Tests: Helping, Rebuttal, and Flak

Burning Empires General Questions
1

I just played my first session of BE yesterday. Several questions came up regarding tests for advancement.

a) Matthias, with 7 base resources, helped Sal with 2 resource dice to succeed an Ob 8 resources test. Sal made the roll and Matthias, helping, got a challenging test. Is that the correct way to deal with helping dice and tests? (p317 suggests yes).
aa) Also, had the test failed, would Matthias have been taxed based on failing a challenging test and Sal a routine test?
ab) Resources help like a skill, so Matthias’s help should be 2D, not 1D, correct?

b) Suppose Sal scripts a Rebuttal (Persuasion) against a Point (Oratory), putting 2D into defense, with 1 success, and 4D into attack, with, say, 2 successes. The Point rolls 3D and has 3 successes. What tests could be recorded here?
ba) Challenging for Persuasion (2D vs. Ob 3)
bb) Routine for Persuasion (2D open-ended where successes do things)
bc) Routine for Persuasion (4D open-ended)
bd) Routine for Oratory (3D vs. Ob 1)
be) Routine for Oratory (3D open-ended)
bf) Routine for Persuasion (6D vs. Ob 3)
bg) Difficult for Oratory (3D vs. Ob 3)
bh) Other?

c) Same general question but for Flak

d) Just to be sure, “note one test per scene per skill” (p315) means in a duel of wits each side should probably end up with several tests, one for each skill rolled during the duel, right? Same with Firefight? So it’s like a balancing act between winning the exchange and noting more tests?

2

a) Yes
aa) Yes for Matthias. As for Sal, I don’t know how many he dice rolled.
ab) yes

b) He would record a challenging test for his Persuasion

c) See above

d) Yes, sort of. You’ll use Persuasion many times in a DoW, but you’ll only record a single test for it. But you can also use Intimidation and Falsehood in the same DoW, so you’d get applicable tests for them, too.

hope that helps,
-L

3

It does, thanks! I have a few more questions but they belong in Firefight.

4

Quick question: Abzu, you wrote that for question b) Sal would take a Challenging test for Persuasion. How come Sal had to use his Defensive dice for the Rebuttal instead of his Offensive dice (which would make for a Difficult test instead)?

(I think I know the answer, but I’m not certain.)

5

It’s the hardest test of the bunch.

6

Right. Got it.