Hi all,

Was still having trouble with picking up items and paying for them as
aspects or extras, and that fuzzy 3rd area of 'just stuff lying around'

So.. I went and dug through the archives. I guess the one posting I
saw that cleared it up the most was one from Rob about message 150 or
so:

"The distinction between an item bought with an aspect and an item
just bought with skills is supposed to model certain elements of
fiction. The item bought with and aspect should be such an intrinsic
part of the character that it will be pretty much permanently baked
into any story about them. Stormbringer is an intrinsic part of any
Elric story, Captain America will always have his shield, The Ring is
key to Frodo's story, etc. Those bought without aspects are useful
things a character has that is not central to their story. The elven
cloaks in Lord of the rings are a good example of this, as is most
magical loot from games like D&D. These are things that add color to
the character, but aren't defining.

To my mind, the litmus test was whether seeing the item on its own
would make you immediately think of the character in question. To
use an example from comics: Thor's Hammer would be an aspect - you
see it, you think "Thor". Hercules' adamant mace would just be bought
with skills because, well, who even knew he had one?"

So... If you had a Texas Ranger character who carried a sixgun, if it
was important enough to him, it would be an aspect. If it wasn't so
integral to the character, it would be bought with a skill level.
Stuff that really doesn't provide any advantage (like a suit of
clothes) is just stuff, and it's kinda assumed the character has.

So, it kinda goes like this:

Sixgun-as-Aspect: - powerful, can be thought of as 'part of the
character' (You would never see the Lone Ranger without his Sixguns)

Sixgun-as-Extra - personal extra, and, to quote the rules "Equipment is
easily dealt with. Assign the item one or more aspects, and it will
grant rerolls and occasional passive bonuses when the aspect is
appropriate." (p25 of the .pdf) (misspellings are mine, btw)

It's there - it helps you, but it won't come back if it's lost, and
it's not a defining part of your character.

And this is the part that was really kicking my butt:

Sixgun - no bonuses, no rerolls. Just something that allows you to
shoot.

I guess a better mental picture would be a horse:

Silver, the Lone Ranger's horse, is an Aspect

A better-than-average horse, that you want to keep, and can
occasionally get you out of trouble, is a Personal Extra

A horse that you forget about as soon as you're off it, and go through
the saloon doors - a mode of transport from here to there - is just
window dressing.

Wow. That's powerful stuff. A horse can be one thing to one
character, and a completely different thing to another.

Sorry to go on - I think I'm getting it more...

Bill

=====
Bill Kokal
------------------------
We pray for one last landing
On the globe that gave us birth;
Let us rest our eyes on the friendly skies
And the cool, green hills of Earth.




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