AVATAR SKILLS

[Lovious]

Actually there was a Mr. Y in flemming... though I don't think he was in galahad under-cover..

[D]

And the party of the first part... ::contains brain-explosion::

Lemme see if I got this right...

Let's say I'm playing a Fleming - we'll call him Mr. Y (Y? Because I want to! :-D). Mr. Y is a deep-cover operative in Galahad - he used Disguise I to fake being a Galahad until he got access to Disguise II. At that time, he made up a cover-House CC that said "Mr. Y - Galahad", all nice and official. Then, at a Gathering, Mr. Y's Secret Fleming Cell-Phone(TM) rings. Mr. Y has to sit in as Marcus Gabriel at a Council Meeting.

Given this scenario, would I be correct in believing that:

1. Mr. Y can put on the Fleming Badge - effectively switching identities - without losing his Disguise-II status (his official disguise as a Galahad is considered "on hold")?
2. That he appears to be "just another one of the Gabriels" to all observers?
3. That, when it's all over, Mr. Y can go back to his cover of "Mr. Y of Galahad" with no penalties?
4. The only reason this works this way is because "putting on the Fleming badge" in general is a special case?

Correct, to the point that this is what has been tolerated thus far.  While he is a Fleming though, he has none of his cover house skills, only those of Fleming. 

[Alf Cunha]

**  So I'm looking at Martial Arts, and I'm thinking about how it's balanced with the penalties and I don't think it works as it is.  Reason being:

    1)  according to the rules you could wear full plate mail and still be able to use your MA
    2)  even if you're holding something like a ballpoint pen you lose your MA bonuses
         (not just to attack, but having that pen in your hand makes you easier to hit)


Here's what I'm thinking:

    1)  I assume the reason for not having held items is so you don't gain bonuses from weapons (unless they're MA weapons).  Instead, how's this - when using Martial Arts, you may not apply a bonus from a weapon (if the weapon allows you to do something like deflect attacks or something that's fine, you just can't get an OR or damage bonus from it).  This allows for Jackie Chan-style antices where you can hold stuff and even employ items in your MA, but it's purely roleplay ... and you don't lose your bonuses for holding innocuous stuff)

    2)  have the same armor restrictions as Combat Flexibility (no armor with an OR penalty**)


**  Actually, can we change this to something else?  I'd like to have some differentiation between heavy armor and light armor (flexible armor?) so it can be easily stated what skills can be applied to it.  I believe both Combat Flex AND Martial Arts should be armor-restricted because they both add horrendoud 'dodge' bonuses over time (especially for Lilith and Citadel), but I'd like a cleaner descriptor than simply OR penalty (I don't want to add an OR penalty to every single non-'flexible' armor I print).[/b]