Modifying Reach

[Rasputin]

I have a character with Dwarfism, and would like to know if there is any way I can add the Reach penalty from that trait to the Dwarfism attribute rather than manually editing all the character's weapons.

[ericbsmith]

Unfortunately, last time we touched on this subject it looks like we forgot (or rather didn't notice) the Reach penalty for Dwarfism. This means that there is no fully automatic way to reduce reach for Dwarfism, although it would be best if simply adding Dwarfism to the character made the changes automatically. However, all is not lost. Thanks to the work done for the Dungeon Fantasy 3 data file by Scott Ellis for the Tiny Tools rules it was trivially easy for me to write up a modifier that will subtract one from the Reach of a weapon. Simply drop the following into a custom Data File and load it in your Data Set and you should be able to add this modifier to any Melee weapon easily enough. Using the Copy and Paste Modifiers command you can even add it to all the characters weapons fairly quickly.

[MODIFIERS]
<Melee Quality>
_Disadvantage: Dwarfism, *1, group(Melee Quality), shortname(Dwarfism), tier(1),
	gives(_
		=nobase to owner::reach$,
		=$/textindexedvalue( {$modetag(reach)}, 
			( "C", "C" ),
			( "1", "C" ),
			( "2", "1" ),
			( "3", "2" ),
			( "C,1", "C" ), ( "C, 1", "C" ),
			( "1,2", "C,1" ), ( "1, 2", "C,1" ), ( "1,2*", "C,1*" ),( "1, 2*", "C,1*" ),
			( "2,3", "1,2" ), ( "2, 3", "1,2" ), ( "2,3*", "1,2*" ),( "2, 3*", "1,2*" ),
			( "1-3", "C-2" ), ( "1-3*", "C-2*" ),
			( "1-4", "C-3" ), ( "1-4*", "C-3*" ),
			( "1-5*", "C-4*" ),
			( "1-6*", "C-5*" ),
			( "1-7*", "C-6*" ),
			( "", "" ),
		else "Error" ) to owner::reach$)

[Rasputin]

Alas, Reach for the weapon in question (can't there be some way to add it to kicks?) now shows up as 1,2*C,1*

[ericbsmith]

Originally Posted by Rasputin

(can't there be some way to add it to kicks?)

The following, added to your data file, will add necessary changes to the Dwarfism disadvantage to allow it to change the reach of Kick (and Brawling/Karate kick). You will need to either remove and re-add Dwarfism or Resynchronize Disadvantages to for it to take effect.

[DISADVANTAGES]
<Mundane Physical>
Dwarfism, -15, gives(_
						-1 To ST:Basic Move,
						-2 To SK:Disguise,
						-1 To ST:Size Modifier,
						=nobase to ST:Kick::reach$ listAs "'C' reach",
						=$if(SK:Brawling::level + SK:Karate::level > 0 THEN "" ELSE "C") to ST:Kick::reach$ listAs "from 'Dwarfism'",
						=nobase to SK:Brawling::reach$ listAs "'C' reach",
						="C" to SK:Brawling::reach$ listAs "from 'Dwarfism'",
						=nobase to SK:Karate::reach$ listAs "'C' reach",
						="C" to SK:Karate::reach$ listAs "from 'Dwarfism'"_
					), 
	conditional(-2 to SK:Shadowing when "you are trying to follow someone in a crowd"),
	page(B19), cat(Mundane, Physical, Build, Size Modifier), taboo(DI:Gigantism)

Originally Posted by Rasputin

Alas, Reach for the weapon in question now shows up as 1,2*C,1*

That shouldn't be happening. The =nobase should be wiping out the existing weapon reach, to be replaced by the new one. I'm at a loss as to why this would happen. I tested this modifier on several weapons, including a Great Axe (which has reach 1,2*), and it seems to be working correctly. I also note that this was only slightly changed from the modifier as originally coded in the Dungeon Fantasy 3 data file, and I don't recall ever hearing about a similar issue with the Tiny Tools modifier doing this.

[Rasputin]

Originally Posted by ericbsmith

That shouldn't be happening. The =nobase should be wiping out the existing weapon reach, to be replaced by the new one. I'm at a loss as to why this would happen. I tested this modifier on several weapons, including a Great Axe (which has reach 1,2*), and it seems to be working correctly. I also note that this was only slightly changed from the modifier as originally coded in the Dungeon Fantasy 3 data file, and I don't recall ever hearing about a similar issue with the Tiny Tools modifier doing this.

After fiddling, I see it only happens when I have the modifier Weapon: Adjusting for SM-1 added.

[ericbsmith]

Originally Posted by Rasputin

After fiddling, I see it only happens when I have the modifier Weapon: Adjusting for SM-1 added.

Yup, that makes sense. I'm not even sure how those two rules should stack; honestly the rules from Low-Tech Companion 2 are meant for "non-realistic pixie" characters, not for realistic smaller SM characters. They're basically two different ways of doing the same thing (reducing Reach for smaller SM characters), but the rules from LTC2 are far more generous.

I will note that there is no way to easily reconcile taking both modifiers, either, as there is no way to simply "subtract 1" from reach within the program. All current modifiers first remove the weapon's base reach then give it a new pre-computed reach which is calculated using the original base reach. When adding two such modifiers to the same weapon it will be listed with both new reach scores.

[Rasputin]

Originally Posted by ericbsmith

Yup, that makes sense. I'm not even sure how those two rules should stack; honestly the rules from Low-Tech Companion 2 are meant for "non-realistic pixie" characters, not for realistic smaller SM characters. They're basically two different ways of doing the same thing (reducing Reach for smaller SM characters), but the rules from LTC2 are far more generous.

Well, to my mind, they would stack, since Dwarfism is meant to mimic real-world dwarfs, who have limbs proportionately shorter than their trunks. A ten-year-old human without Dwarfism will also be SM -1, but will be better able to handle a sword scaled to her size simply because the child's limbs will have normal proportions. (The picture of Wee-Man on Wikipedia hides the problem a bit, but notice that if his hand were down, it would reach the top of his pocket. My hands reach halfway down my thigh. I compared the reach of the fingers to a picture of my daughter, then a month shy of 9, holding up a Christmas present, and her fingers do go a bit nearer to her neck.) You could go either way, I suppose, but you do get -15 points for Dwarfism, and only -5 of that is from reduced Move. I might just manually hack the weapon (a great axe) to get it to show up right.

[ericbsmith]

Originally Posted by Rasputin

I might just manually hack the weapon (a great axe) to get it to show up right.

That would be the easiest way. I believe the only solution will be to create an entire new set of modifiers for the LTC2 data file which, essentially, precalculate the reach for the combined effects of Dwarfism plus the Scaling Weapons rule. It would be much easier if GCA could handle both addition to and multiplier to Reach score, but alas it just doesn't.

[Rasputin]

Originally Posted by ericbsmith

It would be much easier if GCA could handle both addition to and multiplier to Reach score, but alas it just doesn't.

Oh well. Something for a future version.