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8 <chapter id="sactions" revision="$Revision: 1841 $ $Name$" |
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9 vendor="1.39" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2003/XInclude"> |
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10 <title id="stactions">Action Resolution</title> |
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11 |
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12 <para>For resolving an action in Harmonies, three aspects must be |
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13 determined. The first one is the type of action, the second its |
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14 difficulty, and the last is the <link |
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15 linkend="scompniveau">Competency Level</link>. Those details must |
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16 be determined by the Game Master and, again, the rules are simply |
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17 there to help her or to suggest some solutions. She can do |
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18 everything she want with.</para> |
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19 |
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20 <section id="sdifficulte"> |
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21 <title id="stdifficulte">Action Difficulty</title> |
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22 |
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23 <para>The action difficulty give the chance of success of an |
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24 action for a typical character (one with zero in all her |
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25 attributes and competencies). A typical character will have 50% |
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26 to succeed an action of difficulty zero. An action with a |
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27 positive difficulty (low) will be easier to succeed than an |
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28 action with a negative difficulty (high).</para> |
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29 |
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30 <para>The principle is simple. Choose first the Competency and |
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31 Attributes that will be used. The Game Master then choose the |
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32 difficulty for this particular action. This difficulty is the |
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33 same for everyone, whatever their level. It's the action |
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34 difficulty. Then, the Game Master can add or remove to the |
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35 difficulty depending on particular situations, like the ground |
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36 or the current visibility. For example, it's far more easy to |
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37 do an acrobatic jump on a flat and dry ground than on a wet |
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38 floor.</para> |
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39 |
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40 <para>This is very similar to what we used for Attributes. When |
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41 an action is twice as difficult <emphasis>to succeed</emphasis>, |
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42 the difficulty is higher of 3 points (in Value, this mean that |
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43 we subtract 3 points to the difficulty of the action). If the |
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44 action is three time more difficult <emphasis>to |
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45 fail</emphasis>, it's mean that we <emphasis>add</emphasis> 5 |
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46 points to the difficulty. The final difficulty is calculated by |
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47 adding the action difficulty, adjusted with the current |
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48 situation, to the <link linkend="scompniveau">Level of |
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49 Competency</link> of the character.</para> |
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50 |
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51 <example id="xdifficulty"> |
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52 <title id="xtdifficulty">Action Difficulty</title> |
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53 |
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54 <para>A character with a Competency of +2 in Acrobatic try to do |
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55 a simple flip. The Game Master decide that this jump is a +3 |
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56 difficulty (remember, the difficulty is for a caracter with 0 |
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57 in Acrobatic, and a simple flip must be |
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58 <emphasis>easy</emphasis> for an acrobat). However, since it |
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59 rained all the afternoon, the Game Master add a adjustment of |
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60 -5 to the difficulty for a total of -2. Hopefully, the |
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61 character has +2 in Agility and +1 in Maneuver, this give him |
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62 a Level in Acrobatic of +5. The final difficulty will then be |
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63 ( +5 + -2 = ) +3.</para> |
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64 |
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65 </example> |
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66 |
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67 <para><xref linkend="treussites"/> resumed the |
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68 <emphasis>approximated</emphasis> probabilities of success in |
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69 percentile for the final difficulty. They are, however, not |
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70 exact and should only be used to give an idea on the odds for a |
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71 given action.</para> |
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72 |
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73 <table frame="all" id="treussites"> |
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74 <title id="ttreussites">Probabilities of success of an |
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75 action</title> |
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76 <tgroup cols="11" align="center"> |
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77 <colspec colnum="1" colwidth="1in" align="left"/> |
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78 <colspec colnum="2" colwidth="0.55in"/> |
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79 <colspec colnum="3" colwidth="0.55in"/> |
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80 <colspec colnum="4" colwidth="0.55in"/> |
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81 <colspec colnum="5" colwidth="0.55in"/> |
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82 <colspec colnum="6" colwidth="0.55in"/> |
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83 <colspec colnum="7" colwidth="0.55in"/> |
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84 <colspec colnum="8" colwidth="0.55in"/> |
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85 <colspec colnum="9" colwidth="0.55in"/> |
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86 <colspec colnum="10" colwidth="0.55in"/> |
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87 <colspec colnum="11" colwidth="0.55in"/> |
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88 <tbody> |
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89 <row rowsep="0"> |
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90 <entry>Difficulty</entry> |
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91 <entry>-20</entry> |
