That's because it's running on the core assumptions of the rules: Attacks have a Target and apply their effects to that target. This honestly isn't universally mentioned in the specific rules for every attack.
But what is the effect that they apply to the target? Is it -6 to what they do, or is it -6 only if they do something which goes directly F2F? How does it interact with Berserk, or performing an ARO against a different target?
That's the open question and needs the FAQ. I don't know, as I said above: but everyone got distracted by the "to whom does the penalty get applied" question. I tend to think that it applies irrespective of what the target does.
This note (in Skills) does kinda suggest that the penalty only affects actions against the user of the skill: "NOTE MODs imposed by Skills, Special Skills, or pieces of Equipment may be applied to their users, or to those enemy Troopers acting against them, in several different ways." But the context of it is explaining how to read MODs - and the only negative MODs describe are Mimmetism and ECM both of which are only applied to attacks against the user - so I'm not sure it's intended to be read that way. I think "it applies to the target of the attack irrespective of what they do" is clearer for CC Attack (-x) and CCW (-x) skills/weapons.
Think of it this way Trinity (-3) is a modifier for your opponent when YOU declare that hacking program. Ergo, cc attack (-6) is a modifier for your opponent when YOU declare cc attack
I feel bad for the FAQ team to be honest. There’s a plethora of rule questions that are easily answered, yet they always conclude “this needs a FAQ”, despite the fact that it actually doesn’t and everyone will continue to play this rule exactly as normal. IDK man...
So if Penny declares CC Attack against someone using Berserk, do they suffer -6 or not? If she declares it against the enemy and that enemy declared CC Attack against someone else, are they at -6 or not? What is the "normal" interpretation that you go with? If it's so clear to you why don't you share with the rest of us? Maybe you've found something in the rules the rest of us haven't been able to find.
Wait hang on, I’m not sure what’s unclear. The -6 is applied if the thing you are cc’ing does something which requires a f2f or if they use berserk. It wouldn’t apply if they shot at something else or did anything which wouldn’t affect you in the same way as martial arts -3 is applied. Right? Or am I missing something? ♂️
That's the question, there is very little guidance on how the -6 mod works on CC Attack -6. For other skills, the rules make it very clear: Mimetism (-6): Applies a -6 mod to the enemy. Type? Automatic Skill When? Mod applied when enemies declare BS Attack and Discover against owner. F2F Required? No Applied to Target? No Surprise Attack (-6): Applies a -6 mod to to the enemy. Type? Automatic Skill When? Mod applied when owner declares BS Attack. F2F Required? No Applied to Target? Yes Martial Arts (L2): Applies a -3 mod to the enemy. Type? Automatic Skill When? Mod applied when owner declares CC Attack. F2F Required? Yes Applied to Target? Yes CC Attack (-6): Applies a -6 mod to the enemy. Type? Short Skill/ARO When? Mod applied when owner declares CC Attack. F2F Required? Unknown. Applied to Target? Unknown. CC Attack doesn't mention if negative mods apply to any enemy targeting the user (like Mimetism) when they declare CC Attack, or only the enemy that is the target of the CC Attack (like Surprise Attack). We assume it's like Surprise Attack, but that's not based on any published rule that I can find (or that anyone has shared here). Furthermore, we don't know if it only applies the negative mod during a F2F roll (like Martial Arts), or against anything the target does (like Surprise Attack). This is a pretty big difference if you declare CC Attack against something that is resetting out of being Immobilized, or if you declare CC Attack against someone using Berserk.
I got a little confused for a moment re: martial arts, but I see you're just talking about the negative mod. If I actually look at the rule, it's clear that you can always use the positive mod (such as when combining with berserk), but you only apply the negative mod in a FtF roll (unlike surprise attack).
It's how the mods under MA are worded: Attack MOD: A MOD to the CC Attribute of the user when making a CC Attack. Opponent MOD: A MOD applied to the Attribute of an enemy when making a Face to Face Roll.
I think the easy thing to miss here is that nobody has an agenda for how this should be ruled, it's that the rules for CC Attack don't address how to apply negative mods, and different skills apply negative mods differently, so there is really very little guidance or precedent to work with. This leaves a situation where a new player has no idea what to do and has to guess, or a veteran player has to resort to N3 rulings to apply to N4, which is why it should be FAQ'd.
Thanks to all that have contributed so far - seems like it's unclear whether negative CC mods apply in Normal rolls, unless it's been cleared up somewhere and I'm unaware? If so, could someone help me out with a link, please?
The MOD rule for skills like CC Attack (-6) is the general one. https://infinitythewiki.com/Skills_and_Equipment_in_Infinity When the model uses the skill CC Attack, he impose the MOD -6 to the enemy. As per FAQs, it is applied only to the target of the CC Attack (if multiple opponents are involved). Not having any restriction, it should be applied to any roll.
It's discussed in more detail here Do negative MODs from Skills only apply to f2f rolls? | Corvus Belli Community Forum , and is on the Unanswered Questions list for the reasons explored in that thread.
