Mourner and Gray Grief

[eruditus]

So the Mourner says "The player may add any amount to his starting Grief that he sees fit, up to a maximum of exponent 9."

The elf is already at Grief B9 without this. Could I spend 5 points to Gray the Attribute and add enough points to bring it to G9? Is a player allowed to use Mourner to Gray his grief regardless?

- Don

[luke]

Nope. It's an exponent thing, not a shade thing. Those are two distinct components.

[eruditus]

Cool. Thanks. To be clear, I'm interested in timing so please bear with me.

You buy the trait, Mourner, first (Step 6) and decide how many Grief points to add. Then in Step 7 figure Grief. Here's the tricky part...

In Step 6 lets say you say "I take 5 points of Grief."
When you figure out Grief you start with 6 instead of zero (max of 9, right?), then add everything and come to a Grief of 14. You can't have higher than a Grief 9 so you spend 5 points to shift the shade to Gray.

OR

Buy the trait in Step 6. Figure out Grief and it comes to 10 before adding anything from Mourner. Use 5 points to Gray the Attribute bringing it to G5 then add 4 points from Mourner to make it G9.

What am I missing?
- Don

[luke]

Why are you factoring your Grief in Step 6? Factor your Grief in Step 7, answer the questions and then modify the result using Mourner.

Honestly, if you want a gray Grief, it's easy to get. Or just ask and have the group decide.

[Zelbinian]

Were I GMing, I'd say that the real crux is on the differential between the value it's at after step 7 and a B9-equivalent Grief. If you've got a G4 Grief when you add Mourner, that means that you've effectively got a B9 Grief, in which case Mourner can help you no further. I don't think this is out of step with what Luke said, but if it is I'm sure he'll correct me.