Couple of Unique unit questions

[Heatsaber]

I did a few searches for this information using the search functions in the forum and didn’t find anything.

So, looking at the Courier - both his Perk and his ability Versatile are a little confusing to me. For Versatile - does a skill test include combat related functions like shooting and melee? I assume so, but wanted to ask.

Next, if you roll a cog on an action or get a VATs roll, you can spend these action points to generate only one of those dice of your choice? Or do you get all 3 at once? Or if you roll double bottle caps on a heroic VATs roll, can you spend both to either gain 2 (say, a green/yellow) or do you gain all three of the dice twice? I’m assuming it’s the former, as the latter sounds OP as heck.

I’m also assuming because you “spend” the action points, you “lose” the quick action you could take. Is that true?

Now the Perk - Companion. Whose LOS and presence do you use? The Courier, the unit activating, the highest/best, or players choice?

Like the Versatile ability, do you gain only 1 colored die of your choice, or one of each color?

What do you use these new die on? Any action?

And, say the Courier activated, does this or VATs rolls proc first? I’m curious because if he’s heroic he gets a VATs roll, so if the perks ability goes first, he can pick a color, and if he then rolls VATs, he can pick up to two others depending on the roll, so he can stack his dice. And assuming he gets a cog on the roll, he can pick one more from Versatile for the next action?

Colonel Autumn is up next. If he is Heroic, does this mean when he rolls VATs, he generates action points on either the nuke or the bottle cap now?

If he does use both die faces, does that mean if he’s on a team with the Courier above, and The Courier is also heroic, does he now also get both possible options?

Thanks!

[Modiphius-Dom]

Hey,

The Courier

Versatile does include combat functions like melee and shooting, as using a weapon involves a skill test.

You can only spend one Action Point to get one Effect Dice because Versatile says you can spend up to one Action Point. You cannot spend any more than one Action Point.

You wouldn’t lose the Quick Action per-say, as you would have spent the Action Point on Versatile meaning you wouldn’t have it to spend on a Quick Action. But yeah, you wouldn’t gain both.

With Companion, it would be the LoS and Presence of the activating model that you would use. You would only gain one of the three Effect Dice colors - the ‘/’ indicates that these three dice are mutually exclusive options. You could use these dice on whatever you like.

Regarding both of these rules together, the timing would be up to the player (although as you pointed out, you probably want to do Companion first). The Courier would get to stack their dice depending on how well they roll on VATS (or any other roll, for that matter) but I think it is worth underlining again how Versatile works. You spend the Action Points and pick your dice prior to making a Skill Test. VATS would generate Action Points but not provide Versatile for an opportunity to convert those into Effect Dice.

Colonel Autumn

Motivating does mean that Autumn and any other models (including The Courier) within that aura do trigger the Action Point generation of VATS on both Nukes and Bottles.

Thanks!

[Heatsaber]

Thank you very much! All of that is very clear except for one thing. What use is the Versatile ability? Is it meant to be if you’re in the middle of an attack or or skill test, and you get a cog, you can then use that cog to generate an additional skill die? Would thar not be similar to the beginning VATs roll (especially if you are just planning to attack with the first action anyways?)

I sort of always assumed that action points were like critical points, in that you bank them and hold on to them until you use them in your turn. The difference is that unless you prepare, you lose them if you don’t use them.

So in example, Courier rolls VATs, gets two bottle caps. He now has two action points to use. He then “redeems” them for his next actions, which will both be skill tests of some fashion. He decides to attack nearest enemy and gets whatever die combo he gets.

Sorry, the action economy is pretty meticulous here. I appreciate it, but am getting lost.

That also leads me to a separate complete question actually. If you ready a unit but don’t activate it, just for bookkeeping wouldn’t you roll VATs then? Or is that considered an action and if you roll it you need to take that unit’s activation at that point?

[Modiphius-Dom]

Remember, when you roll an Action Point, you bank it for use later. That is the case for if you get it from VATS, a Skill Dice roll or some other method. This is just as you pointed out.

Versatile gives you an alternative avenue to spend the Action Point resource. It is not as you described it in your first paragraph there - it does not allow you to spend an Action Point result that you have just rolled up in that Skill Test. This is because the rule says Versatile triggers prior to the Skill Test being rolled. Due to this, you can only spend Action Points you have already accumulated.

The timing in your example is a little off. Rather;

1 - The Courier rolls VATS and gets two Bottles. They generate two Action Points.
2 - They declare their first Action. Prior to the Skill Test and as they generate the dice pool, they use Versatile to add one of the three colors of Effect Dice to the roll.
3 - They declare their second Action. Prior to the Skill Test and as they generate the dice pool, they use Versatile to add one of the three colors of Effect Dice to the roll.

The point at which you convert those Action Points into Effect Dice is as you create the dice pool for a Skill Test, not immediately after generating them. This is because as you point out, they are a bankable resource.

You would roll VATS for a unit when you activate it, not when you make it Ready. It is not considered an Action though, otherwise it’d be one of the model’s handful of Actions for a turn. It is free, but has to take place during an activation.

[Heatsaber]

Okay, thank you very much! Seems like the Courier and Autumn would make a fun unrestricted combo lol.

I appreciate the help!