for one if there was a narrative way to do it. I didn't expect an additional raise to take the wounds since you're doing something to help another character and that always seems to be cheaper (e.g. Hero points to assist)
TAJ-07: Technopriest And Justicar Of 7thSea2e
TAJ-07: Technopriest And Justicar Of 7thSea2e
Sounds like the general interpretation is to spend a Raise to take the hit for another Hero (or NPC) and you can spend Raises to cancel out Wounds as normal (if you want).
Reading further into the rules, in a similar way, the special ability for Brute Squads of Guards is to take on a Villain's Wounds by spending a Danger Point, and this also reduces the total Wounds by one. If you wanted to, you could proabably also rule that Heroes could do the same with Hero Points if that appealed to you more.
I think I prefer spending a Raise to act and "jump in front of" the danger, as Raises are the "do something" currency in Action Sequences, then dealing with Wounds as normal. I expect most players would try to keep some/all of their remaining Raises, if they could afford it, in that situation.
SIMPLE AND EASY SAVIOR-HERO
@Salamanca you method is much easier if Wounds are always guaranteed on the interjecting savior-hero who jumps into the path of fire.
MORE COMPLEX SAVIOR-HERO
What I was suggesting, if the circumstance allow (for example if the savior-hero has Eisen armor or is a Duelist), the savior hero first spends the mandatory 1-Raise to jump into the line of fire and take all the wounds. However, as a bonus, such a savior-hero may spend another extra Raise to reduce Wounds coming from the "in-the-line-of-fire-attack".
Kind of like saying savior-hero jumped in front of his weaker friend but his Eisen armor protected them both from damage.
TAJ-07: Technopriest And Justicar Of 7thSea2e
Side Issue
How are people treating the issue of taking another heros wounds then negating them, as with Parry? On the one hand, it's kind of a classic "tank" action from more traditional RPGs, on the other hand it makes the Duelist even more powerful than they already are. If nothing else it encourages the entire combat to run through the Duelist: her decisions determine the flow of damage.
“Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.”
- H.L. Mencken
So now I'm confused...does "Taking another character's Wounds" also allow the interposing character to 'negate those Wounds?" (Allowing the character to move in front of a sword swing meant for someone and bring up their own weapon to parry) or is it that the interposing character is forced to take the Wounds and cannot negate/prevent them in any way (Reflecting diving in front of the sword swing at one's own peril?)
I see two scenarios:
Scenario A: The interposing character takes the Wounds meant for the other character and cannot negate / prevent them in any way
Cost: 1 Raise to interpose (Interposing character takes all the Wounds, Defended character takes 0 Wounds)
Scenario B: The interposing character takes the Wounds but may spend Hero Points or other abilities to negate/prevent the Wounds
Cost: 1 Raise to interprose (Interposing character potentially takes all the Wounds, Defended character takes 0 Wounds)
Cost: X Raises to prevent / negate Wounds using 1 Raise / Wound or some Duelist maneuver (Scenario B.2: Do not allow any Dueling Style maneuvers but only the 1 Raise / Wound to negate)
They both appear cinematic to me, but Scenario B could overpower Duelists by letting them negate Wounds for the entire party for minor costs (2 Raises on average)
John
"The issue is the Duelist being able to get to each target."
The problem here is that space is really abstract in this rule set and unless you have a battle map or something, the players are going to get frustrated if your plan to fix this bug is to just tell them they can’t get there. They’ll get wise to that pretty quick. Add to that the fact that most 7th Sea combats are group vs group in a single space, with limited barriers between them: I have run a fight on, say, two ships where you have to move from one deck to the other but that’s about as complicated as it can get with a group over 4 or 5.
“Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.”
- H.L. Mencken
Eh. I think most players will be fine with the abstraction so long as getting to the villain only costs a raise. As a GM, I can imagine scenarios when that wouldn't be the case, but those would be handled as easily as reloading a pistol. "Ok, you are X raises away from the villain. If you have more raises than that, you can attack normally. However, there are some obstacles you should consider..."