- Q: A previous ruling on the location Historical Society [see that card for the ruling] stated: "A '+1 skill value' is an all-encompassing term suggestion that you're getting +1 to the relevant skill that the test is checking." [This ruling is not on ArkhamDB, I'm tracking it down.] With the direct implication that, for that location, Lockpicks, commits, positive chaos tokens, and other modifiers cannot increase your during investigations. That is, there is no concept of the term "skill value" referring to a separate quantity from an investigator's printed skill + relevant modifiers; when a skill is modified during a skill test from any source, that skill is literally being increased or decreased. How should this ruling be applied to Circle tests from the scenario Union and Disillusion? Circle tests are "considered to be a test of both skill types", so the straightforward implication is that in, for instance, a + Circle test, a drawn chaos token modifiers both the investigator's combat and their intellect before the skill values are summed to determine the final skill value. For example, if Joe Diamond with no cards in play initiated a + Circle test, his initial skill value would be 4 + 4 = 8, and then if he drew a -2 token, his final skill value would be (4-2) + (4-2) = 4. Is this the correct interpretation, or should chaos tokens apply "normally" (i.e. only once) for Circle tests? If they apply "normally", should this be considered an exception for Circle tests in particular, or is there something wrong with my understanding of skill values being directly modified by chaos tokens and other effects during skill tests? A: If you apply a modifier to your “skill value” during a circle test, this modifier only applies after your current stats are accounted for, resulting in your “total skill value.” We answered a question about this in another person’s email, which I will outline below:
- If Jenny Barnes were attempting the circle test on The Geist-Trap and activated High Roller for the test, the +2 from High Roller applies to the base skill value she has, not increasing any specific stat. Her base stats are 3 + 3 + 3 + 3, and High Roller would add +2 to this total, making her total skill value for the test “14.” (She would not add +2 to each stat applied in the test, otherwise she’d be testing at 20 instead.)
- A token would be the same for a circle test, only applying its value to the current cumulative “skill value” being used for the test. A -2 token revealed during a circle test would apply -2 to the total skill value, not any individual stat.
- Historical Society may not be worded the best if it’s causing confusion for other tests. There was an errata applied to it that it was meant to only prevent increases to the investigator’s intellect, from whatever source it came from; anything that increases your intellect directly (like Dr. Milan Christopher) or increases your “skill value for a test” (like High Roller) cannot be used when investigating Historical Museum.
Last updated