My understanding of Maneuver rolls was that only other Player characters (or GM FoNs) could offer Helping dice on Maneuver rolls, assuming other qualifications are met like helping each other during the maneuver and having appropriate skills.
So what about Second In Command characters or NPCs that gave helping dice to the Maneuver roller during that session? Do they get to chip in Helping dice too (assuming they have an appropriate skill)?
My ruling has previously been no, the book only mentions Players. But someone else in my game has the above take. Which is it?
Only players or GM FoN’s can offer helping dice. I might be inclined to say that Bob’s Second in Command could offer Alice a helping die for the maneuver provided that Bob’s PC didn’t help, Bob’s 2IC helped Alice at some point, and Bob’s 2IC has an appropriate skill. I would definitely not allow other NPCs to help, or both main characters and their 2IC in the same test. In short, I would read the helping rules as being between players and not between characters, and allow a 2IC to be substituted for a PC as long as all other criteria were met (2IC helped, has appropriate skill, etc…).
I would stick to your instincts, Rachel. 2iCs can only help if the original PC is dead and the 2iC becomes the player’s main character. I can see how your player would read it differently, as there’s some ambiguity on p.119 I need a Kerrn or Stentor where it reads ‘It is permissible for the player to take on two roles in this case’ but the intention of maneuver rolls is to encourage the PCs to help each other in scenes, as they are the center of the story. If your players aren’t crafty enough to come up with ways to pass the dice they pay the price for it, and by allowing 2iCs to add helping dice, it encourages Players to use 2iCs to round out maneuver skill lists which kind of breaks the game.
so, you are right. no 2iC help dice for maneuvers unless the 1iC is DEAD or HULLED