The “Rule of 16” makes high-resistance characters almost immune to resisted spells, no matter how skilled the attacker is. What gives?
[Moderater’s Note: Since its inclusion in this FAQ list, the “Rule of 16” has been officially re-written. A brief description of the original problem, and the rule as it currently stands will be included here as long as the subject remains Frequently-Asked.] The problem was this: when a character was resisting a paranormal attack (Charm, Telereceive, etc.) the “Rule of 16” on p. CII190 reduced the effective skill of that attack to 16 before the Quick Contest took place. A character with lots of relatively cheap Strong Will and Magic Resistance could easily have had a resistance higher than 16, putting the attacker at a disadvantage regardless of whether the attacker’s skill was 25, 30, or more. The new Rule of 16 now states: If the subject is a living being, the caster’s effective skill cannot exceed the higher of 16 or the subject’s actual resistance.
