Second ST score based on TK

[zuljita]

I have a player in an upcoming game who isn't great at bookkeeping, but wants to run a TK character. I'd like to help her by getting what amount to 3 different ST levels on her sheet: her "non super" TK, her super TK and her ST. Anyone got any pointers on how I could do this for her especially for the attacks sheet?

[ericbsmith]

There are a couple ways you can do this, none of them particularly streamlined or easy. First, let me start out by saying that by default GCA can keep track of all the different ST scores (including Striking ST and Lifting ST values). The Phoenix character sheet can even print out Encumbrance blocks for TK ST and Super TK ST.

That said, things get a little trickier when you start talking about wanting to do weapon table listings for each ST score. It can be messy and even have some calculation errors. I'm going to explain the first two methods, which are similar, then explain a third which is overall simpler and less prone to errors.

The first method is to add duplicate pieces of equipment to the sheet, and change the Damage Based On for each of them. Equipment can be duplicated by right clicking on it and selecting Duplicate Selected; set Quantity to 0 so that you are not charged for or encumbered by it. The Damage Based On can be edited by selecting one of the pieces of equipment and in the Edit window clicking the small arrow next to the Damage field, which will then allow you to select from a couple standard "ST" fields. You can also enter your own ST score in there to have damage based on something else; in your case you'de probably want to input "ST:TK ST" and "ST:TK Super-Effort ST" to make the item based on either the normal or Super-Effort TK ST. You should then change the name extension of the equipment to reflect what you are basing the damage off of to make it clear on the character sheet printout.

The second method is similar, but it involves adding the modifiers to the equipment items to add new Attack Modes (each way you use a weapon is a "mode", so swing, thrust, kick, etc are all standard modes used by many weapons). Just add either the _New Melee Attack Mode or _New Ranged Attack Mode modifier to the piece of equipment and follow the prompts through and then change the Damage Based On as above for the modes you're adding.

Both of these can be very time consuming and annoying for various reasons. For one, they may not accurately calculate and are not easily applied to unarmed combat listings (Punch, Kick, Karate Punch & Kick, Brawling & Boxing, etc). Therefore, I generally would suggest using the third method unless you are planning on doing only a few modifications.

For the third method you simply make sure that the Melee and Ranged combat tables are listed on a separate page in the character sheet of your choice. Do a standard printing with the character, then simply change the characters ST score to be equal to their TK ST score and print out just the Combat Table listings page(s); then change their ST score to be equal to their TK Super-Effort ST score and print out the Combat Table listings again. This is slightly more time consuming to print, but far less prone to behind the scenes problems you might not even notice. It will create three almost identical copies of the Combat Tables, just with the range and damage recalculated. You can then write in at the top "Normal ST," "TK ST" etc to label the pages for easier referencing.

[zuljita]

that is hugely helpful, thanks!