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92 <entry>-19</entry> |
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93 <entry>-18</entry> |
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94 <entry>-17</entry> |
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95 <entry>-16</entry> |
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96 <entry>-15</entry> |
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97 <entry>-14</entry> |
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98 <entry>-13</entry> |
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99 <entry>-12</entry> |
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100 <entry>-11</entry> |
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101 </row> |
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102 <row> |
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103 <entry>Odds</entry> |
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104 <entry>0.5%</entry> |
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105 <entry>0.6%</entry> |
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106 <entry>0.7%</entry> |
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107 <entry>1.0%</entry> |
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108 <entry>1.2%</entry> |
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109 <entry>1.5%</entry> |
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110 <entry>2.0%</entry> |
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111 <entry>2.5%</entry> |
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112 <entry>3.0%</entry> |
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113 <entry>4.0%</entry> |
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114 </row> |
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115 <row rowsep="0"> |
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116 <entry>Difficulty</entry> |
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117 <entry>-10</entry> |
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118 <entry>-9</entry> |
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119 <entry>-8</entry> |
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120 <entry>-7</entry> |
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121 <entry>-6</entry> |
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122 <entry>-5</entry> |
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123 <entry>-4</entry> |
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124 <entry>-3</entry> |
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125 <entry>-2</entry> |
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126 <entry>-1</entry> |
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127 </row> |
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128 <row> |
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129 <entry>Odds</entry> |
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130 <entry>5.0%</entry> |
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131 <entry>6.0%</entry> |
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132 <entry>8.0%</entry> |
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133 <entry>10%</entry> |
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134 <entry>12%</entry> |
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135 <entry>15%</entry> |
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136 <entry>20%</entry> |
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137 <entry>25%</entry> |
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138 <entry>30%</entry> |
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139 <entry>40%</entry> |
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140 </row> |
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141 <row rowsep="0"> |
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142 <entry>Difficulty</entry> |
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143 <entry>+0</entry> |
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144 <entry>+1</entry> |
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145 <entry>+2</entry> |
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146 <entry>+3</entry> |
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147 <entry>+4</entry> |
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148 <entry>+5</entry> |
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149 <entry>+6</entry> |
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150 <entry>+7</entry> |
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151 <entry>+8</entry> |
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152 <entry>+9</entry> |
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153 </row> |
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154 <row> |
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155 <entry>Odds</entry> |
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156 <entry>50%</entry> |
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157 <entry>60%</entry> |
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158 <entry>70%</entry> |
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159 <entry>75%</entry> |
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160 <entry>80%</entry> |
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161 <entry>85%</entry> |
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162 <entry>88%</entry> |
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163 <entry>90%</entry> |
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164 <entry>92%</entry> |
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165 <entry>94%</entry> |
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166 </row> |
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167 <row rowsep="0"> |
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168 <entry>Difficulty</entry> |
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169 <entry>+10</entry> |
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170 <entry>+11</entry> |
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171 <entry>+12</entry> |
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172 <entry>+13</entry> |
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173 <entry>+14</entry> |
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174 <entry>+15</entry> |
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175 <entry>+16</entry> |
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176 <entry>+17</entry> |
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177 <entry>+18</entry> |
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178 <entry>+19</entry> |
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179 </row> |
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180 <row> |
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181 <entry>Odds</entry> |
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182 <entry>95.0%</entry> |
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183 <entry>96.0%</entry> |
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184 <entry>97.0%</entry> |
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185 <entry>97.5%</entry> |
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186 <entry>98.0%</entry> |
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187 <entry>98.5%</entry> |
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188 <entry>98.8%</entry> |
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189 <entry>99.0%</entry> |
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190 <entry>99.2%</entry> |
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191 <entry>99.4%</entry> |
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192 </row> |
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193 </tbody> |
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194 </tgroup> |
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195 </table> |
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196 |
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197 <para>In our preceding example, the +3 difficulty give a 75% |
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198 chance of success to our character.</para> |
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199 |
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200 <note userlevel="adv"> |
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201 <para>Someone said to me that the right probabilities to compare |
