Learning by Helping

[rafial]

Alright... I'm on my second pass through the books in preparation for a campaign to start in a few weeks, and so I'm back with first of what I'm sure will be innumerable pesky questions.

At the bottom of BW54, it states that a character may earn a test by helping another. It then goes on to give an example of soldier helping a midwife tend someone, which appears to be related to the example at the top of BW47. However, the Ob 4 cited in the example on page 54 for purposes of assesing the rating of the test, does not appear to have anything to do with the Ob cited in the page 47 example.

If a character helps out, what determines the Ob they use for purposes of assessing a routine, difficult or challenging test?

[luke]

damn your meddling questions, rafial!
:shock:

actually, don't pay attention to my poorly edited cross-references. The examples, as they stand individually, are correct.

A character with a B4 skill helping another overcome an Ob 4 test earns a Difficult test for advancement. The helping character earns a test just as if he had tested his own skill. Except, in this case, by helping he has a chance of passing the test -- rather than failing utterly.

Ever have someone help you with something, but not understand what they were talking about until after you went and tried it on your own a few times? That is the phenomenon I am trying to represent in these rules.

[rafial]

Ah, so the Ob the helper uses for purposes of advancement is the Ob for the overall task. This makes sense, but is not stated anywhere on page 54. The example simply cites an Ob 4 test without explaining where it came from. That's what lead me to the other soldier/midwife example, where the overall task Ob is 5, and thus my confusion.



Ever have someone help you with something, but not understand what they were talking about until after you went and tried it on your own a few times? That is the phenomenon I am trying to represent in these rules.

I guessed that is what you were going for, but I wanted to be sure.

[luke]

shit.

well, that's why we right examples: to clarify non-existent points!

-L