Full disclosure: I have some vested interest in this as these are all situations which I have ruled on as a GM in a game with Bellona, and my rulings disagreed with two of these answers.
As for my disputation of the dev answer, I’ll start by saying I don’t have a lot of confidence in this particular answerer, as I don’t know his qualifications in this area and we have previously received baffling answers from “official” sources. Previously, however, we were receiving answers from actual authors and devs who could give answers that sounded much more authoritative. Perhaps this guy is an author or dev, but there’s nothing that specifically indicates that.
I agree with the ruling on stacking Parry/Reflect with Circle of Shelter and would rule that way, although I don’t particularly like it. But that seems to be RAW.
The second answer, Nobody’s Fool, is where I beg to differ, and I think he’s making a serious error here.
Scathing Tirade
The character may take the Scathing Tirade action, making an Average Coercion check. For each Success, one enemy within short range suffers one strain. The character can also spend Advantage; for every Advantage spent, one target already affected suffers 1 Additional Strain.
Nobody's Fool
The difficulty of any Charm, Coercion, or Deception checks attempted against the character is upgraded once for each rank of Nobody’s Fool.
The key here is the “attempted against” line. Scathing Tirade is a flat difficulty, it isn’t targeted against anyone in particular, or “attempted against,” much like the Droideka’s Fire Sweep ability, which ignores Adversary, Defense, and talents like Dodge or Side Step. The question of upgrading with Nobody’s Fool then becomes does the acting character have to announce that he isn’t targeting the character with Nobody’s Fool? If he doesn’t and MUST upgrade it, does he have to apply the first success against that target even if he wanted to apply it against an easier target (and more, does it make sense for that one character’s talent to apply to all allied characters)? I believe the simplest reading is the correct one, in this case.
For the third question, Scathing Tirade over comms, I believe the rules are actually somewhat irrelevant to the talent, although I feel their spirit backs me up. Narrative interpretation and convenience are important to keep in mind, and both narratively and realistically, a “Scathing Tirade” can very well be carried out over comms.
My rules case:
The “Short” restriction basically means to me that you have to be able to hear the person easily. When you are in Short range of someone, you can communicate fairly easily, as you can over comms. It must have that restriction, or the talent would be ridiculous, but I think the overly-simplified nature of it is unfortunate.
If you must absolutely be in-person within a ten-yard range, then what about holograms? Can you use Scathing Tirade by hologram? If you can use Scathing Tirade by hologram, then why not some other communications device within ten yards? Do you have to be visible? Then can Scathing Tirade be used in the dark, or when the other people close their eyes, even if you’re in range? Or if you absolutely must be in person, what’s the difference between a hologram and being there in the flesh?
So that’s why I rule it the way I rule it, and why I believe it fits with the RAI, even if the letter of the talent would restrict it.
I felt a particular need to dispute these latter two rulings because I believe they are severely flawed and should not be presented without a countering perspective.