Is This Right Followup III

[Hugh Neilson]

I reread my question and now I'm confused...

 

OK, let's use an example. Deadeye has Find Weakness 17- with his pistol. He targets Rockman and rolls a 15, success, halving his DEX. Next phase, he tries for a second roll, but rolls a 16 - fails due to the -2 penalty for successive attempts. Rockman is 1/2 DEF against Deadeye's pistol.

 

Deadeye fires a shot at Rockman, but does not halve Rockman's defenses. He foregoes the Find Weakness, and must try again if he wishes to halve Rockman's defenses. Next phase, Deadeye tries Find Weakness again:

 

Q1: Does he need a 17- or a 15-?

 

Assume he rolls an 8. He has halved Rockman's defenses. He now attempts to Find Weakness again.

 

Q2: Can Deadeye succeed at all? In other words, by foregoing the FW on his earlier shot, does Deadeye now have a chance to find further weaknesses and get Rockman's defenses below the result of his first failed roll. [Personally, I'd say no, but for the record...]

 

He missed the second halving once in this combat, and I would expect that to mean he can't find a weakness that quarters RockMan's defenses for the rest of the combat.

[Steve Long]

I'm still not sure I understand the problem you're having. I wrote:

 

A character who succeeds with a Find Weakness roll may, if he chooses, not use the halving of defense (perhaps because he’s afraid of hurting the target too badly). If he declines to use the effect, that cancels the roll, and if he later wants to use Find Weakness against the same target in the same combat, he has to succeed with the roll again (though at no penalty for a “successive roll”).

 

AFAICT that covers the situations you're describing.