[Martial Arts] Weapons on Tails/Strikers

[scc]

OK, are there any rules regarding putting weapons on tails/strikers? If a race/character has such an appendage it could put something like an axe head on the end.

[AlexanderHowl]

You cannot because there is no way to secure the weapon to the striker or tail or to reposition the weapon to allow for combat flexibility. A prehensile tail could hold a weapon though, allowing you to wield a third weapon for attacking and parrying, but that is because it is a mechanically an extra arm.

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by scc

OK, are there any rules regarding putting weapons on tails/strikers? If a race/character has such an appendage it could put something like an axe head on the end.

Yes, make them into Alternate Attacks/Abilities.

In this case you'd have say, a "Crushing Ball Tail" like on an Ankylosaurus:

Striker [7] (Crushing, 5 points; Long, +100%; Cannot Parry, -40%; Clumsy, -20%; 'Rear Hexes Only', 0%)

Now if you 'duct taped'* an axe head on one side and gave it another type of Striker to use as well as the Crushing Ball, you'd have this:

Striker Alternate Attack [12]
- Striker [2] (Crushing, 5 points; Long, +100%; Cannot Parry, -40%; Clumsy, -20%; 'Rear Hexes Only', 0%; Alternate Ability, 1/5 [1.4])
- Striker [10] (Cutting, 7 points; Long, +100%; Cannot Parry, -40%; Clumsy, -20%; 'Rear Hexes Only', 0%)


So the PC would have to pay 5 character points to upgrade their ability permanently. For a temporary thing? No real rules, I'd ad-hoc it with an Armoury roll.



* Or used magic, or grew it with Shape Shifting powers, or whatever. That's left to the Player and GM to figure out...

[Flyndaran]

Unless wielding brass knuckles with your hands requires spending points on a new attack, I don't see why putting a similar object on a tail would either.

Though anything other than minimal blunt additions would probably require a new skill in the same way that holding a pointy object in your hand turns default punching into Knife.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Unless wielding brass knuckles with your hands requires spending points on a new attack, I don't see why putting a similar object on a tail would either.

The hands are meant for holding things - it's why you get such a discount for No Fine Manipulators. A better comparison for a tail would be the foot, which doesn't hold things, and does get a damage boost for wearing armor. However, armor just makes the foot a better striking surface, and "better striking surface" is already built into the Striker Advantage. Additionally, the point of a Striker is to give the character an extra mode of attack, not an extra limb.

For my Feuyaner, I opted to build their tail as a new Advantage, in large part so they could be used as a base for a Natural Weapon or Weapon Mount. It looks something like this.

Tail [5]: You have a substantial tail, which can be used to strike, as a punch (thr-1 cr), at Reach C. It can be used to strike to the Rear instead at Reach C,1. It lacks the ability to be used as a fine manipulator or to hold a weapon, and is armored, targeted, and crippled as a Leg. A character can have multiple such tails - buy each separately.
Enhancements
Extra-Flexible: Your tail has full Reach in a larger arc. This is +20% if it applies to the Sides and Rear, or +40% if it can always be used at full Reach.
Long: Your tail has longer Reach than your size implies. This is +100% per +1 to SM for determining Reach.
Limitations
Clumsy: Your tail isn't very accurate. This is -20% per -1 to skill.
Flexible Armor Only: Your tail is treated as crippled if wearing rigid armor. This comes in 2 levels. If only the tip of the tail can have rigid armor (for 1/6 protection generally), this is -20%. If none of the tail can have rigid armor, it is instead -40%.
Limited Arc: Your tail cannot reach around your body. This is -20% if it can only strike to the Sides and Rear, -40% if limited to Rear. Note the first level is not incompatible with the first level of Extra Flexible (combining the two is a net +0% to have full Reach to the Sides and Rear, and no ability to strike the Front).
Short: Your tail is shorter than normal, and can only strike at Reach C. This is -40%.

Such a tail can serve as the base for a Striker (Limb), Natural Weapon, or even a Weapon Mount, which default to the same Reach and arc as the tail at no additional cost. Characters who can wear rigid armor on the tip of the tail (or all over the tail) can mount a weapon to such (simply wearing rigid armor on the tip improves damage to thr cr). This weapon is used with the same skill as when held, but is at -2 to hit unless the character has a skill-specific Perk (Tail Fighting) to negate this.

Tail could probably be modified to cover similar "limbs," like ridiculously-long (and strong) tongues, non-prehensile tentacles, and similar. The only changes that would need to be made would be an expansion of some of the Enhancements and Limitations. First, there'd be an Enhancement for a front-mounted "tail" so that it gets full Reach to the front, reduced to the Sides and Rear. I'd eyeball that at +20% (full Reach everywhere would still be +40%, to Front and Sides only probably +30%). For Limited Arc, Front and Sides only is probably -10%, Front Only is -20%.

[Flyndaran]

True, Striker already goes above and beyond realistic hard striking surface into low level superhuman weapon.
You won't injure yourself using it against concrete or metal, so just putting a bit of metal on it probably shouldn't improve damage much if at all.

Realistic tails though should be allowed to hit a bit harder armored like how steel toes boots give improved kicks.