Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post

Nils_Lindeberg · 05-30-2019, 06:53 PM

You mentioned boomerang and other weird weapons required a very specific build. But that is just it, a boomerang build pays 3 talents in total (1 if you are a halfling), and it can function at missile range and in melee (throwing in melee range is at a -1 DX but that's it, you only use it as a club when you run out of boomerangs). A Longbow archer needs 5 talent points, and quickdraw. It isn't as effective at melee range and then the archer build needs a melee weapon talent to boot. We are talking 3 talents versus 8. And if the enemy has armor it counts double towards the two longbow arrows, so average damage is about equal at 4 points of armor and in favor of the boomerang at 5 or higher. And boomerangs have higher maximum damage at 11 points, which is also an advantage.

As a thrown weapon specialist, you can move half your MA and still attack properly. And take advantage of side and rear hex attacks.

The boomerang is also a one-handed weapon with no limit on DX to uphold the rate of fire, so instead of adjDX of 15, they can have a tower shield for 3 points of armor and still sport a decent adjDX. And if they use the extra IQ the thrower doesn't need they can have just as high adjDX as the archer before shield modifiers.

Then we have dual wielding... Another nice option if the situation permits it for high XP characters.

The main reasons the boomerang or the lasso/bola guys hasn't dominated the scene is because of lack of knowledge that they were great weapons and the most important, swords and bows are cooler and more of a fantasy cliché. It wasn't their lack of effectiveness that stopped their dominance. And in the old version, there was no such thing as a quick draw talent, so you lost a turn when you got engaged in melee as an archer.

They are still OP in practice and house-rulings or very strict interpretation of RAI will be needed if your players are min-maxers. If they are not, then allow one or two for flavor and variety if someone actually requests it, but ignore it otherwise.

05-30-2019, 06:53 PM	#16
Nils_Lindeberg Join Date: Jul 2018	Re: Boomerang or club? You mentioned boomerang and other weird weapons required a very specific build. But that is just it, a boomerang build pays 3 talents in total (1 if you are a halfling), and it can function at missile range and in melee (throwing in melee range is at a -1 DX but that's it, you only use it as a club when you run out of boomerangs). A Longbow archer needs 5 talent points, and quickdraw. It isn't as effective at melee range and then the archer build needs a melee weapon talent to boot. We are talking 3 talents versus 8. And if the enemy has armor it counts double towards the two longbow arrows, so average damage is about equal at 4 points of armor and in favor of the boomerang at 5 or higher. And boomerangs have higher maximum damage at 11 points, which is also an advantage. As a thrown weapon specialist, you can move half your MA and still attack properly. And take advantage of side and rear hex attacks. The boomerang is also a one-handed weapon with no limit on DX to uphold the rate of fire, so instead of adjDX of 15, they can have a tower shield for 3 points of armor and still sport a decent adjDX. And if they use the extra IQ the thrower doesn't need they can have just as high adjDX as the archer before shield modifiers. Then we have dual wielding... Another nice option if the situation permits it for high XP characters. The main reasons the boomerang or the lasso/bola guys hasn't dominated the scene is because of lack of knowledge that they were great weapons and the most important, swords and bows are cooler and more of a fantasy cliché. It wasn't their lack of effectiveness that stopped their dominance. And in the old version, there was no such thing as a quick draw talent, so you lost a turn when you got engaged in melee as an archer. They are still OP in practice and house-rulings or very strict interpretation of RAI will be needed if your players are min-maxers. If they are not, then allow one or two for flavor and variety if someone actually requests it, but ignore it otherwise.