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202 two values is equal to the Measure of the Attacker divided by |
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203 the sum of both Measures. In our system, this give us that |
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204 for A <= B, if A = B, the difficulty is 0, if 0 < B-A |
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205 <= 3, the difficulty is -B-1, if 3 < B-A <= 6, the |
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206 difficulty is -B-2, and if B-A > 6, the difficulty is -B-3. |
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207 In the case that B is lesser then A, invert A and B. This |
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208 method is complicate and I don't find that it add something |
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209 needed. The remark is however right and that's why I put it |
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210 here.</para> |
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211 </note> |
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212 </section> |
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213 |
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214 <section id="smarge"> |
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215 <title id="stmarge">Margin of Success</title> |
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216 |
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217 <para>The margin of success determine at which degree a character |
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218 have succeed or failed. This margin can influence the results |
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219 for the will of the Game Master, and this can go from the |
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220 apparent ease in the accomplishment, to the quality of the final |
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221 result. However, the margin of success shouldn't be used to |
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222 modify the action that the character try to accomplish. For |
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223 example, a character who try to do a simple flip will not do a |
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224 double flip if she got +3 degrees of success. Instead, her jump |
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225 will be simply more <emphasis>elegant</emphasis>.</para> |
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226 |
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227 <para>The success margin is easy to find. When the final |
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228 difficulty is found, the player rolls the dice and add the |
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229 result to it. The total is the margin of success. If the |
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230 margin of success is equal or greater than zero, the action is |
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231 successful. If it's less than zero, the action has failed. We |
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232 can then also talk about a failure margin. For example, a |
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233 success margin of -3 is equivalent of a failure margin of |
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234 +3.</para> |
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235 |
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236 </section> |
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237 |
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238 <section id="sacttypes"> |
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239 <title id="stacttypes">Action Types</title> |
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240 |
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241 <para>The type of action help you to find how an action will be |
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242 resolved. They are mostly suggestions that make the game more |
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243 interesting and offer a kind of challenge to the players. There |
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244 are many types of actions presented here:</para> |
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245 |
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246 <itemizedlist> |
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247 <listitem> |
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248 <para>The <link linkend="sactsimple">simple actions</link> are |
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249 those that we can only success or fail and that only depends |
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250 on the ability of the character.</para> |
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251 </listitem> |
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252 <listitem> |
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253 <para>The <link linkend="sopposition">actions in |
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254 opposition</link> are those that encounter a resistance from |
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255 one or many opponents.</para> |
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256 </listitem> |
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257 <listitem> |
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258 <para>The <link linkend="sconfrontation">actions in |
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259 confrontation</link> permit a parry from the |
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260 adversary.</para> |
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261 </listitem> |
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262 <listitem> |
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263 <para><link linkend="sactmult">Simultaneous actions</link> is |
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264 when the character try to do many things at the same time.</para> |
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265 </listitem> |
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266 </itemizedlist> |
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267 |
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268 <section id="sactsimple"> |
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269 <title id="stactsimple">Simple Actions</title> |
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270 |
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271 <para>Simple actions are those that directly oppose a difficulty |
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272 to the character's <link linkend="scompniveau">Competency |
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273 Level</link>. This difficulty can be choose by the player |
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274 (for example, "Do I try to do a great meal or a simple soup?") |
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275 or imposed by the Game Master (in a precision shot for |
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276 example). We determine then the <link |
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277 linkend="scompniveau">Level of Competency</link>, roll the |
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278 dice and add the result to the final difficulty to get the |
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279 degrees of success.</para> |
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280 |
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281 </section> |
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282 |
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283 <section id="sopposition"> |
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284 <title id="stopposition">Opposition Actions</title> |
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285 |
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286 <para>Opposition actions put the character in front of an |
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287 obstacle able to resist her, her adversary. They can be done |
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288 in one or two rolls. The difficulty is always zero. With two |
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289 rolls, each adversary roll dice and the one with the greatest |
