Rules Updates for March 18th, 2009

We're going to be pushing through a very large quantity of small rules changes, in an effort to try and finalize the little things that need to be done before we can move on to the big ones.  You may see a large number of updates over the next few days as we get these out.

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The following entry has been added to the Combat section of the Rulebook:

Arms & Armor are essential to any fantasy genre story, from swords to suits of plate mail.  The following defines weapons and armor within the rules of Knight Realms:

"Armor" is defined as any item that protects the wearer by granting Armor Points, a Soak, or a Threshold.  Armor may be a physical item, such as a chain mail shirt; natural, such as a thick hide or scales on a monster; or supernatural in nature, such as the effect of a spell or prayer.  Damage of the type "Body" will ignore the effects of armor.

"Arms" can be broken down in to four categories:
a) Weapons:
* Melee - any item that is held in one's hand(s) and used in hand-to-hand combat to deal damage.
* Natural - any weapon that is a part of the bearer's physique, such as claws, fists, teeth, etc.  Natural weapons may not be disarmed, willingly or unwillingly, although the weapon is only in a ready state if they physrep is in the bearer's hand.
* Ranged - any item that is thrown, fired, or otherwise launched at its target, to deal damage.  If the weapon has two parts (such as a bow and arrows), both are considered Ranged Weapons, even if they have separate item cards.  Any temporary effects upon the launching item will also affect its projectiles when fired from it.  Thrown items must be affected individually.
b) Shields - Any item designed to be held with one hand, to block incoming attacks.  Shields can not deal damage, and do not require the skill Florentine to be used in conjunction with another Armament in the other hand.

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The following general amendment has been made:

When an item with a ritual enchantment has all enchantments removed (through expiration or other means), the resulting item is worth the base value of the materials, and the effort put into creating it. If the item was Exalted in quality at the time it was enchanted, it drops to Superior quality (as does its value).  The player must exchange the magic item card for a new generic item card.

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Both of these have been updated in the Online Rulebook.