From: chaosium@netcom.com (Lynn Willis)
Subject: Elric! Questions & Answers
System: Elric!

[The questions for this article were all submitted by David Dunham]

ADVENTURERS (pg. 30-42)

Q: While the survival tips (p. 40) suggest shield and dodge, few of the occupations allow this (since they provide only a single weapon skill). (Only beggars, mercenaries, slaves, soldiers can learn dodge to significant amounts.)

A: On page 31, in step 5, adventurer types one and two also provide both dodge and weapons skill. The occupations provide character generation routes useful (and hopefully understandable) to novices; there is also full provision for custom adventurers in the rules.
What more would you suggest?

SKILLS (pg. 43-49)

Q: The weapon tables show Brawl as having a 25% base chance; elsewhere it's 50%. Which is correct?

A: Brawl is 50%; on pg. 70, change the entry on the weapon tables.

Q: Pg. 16 & 22 says the nomads of the Sighing Desert speak a unique language called Lesh, but pg. 46 doesn't mention this language.

A: Add Lesh to the languages in column 1, para 7 of page 46.

Q: What's the purpose of the "Base Chance" under Shield on the character sheet? Is the Shield Attack a different skill from shield parry (unlike other weapons)?

A: The shield base chance entry is redundant; delete or ignore it.

COMBAT (pg. 63-72)

Q: There was some dispute locally. If the attacker rolls 01 (Impale) and the defender makes a critical dodge, does "full effect" (pg. 44) mean that the defender takes double damage ignoring armor? (A critical parry does block an impale, which is probably the source of the confusion.)

A: If the attacker rolls impale and the defender rolls critical dodge, the defender takes double damage and gets no benefit from the armor. In this one case, the dodging character's only hope is for a weak blow. Does the asymmetry with the parry rules seem unasthetic?

MAGIC (pg. 73-102)

Q: pg. 56 says Heal can be applied once/wound/day, but pg. 79 says once/wound. Which is correct?

A: pg. 79 should read "Works once per wound per day."

Q: Is Hell's Armor ignored by an Impale?

A: Hell's Armor does indeed block an impale, turning the blow into a critical result. Note that demon armor does not block an impale.

Q: Does casting a spell add to your Chaos score? The table on pg. 109 doesn't say so (though this may be because of a typo).

A: Under earning chaos points on pg. 35 we note that casting magic earns Chaos points, and on pg. 76 we say "learning or casting even a lawful spell adds a Chaos point to the adventurer's score." but nowhere does the text seem to say how much! Thus on pg. 109, mark that you earn 1 Chaos point each time a Chaos spell is cast and neither earn nor lose Balance or Law points for spellcasting.

Lynn Willis