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Old 05-07-2011, 11:55 AM   #1
nerdvana
 
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Default Limb Writeup Question

I have been trying to figure out how to price extra limbs that can be both arms and legs. I have read a wonderful reply by Bruno in an Extra Limbs thread from 2008 but I'm still in a quandry.

I am building Dralasites from Star Frontiers and I figure that their normal state is five limbs: three legs and two arms (exceptional members may have more or less as advantages or disadvantages, but this discussion is going to focus on the default state for the race).

These five limbs can, alternatively, be arms or legs. They do not move any slower if they have two or three legs (three legs gives them greater stability maybe, that can be discussed later) and because of this the description of Foot Manipulators in Characters (p53) doesn't seem right for pricing their fifth limb.

I'm requesting people's opinions/advice on pricing the extra limb and how much it would cost to make the other limbs be variable like that.

We do not need to discuss their shape changing (that's been discussed in this thread already) but I do need to know if a race with Double Jointed needs to pay for extra flexible limbs also or if the benefits of this are already covered in the full-body flexiblity like I believe is the case.
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Old 05-07-2011, 06:47 PM   #2
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Default Re: Limb Writeup Question

I had initially though about giving them an extra arm and an extra leg and just having their default Morph state be 5 limbed but while that works it seems inellegant.
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Old 05-07-2011, 07:02 PM   #3
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Default Re: Limb Writeup Question

First, buy it as Extra Legs (3-4) [10] with Extra Arms (One; Alternative Ability of Extra Legs, x1/5) [2]. Next, purchase Extra Arms (Temporary Disadvantage, Lame, One Leg, -x%) and Extra Arms (Temporary Disadvantage, Lame, No Legs, -x%). Also, purchase Extra Legs (5-6; Temporary Disadvantage, No Fine Manipulators, -x%).

The -x% depend upon your other stats - the one on Extra Legs should be 30 plus 40% of the price of your ST and DX, while the ones on Extra Arms will be however much would be needed to decrease your Basic Move down to some appropriate amount.

This is probably going to wind up being about 20 points total, I figure.
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Old 05-07-2011, 07:05 PM   #4
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Default Re: Limb Writeup Question

I see what you are suggesting, Langy, but the variability of the limbs is covered by the Morph. I guess the answer is to look at the prices for the various options and charge them for the greatest value.
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Old 05-07-2011, 07:45 PM   #5
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Default Re: Limb Writeup Question

Quote:
Originally Posted by nerdvana View Post
I see what you are suggesting, Langy, but the variability of the limbs is covered by the Morph. I guess the answer is to look at the prices for the various options and charge them for the greatest value.
If their legs are really the same exact things as their arms, then Morph doesn't seem right, since it'll take them a long time to change an Arm into a Leg or vice-versa.
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Old 05-09-2011, 08:40 AM   #6
Not another shrubbery
 
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Default Re: Limb Writeup Question

Quote:
Originally Posted by nerdvana
I have been trying to figure out how to price extra limbs that can be both arms and legs. I have read a wonderful reply by Bruno in an Extra Limbs thread from 2008 but I'm still in a quandry.

I am building Dralasites from Star Frontiers and I figure that their normal state is five limbs: three legs and two arms (exceptional members may have more or less as advantages or disadvantages, but this discussion is going to focus on the default state for the race).

These five limbs can, alternatively, be arms or legs. They do not move any slower if they have two or three legs (three legs gives them greater stability maybe, that can be discussed later) and because of this the description of Foot Manipulators in Characters (p53) doesn't seem right for pricing their fifth limb.

I'm requesting people's opinions/advice on pricing the extra limb and how much it would cost to make the other limbs be variable like that.

We do not need to discuss their shape changing (that's been discussed in this thread already) but I do need to know if a race with Double Jointed needs to pay for extra flexible limbs also or if the benefits of this are already covered in the full-body flexiblity like I believe is the case.
Langy's geneal approach looks right to me, although the specific track he took is different from what I would do. By default, the standard character has four limbs: two legs (No Fine Manipulator walkers) and two arms (Fine Manipulators). I'd first convert the legs into multipurpose limbs with the Foot Manipulators special mod [two Extra Arms, -30% = 14 points]. Then I'd make the two arms multi-purpose [two Extra Legs, Temporary Disadvantage (NFM, -30%) = 4 points]. The last step would be to add the fifth limb, which is an extra multipurpose arm [Extra Arm + 1/2 the cost of two Extra Legs (NFM) = 12 points] for a total of 30 points. A possible bugaboo is the value of the Extra Legs, as actual replacement legs might be more valuable than simply having 3, 4,or 5 legs at a time.

If you search the forums on keywords like "extra arms" or "extra legs", you could probably find threads where builds like this have been discussed before.
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Old 05-09-2011, 10:19 AM   #7
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Default Re: Limb Writeup Question

I realized that the best fix was to give them the two arms and three legs they'll normally have and add an additional 5 or 6 points into the templates allowed to take on with Morph, this allows them to turn their leg into an arm with their Morphing. This turned into an extra two points on the template as opposed to all the other costs.

That said, thank you for the analysis/review for me. I may have other multi-limbed species and it never hurts to get a review. :)

Edit: Oh, and I had done a google search for extra limbs etc using site:forums.sjgames.com and hadn't found anything that answered, so perhaps you could share links to those discussions that you are referring to? Both for myself and others that are watching this thread. :)

Last edited by nerdvana; 05-09-2011 at 10:43 AM. Reason: added extra note
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