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290 margin of success win. With only one dice roll, the roll is |
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291 made with a difficulty equal to the Competency Level of the |
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292 character minus the Competency Level of the opponent. If the |
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293 degrees of success is greater than zero, the character wins. |
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294 If they are less than zero, the opponent wins. If the result |
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295 is exactly zero, nobody wins, it's a draw.</para> |
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296 |
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297 </section> |
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298 |
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299 <section id="sconfrontation"> |
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300 <title id="stconfrontation">Confrontation Actions</title> |
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301 |
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302 <para>Those actions permit a parry from the victim of the |
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303 action. An action in confrontation is a variant of the |
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304 opposition action and are done in two steps. We begin with a |
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305 simple action with, often, a basic difficulty determined by |
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306 the player that roll the dice. If the action fails, nothing |
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307 happen. But if the action succeed, the adversary can parry |
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308 the action by taking the same difficulty but not always the |
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309 same Attributes, Competency and adjustments.</para> |
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310 |
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311 <example id="xconfrontation"> |
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312 <title id="xtconfrontation">Confrontation Actions</title> |
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313 |
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314 <para>A player decide to fast talk a merchant to get a better |
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315 price by making him believe that she's not interested by the |
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316 item. With the Game Master, they decide that's worth a -3 |
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317 difficulty and so the players roll under Intuition + |
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318 Maneuver + Fast Talk. Since her character have respectively |
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319 +2, +3 and -1, this give her a total difficulty of +1. The |
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320 player rolls the dice and obtain 6 on her fortune dice, and |
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321 5 on her misfortune one. The margin of success is +2 and |
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322 so, the player have give a good fast talk. The merchant, |
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323 played by the GM, can however parry. The GM decide to roll |
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324 under Intuition + Precision + Fast Talk, for which the |
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325 merchant has a total of +5. With the -3 difficulty of the |
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326 lie of the player, this give him a final difficulty of +2. |
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327 If the merchant fail, he will think that the player is less |
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328 interest and will <emphasis>may be</emphasis> put down his |
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329 prices to interest him a little (or may be he has something |
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330 else to show to the player?). If he gets it, the merchant |
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331 we have see clear in the player lie and will refuse to put |
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332 down his price, being sure that the player is interested to |
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333 buy.</para> |
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334 </example> |
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335 |
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336 <para>It's important to note that it's really the difficulty |
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337 choose at the start by the player and not her degrees of |
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338 success that's the difficulty of parry. So, even if in the |
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339 previous example, the player has made a success margin of +10, |
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340 the difficulty for the parry will still be the same: -3. To |
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341 make the roll more difficult for the defender, the player |
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342 would have choose a greater difficulty, like pretending to be |
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343 a church man with high influence to the lord of the region. |
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344 The lie will be more difficult to make believable (a more |
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345 difficult roll for the player) but also, if succeed, more |
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346 difficult to refute by the merchant ("To lie that's good, it |
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347 must be true!").</para> |
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348 |
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349 <note userlevel="adv"> |
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350 <para>This rule is not intend to be realistic but fun. In |
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351 real life, the simpler solution is often the best, but there |
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352 is no pleasure without risk.</para> |
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353 </note> |
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354 |
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355 </section> |
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356 |
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357 <section id="sactmult"> |
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358 <title id="stactmult">Multiple Actions</title> |
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359 |
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360 <para>Multiple actions happen when a character try to do many |
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361 things at the same time, when she usually can only do one. |
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362 Each supplementary action will augment the difficulty of |
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363 <emphasis>all</emphasis> actions by three points. So, if a |
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364 character try to do three action at the same time, the |
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365 difficulty of each action will be increase by 6 points.</para> |
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366 |
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367 </section> |
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368 |
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369 </section> |
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370 |
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371 </chapter> |
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372 <!-- Keep this comment at the end of the file |
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