Okay, in lieu of Malcolm being online to answer, lets see if I can get one of these straight. I'd like to get the rest of it straight too, but most of it seems to be really rules specific. I'm supposed to run a one-off of CC tomorrow (in between Hot War sessions), so I'll see what else here rings true.

1. Yeah, the stereotypical views are negative. Stereotypes are always negative, unless you're going the noble savage route, and this was the Cold War - no-one was noble in anyone's eyes. The trick with the stereotypes, I have found, is to remember that your character *isn't* a stereotype, so the degree to which they believe these things is totally up to them. The point restrictions force you to believe something negative about someone, but that's fine for Cold City. There's just recently been a war, and the propaganda was flying (and still is to a large degree). If you happen to be open minded about the Ruskies, but you really believe all the French are cowards, well, that's what everyone thought, right? So your character believes the French stereotype but not Russian one. Now you know who to backstab!

As for hierarchical views, I think these are all options to do with the various reasons people might have had issues with each other, again mostly to do with propaganda. Just remember who your character is, and you'll be able to work out which parts of this apply to him/her.

Malc, got any more on those rules questions? 2, 4 and 5 are the ones I'm most interested in, the others having been mostly resolved by playing in your demos.

Shevaun

Hey Yoki,

Thanks for the questions. If you want me to expand on any of these, please do say so.

1. I'd categorise stereotypical views as being appropriate to those groups where members have not worked together for long. They are still getting comfortable with each other (or not, as the case may be), and may have established basic trust between each other (or not).
2. Both work in different situations, depending on what people want out of them. If there is a desire to work together (and thereby create the aforementioned huge pool), then the system is there to support this. However, there are always cases where people will want to do things individually. I've seen both come up in play and both have equal utility.
3. No, trust is being used positively, as he's using his friendship (trust, relationship with, or whatever) as leverage with the clerk, rather than as a betrayal of that trust.
4. a) The maximum number of traits any character can have is 9. b) Yes, you can lose traits.
5. Yes, the character can depart from the game at this point, but it isn't enforced. The character end/crisis is left entirely in the hands of the player to resolve as they fit.
6. I'm not sure I understand this question, could you perhaps re-phrase it? Combat is no different from any other conflict resolution. In all likelihood, there will be rolls against NPCs in a similar vein to any other character vs character conflict. Although, I'm not sure this is what you are getting at.

Cheers
Malc
Contested Ground Studios

Thanks for the answers, here are some more queries.

1. Stereotypical Views (p34)
   I realize that stereotypes are negative, but don't understand how they are used in the game?
   They seem to appear in the Trust section (recall my problem with the headers' hierarchical order).
   The bottom of page 34 says, "write a short sentence in the space provided." Is this referring to the Reasons space in the Trust & Opinons section of the PC sheet?
   Why this confuses me is that in the Trust section, p. 32-33, it states that you should list one reason for each point of Trust, and the provided examples are all positive.
2. Conflicts with Multiple Participants (p48-49)
   So you haven't seen any lessening of the impact Trust has on the game, by allowing option one for Conflicts with Multiple Participants? Cool.
3. Trust (p45)
   a) Walter's Trust in Chernyakovsky is 0, while Chernyakovsky's Trust in Walter is 2.
   b1) Top of p. 45 states, "...add the Trust rating for the character providing Trust to the pool."
   b2) And the top of p. 35 states, "...Trust gives a bonus to a dice pool equal to the level of Trust you have in another character. In a conflict where you are trusting another character to help you out, give you support and so on, you get to add that number of dice to your pool."
   c) While for betrayals, the rules on p. 35 state, "...for the act of betrayal, the betraying character gets a bonus to their pool equal to the Trust that the character they are betraying has in them."
   Conclusion: Since Walter has no Trust for Chernyakovsky, I can only come to the conclusion that the example of Trust in use on top of p. 45 is a betrayal. Please explain where I've misunderstood the Trust rules otherwise?
4. Traits, and Consequences (p28, and p52-55)
   a) So if I start with 9 Traits, I cannot select a new Trait at the end of my Draw Scene? Why then does the PC Sheet have room for 10 Traits, and p. 24 of the Companion states, "If the character wins the conflict, then they can take an additional positive Trait that relates to what happened in the conflict. If they lose the conflict, then they take an additional negative Trait that relates to what happened in the conflict."
   b) How do you lose Traits?
5. Consequences (p54)
   Okay, endgame is not enforced.
6. Combat (p55)
   The second to last paragraph on the bottom of p. 55 talks about shooting. The text implies that shooting is against a GM-determined dice pool, rather than being opposed by one of the target's Attributes, is this correct? My confusion stems from "shooting" getting its own section under Combat, seeming to imply that the rules for shooting someone follow the rules for conflicts against inanimate objects from p. 46-47. Perhaps the entire paragraph talks about shooting inanimate objects, not firefight conflicts with other characters?

TTFN,

Yoki

View my gaming commentary in Holken

For ease of communication, I'm going to break this down into a series of posts. And, I've just found my copy of Cold City, which had disappeared under a couch after Kapcon!

