Rules questions, my 20 year memory is failing me

[Desaad]

Hi all, starting our first campaign using Cirian Legacy and had a few questions that I can't remember based on the 20 years ago since I last played!

Speed calculation.

Really basic one but for some reason I remember rounding up after dividing by 20 so that 4.1 becomes speed 5 then add 1 for speed 6. Is that a thing or is my memory failing me?

Armour

Points per location equal to the armour value so flak in 3 places is 9 points. Is that correct? I think the example in the rulebook for slick Declan is wrong as it says flak in all locations except head which should be 3 x7 so 21 points but the book says only 14....
Unless you can choose to have flak AV 2?

Do inherent abilities cost points?

Do abilities have points scale similar to items?

Finally, any tips on GMing Cirian Legacy? We will be playing 28mm and modding to use cm instead.

Thanks!!

[MarcoSkoll]

Really basic one but for some reason I remember rounding up after dividing by 20 so that 4.1 becomes speed 5 then add 1 for speed 6. Is that a thing or is my memory failing me?

You round to the closest whole number (rounding halves up).

So, normally it would be 30-49 is Speed 3, 50-69 is Speed 4, 70-89 is Speed 5. However, there's not actually any specific reason Initiative and Speed have to be completely linked (and indeed, injury usually changes that), so while it may be officially a derived stat, I sometimes assign them semi independently.

When I want a Speed 6 character, I will often make them Initiative 80 or so, allowing them to be fast but without giving them a completely god-like Initiative stat that's boring in game.

Points per location

Well - that's a can of worms. Inquisitor isn't a game that lends itself to points values, let alone such a simplistic system as the Ready Reckoner. Different options synergise in ways the Reckoner doesn't even consider, even if it valued all the parameters correctly in the first place (there's no way Leadership is as useful in most games as Ballistic Skill, for example).

The community has come to reject it, and even Gav Thorpe (who wrote it in the first place) says he wished he'd left it out in favour of other advice.

The best balancing method we know is players' good intentions. After all, what's the point in winning because you brought the most overpowered characters? It doesn't prove your skill, it's not fun for either side, why do it?
Admittedly, good intentions does rely to some extent on the players being familar with the feel of the system and the power of the abilities, but we wrote the Conclave Standard guide some time ago to help advise players regarding what we feel is the most enjoyable power level to keep the game at.

You don't need to get it exactly right every time. If a character is proving more or less powerful than they feel like they should be, it's perfectly valid to adjust their character sheet (and sometimes I've even done it mid game if I feel I've really screwed up).

Finally, any tips on GMing Cirian Legacy?

Honestly, with all of those Conspiracies books, read them through first and decide whether it's even worth it, and if it is, what to cut out.

It's been a while since I read through them, but my recollection is that plot lines are mostly written way more like a traditional RPG - like the game is the players against the GM, rather than actually being set up in ways that do a good job of remembering that Inquisitor is a game intended to bring the player parties into conflict.

Given that some of the scenarios are a straight railroading - "Oh yeah, we need one of the player characters captured, so just put his party into an unwinnable scenario so that happens" - it's not something I'd run exactly as is.

I think it's recoverable if you leave out some of the scenarios and rewrite others, but exactly what I'd do depends on which of its plots you're planning on running.

[Desaad]

Thanks so much for the reply, I am definitely going to be GMing it more to my own ideas and thoughts to make it flow

Thanks for the link to the standard I hadn't seen that one!!