I have a question on "Advantageous Deformity : Have Pity" A:RPG page 185.

Say I trigger "Have Pity" and succeed in stopping the mobs action in their track. How is the mobs clock affected? For example say the mob is doing a big maneuver with a lot of recovery. Lets call it Speed 6(7), and lets say that both the mob and I executes this on tick 1 of the clock. Does the mobs clock get moved to 7(7) and then the +1d4 push is applied because the mob started the action prior to executing Have Pity? Or does Have Pity completely cancel the maneuver including the Speed and Recovery?

To complicate things, I see nothing that would stop me from executing Have Pity against the second attack of a spinning strike.

I don't have my books in front of me, but if this question were to come up while I was GMing I would rule that it works like counterspell. If I remember correctly, counterspell ends the action as though it hadn't happened, and applies the push.

Going back to your example, if the enemy is doing a speed 6(7) attack on tick 1 and you interrupt it, they will go again on tick 1+push and not suffer any recovery.

Just my thought

Maybe this was discussed prior to when the old boards came down. But that makes both Counter Spell, and Have Pity darn weak compared to other actions that impose a push.

Take "Crushing Blow" for instance. It is a weapon trick that does WEAPON + 2 Push, for Speed 2. It is an unlimited use ability and is does not require a talent. "Awe" does a d6 push, for speed 3(+3) and can be adapted into a 25' cone. Again unlimited use.

Then while not exactly a push effect, Enemy of My Enemy denies a mob an attack against the party, just like Have Pity, and Counter Spell but turns that attack against a target of choice. Again, this is an unlimited use ability that does not require a talent.

Then just look at the stated mechanics of Have Pity and Counter Spell as written. The counter speller takes a Push 6, to impose a Push 1d4. As you would rule this would penalize the counterspeller for using a scene effect if the caster doesn't suffer the strain and speed of the countered spell. Have Pity is the same way, but imposes a push 4 on the gnome to have a chance of imposing a push 1d4.

It would seam to me that if you take a talent for a once per scene effect you should get some kind of bang for that investment and not a net clock penalty. True Have Pity is a bit more powerful that Counter Spell in that it can be used to stop anything, and requires a smaller push to activate. But heck, it is one of the few good things Gnomes have going for them. Besides since Have Pity is tied to Perform or Deciet it is not as likely to be maxed out as Arcanum.

There is a discussion re: Counterspell on the forums here, and I do recall in reading that discussion that it was weak.

I remember there was a discussion. But I can't remember when. Unfortunetly the SEARCH feature is not working for me and a scan of subject lines went nowhere. Can somebody point me to the Counterspell thread?

Nevermind. The discussion in question was actually on the old boards. BUT found its way into the FAQ. Here is what the FAQ says.

Question: Does Counter Spell push your target before
or after the spell? In other words, if I cast a 6(4) spell, and
the Counter Spell roll results in a 4 push, do I advance my
clock by 4 and that’s it? Or do I advance my clock by 10 and
suffer 4 strain?

Answer: A countered spell simply is not cast, wasting
the target’s tick, after which the target suffers d4 push. They
do not need to pay the Spell's casting time or suffer Strain.

I would agree that HAVE PITY should work the same as Counterspell, and how Counterspell works is settled. But I reserve the right to grumble.

I don't know that "Have Pity" needs to work like counter spell. The system has plenty of other "wonkiness." Recovery does not equal strain. Shields are weird.

So my first thought is that I'd negate the whole action. You start to crush the gnome but can't quite bring yourself to do it... There is an internal disconnect in your thought loop. (Which again is different from a. External counterspell that acts as a break).

Expect different judges to have different interpretations

And expect modifiers based on what your PC is doing. Setting fire to an orphanage probably won't help your plea vis a via the town guard.