Indeed, there should be greater differentiation between the stereotypical views section and the reasons for trust. In relation to reasons for trust, it's true that these should be positive: if you are going to trust someone, at any level, you need to have a reason, even if it is simply "a good feeling".

Whereas...

The stereotypical views represent something outside of trust, they are something that informs opinions on first contact and will change throughout the game. Admittedly, they do not have a mechanical impact and the text should probably be separated out from the trust section to avoid exactly this sort of confusion.

Your points actually highlights something to me: the stereotypical views and reasons for trust have been referenced very little in actual play. It seems that their use is pretty minimal. Which is interesting. Perhaps there is no real need for them, beyond colour (which, to be fair, they exist as now).

Cheers
Malcolm

Contested Ground Studios

Wow - the stereotypical views and trust sections are the one bit that I almost invariably read out to people or find and make them read when they're making their characters. Without it, people have trouble finding a basis for their lack of trust, or for their betrayals.

Interesting how people have different approaches, but I couldn't really run Cold City without those sections to reference, and its one thing that I think Hot War could probably use for the same reason.

Shevaun

Oh, don't take the description of it being 'colour' as being synonymous with 'unimportant'. Far from it. But it helps to differentiate between it and things that have actual, mechanical effect and those things that serve to give flavour and, well, colour, to the characters.

Cheers
Malcolm

Contested Ground Studios

I agree with you Malcolm, realizing what's color and what has mechanical effects on the game is important. Thanks for clarifying that the Stereotypical Views fall into the "color" camp.

However, it sounds like you intended to have a protagonist's Stereotypical Views noted down in relation to each of the other nationalities. In that way they become flags that the GM can use to his advantage when introducing NPCs.

I will see about making a new PC sheet that includes room for a list of Stereotypical Views for each nationality. Would you perhaps share the indd version of the official sheet, so I don't have to start from scratch?

I'm looking forward to discussing my quesions #3, and #4 in the same detail, as well as hear your answer to #6.

Cheers,

Yoki

Holken - Where Yoki Talks Games

I'm skipping ahead to the fourth question here, this doesn't mean I'm ignoring the third.

Your assertion is correct regarding the draw scene and, it shows that the text about being able to pick up to nine traits will need revising. Of course, the ideal way, now, is to take your three positive and two negative traits during character creation, then get another one duringt he raw scene, starting you with six. I'll be revising the text for the third printing (weirdly, I thought I had already done this, but is just goes to show how wrong you can be), removing the possibility of additional traits and integrating the stuff about the Draw Scene. Which clairifies the issue.

Having ten lines for traits on the character sheet is really a non-issue. Uou might need space for a long trait, so there is space. But I wouldn't take the inference that the number of lines on the character sheet impacts the number of traits to be chosen.

When you get to nine traits, you can start dropping traits out as new ones come up, as long as they have impacted ont he conflict and there is a plausible reason for the disappearance.

Cheers
Malcolm

Contested Ground Studios

Thanks for the clarification Malcolm. It makes sense to just start with the 3/2 positive/negative Traits split, and then add one more from the Draw scene.

On the topic of dropping Traits. When you get new ones, are you restricted to dropping a positive Trait when adding a new positive Trait, or could you drop a negative Trait and replace it with a new positive one?

Cheers,

Yoki

Holken - Where Yoki Talks Games

If you are dropping traits, it would need to be like for like.

Cheers
Malcolm

Contested Ground Studios

A shooting combat is a conflict like any other and unless you are firing at something inanimate, you'll be rolling off against someone elses pool (be it PC or NPC). There will be goals for both sides ("I'm shooting the Volkspolizei Sergeant! I want to take him out of the frame." vs "The Volkspolizei Sergeant is desperately running for cover, I want him to get somewhere safe and out of the firing line").

Both will roll off, using appropriate traits etc, with consequences handled as normal.

Cheers
Malcolm

Contested Ground Studios

Hello Malcolm,

Thanks for all the clarifications so far, great stuff.

Now all we have left is Trust and the clarification about what type of Trust is used in the example on top of page 45 with Walters getting 2 dice from Chernaykovski's Trust in him.

You stated earlier in this thread that it was positive Trust, but I still think that according to the letter of the rules, it's negative Trust (i.e. Walters earning a bonus for Betraying Chernaykovski).

Well, Walters' Trust in Chernyakovsky is 0, while Chernyakovsky's Trust in Walter is 2. Therefore, in the example Walters is gaining Trust dice equal to Chernyakovsky's Trust in Walters.

Since Walter has no Trust for Chernyakovsky, I can only come to the conclusion that the example on top of p. 45, of Trust in use, is a Betrayal. Please explain how I've misunderstood the Trust rules otherwise?

I just want to be clear that positive use of Trust grants you a bonus equal to your Trust in another character, while Betrayals grants a bonus equal to the betrayed character's Trust in you. Is this correct?

TTFN,

Yoki

Holken - Where Yoki Talks Games

Yes, you are correct in this.

Again, this is entirely correct. Not much I can add, really!

Cheers
Malcolm

Contested Ground Studios