Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post - Rejiggering Muscle-Powered Weapon Damage

ErhnamDJ · 09-08-2011, 05:22 PM

I've been working on modifying the ST damage table, which is what I had intended to alter (along with some of the damage for certain weapons--I figure that would have to be done on a case-by-case basis) to solve this problem.

What are your thoughts on fine/very fine weapons? That's the biggest problem I've had in trying to rework all of this to match the armor values. Adding +2 damage (or even +1) is unrealistic. What I've been considering doing is having the 'fine' quality weapons be the baseline that I use, and then having regular 'good' quality weapons being kind of crap in comparison, something the players would want to upgrade as quickly as possible. So, a 'good' quality sword could have a thick blade, and we wouldn't start to see the stats the armor is measured against until we get to 'fine' quality weapons (with very fine weapons not adding an extra point of damage, but doing something else--I think two additional points of damage is too much).

So, your fine mail would block the strongest of blows, from a 'fine' sword, and having that be what I measure it against.

I was thinking for ST 10, having something like 1d-3 thrust, 1d-2 swing. That way even if a fine broadsword is doing 1d damage, it still stops two-thirds of all attacks, while stopping five-sixths of all attacks from a regular sword.

The only problem I have here is that it becomes too difficult to hurt someone by punching them in the skull. How do you think one could handle punches? Do you think skull DR might need to be lowered? Should we factor in All-Out Attack (Strong)? Are those common in reality, particularly against foes in armor?

09-08-2011, 05:22 PM	#10
ErhnamDJ Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: OK	Re: Rejiggering Muscle-Powered Weapon Damage I've been working on modifying the ST damage table, which is what I had intended to alter (along with some of the damage for certain weapons--I figure that would have to be done on a case-by-case basis) to solve this problem. What are your thoughts on fine/very fine weapons? That's the biggest problem I've had in trying to rework all of this to match the armor values. Adding +2 damage (or even +1) is unrealistic. What I've been considering doing is having the 'fine' quality weapons be the baseline that I use, and then having regular 'good' quality weapons being kind of crap in comparison, something the players would want to upgrade as quickly as possible. So, a 'good' quality sword could have a thick blade, and we wouldn't start to see the stats the armor is measured against until we get to 'fine' quality weapons (with very fine weapons not adding an extra point of damage, but doing something else--I think two additional points of damage is too much). So, your fine mail would block the strongest of blows, from a 'fine' sword, and having that be what I measure it against. I was thinking for ST 10, having something like 1d-3 thrust, 1d-2 swing. That way even if a fine broadsword is doing 1d damage, it still stops two-thirds of all attacks, while stopping five-sixths of all attacks from a regular sword. The only problem I have here is that it becomes too difficult to hurt someone by punching them in the skull. How do you think one could handle punches? Do you think skull DR might need to be lowered? Should we factor in All-Out Attack (Strong)? Are those common in reality, particularly against foes in armor?