[Basic] Advantage of the Week: Arm DX and High Manual Dexterity

[Otaku]

I restrained myself on posting my own questions on this topic in the opening post... because questions I do indeed have! The tricky part is where to begin and how to be concise yet thorough; I really don't want to obfuscate my points with my posts that even I would refer to as a "wall-o-text" except I strive to have good formatting but I don't want to forget a key point and waste anyone's time debating something that said key point would have addressed, something I find myself doing far too often on these boards. ^^'

So first things first, answering my own questions from the opening post:

I still have only "toyed" with 4e; most of my actual experience with this is from 3e, and there it was only through things like GURPS Cyberpunk and bionic limbs. Plus I think we misread the rules as (when we played) you definitely got a bonus in combat for attacks that involved a limb with above average DX. Again, not saying that was how the rules back then worked; rather that is how we (mistakenly) played it back then. Even then, it was of questionable value and I think it may have been less expensive (then again, so was DX in general). Based on RAW, almost anything where I'd be tempted to give Arm DX to would be better served with better base DX or High Manual Dexterity. Even as a concept, it doesn't work because frankly... the rules about it seem contradictory (more on that later).

High Manual Dexterity seemed useful, but I rarely played characters that could make good use of it, and the players that did usually went ahead with full on high DX. On paper at least, it looks good; I understand why it jumped from 3 points/level to 5 points/level. It benefits the application of many Skills (as well as DX checks) but it is the applications and not the Skill itself. So while it has a long list of Basic Set RAW skills it helps, it doesn't help those skills across the board as Talent does, plus it lacks the reduction in learning time and reaction bonus baked into Talent. It fills a definite niche for characters that, either due to budget or concept, need to be extremely dexterous in "fine coordination" but not in general; the artist that is hopeless in combat but amazing with a brush, chisel, or similar tool, or the master thief that is amazingly coordinated, but by settling for one less level of general DX, enjoys +4 to things like Lockpicking, Pickpocket, etc.

[Otaku]

Now addressing my confusion on Arm DX... and unfortunately I haven't figured out how to compress this one, so please forgive the length.

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The easy part: other approaches to representing improved cordination with one limb. Wouldn't it make more sense to factor this into the cost of Extra Arms in general, and from there come up with the cost for altering one of a character's default limbs (as per Long or Short Arms)? It might make a character sheet messy, but it also seems like it might be a better fit to treat it as a Limitation on actual DX. If not, feel free to let me know why it is better to treat it as its own separate trait! Just realize that obvious RAW didn't make things clear enough to me. >_<

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Next is what Arm DX does. This comes down to system resolution; in my previous post I pointed out how High Manual Dexterity affects specific applications of Skills, and not truly the Skills themselves. Mechanic, for example, benefits from High Manual Dexterity for fine detail work; it won't help you wrestle a heavy component into place, deduce how to maximize performance or perform any work that does require good physical coordination but is on the "average" size scale of Mechanic work. The thing is, when I look at the reasons why Arm DX doesn't work for many Skills... I then question why it works for any. Like High Manual Dexterity, it should only affect certain applications of Skills, and the justifications given for why even the few Combat Skills that are "arm focused" won't work seems to undermine it working for pretty much anything that wouldn't benefit from Manual Dexterity. Looking at the FAQ quote and removing Skills that High Manual Dexterity is often (usually?) going to benefit, we are left with

• Escape
• Filch
• many Sports
• Typing

This isn't the exhaustive list of what Arm DX can benefit, but it is a decent starting point for explaining my confusion. Arm DX really shouldn't benefit all Escape rolls, just those where having a more coordinated limb is relevant. This might be most, but not all; a manacled hand or trapped arm makes sense, but if my leg is caught, it would only make sense if my arm (with Arm DX) is being directly used to free it. Reading the description under Filch on p. B195, I am hard pressed to know why smaller (less than twice hand size?) objects being stolen via this approach don't benefit from High Manual Dexterity, while larger objects might require more body or leg motion, one reason Arm DX doesn't affect Combat Skills. I simply cannot fathom why High Manual Dexterity isn't an example for High Manual Dexterity, save space concerns.

I skipped Sports Skills because... what overall Sport Skill would qualify, as Sports are so closely related to Combat Skills. Even if we go with "specific applications" (techniques?), now we have to explain why Combat Techniques aren't benefiting. While most strikes for melee Combat Skills are going to require the rest of your body, a few would be arm based to the point where stating they shouldn't work probably invalidates any other skill you'd bother giving a bonus... like Escape or Filch. I came to this conclusion "backwards". I was wondering about Sports, trying to think of what sports motions are purely arm based, and I came up empty. For example, throwing a baseball, swinging a bat and just about everything else in baseball? The rest of your body is extremely important; your arms might be where the primary muscle groups for the task are located but your various muscle groups in your back and sides seem to play a very important role, as well as how you position your body.

I would think it more likely Arm DX would apply to certain firing positions (like prone) and Gunner Skills over Sports Skills. That may be because I don't know how GURPS handles detailed shooting: body position and breathing are indeed important, but those would be rolls (not necessarily against DX) I would have the player make before taking the actual shot, which would provide modifiers. If we need to keep things moving, I'd just assign modifiers based on the situation, adjusted for any relevant trait or Skill scores.

I also wonder about the lack of bonuses when using limbs with differing DX scores. I completely understand and agree with denying the full bonus, but the mean of the DX scores seems appropriate (rounded down). If one arm is DX 10 and the other is DX 11, a two armed task has no relevant bonus (this is the usual "system resolution" business). If one arm is DX 12 and the other is DX 10, he shouldn't perform as well as the DX 12 guy but should perform better than the DX 10. At this point, I don't think I would allow this Advantage in games.