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Old 02-19-2019, 07:03 AM   #1
malloyd
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Default Cost of Long Legs?

I know that SM has been a problem since 4e came out, but has there ever been any sort of official fix to the price or benefits of this?

I can pay 10 points for Long Legs and get an ill-defined improved ability to step over things, and no extra reach (+1 SM gives +0).

Or I could take +1 SM via Gigantism, and get the same thing, plus +1 to Move which the Extra Legs don't give, plus whatever the benefits are of Long Arms without the damage bonus, plus the Intimidation and assorted grappling bonuses of higher SM, for 0 points.

Sure I can house rule it easily enough, but I'd like to stay as consistent as possible with anything already out there.
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Old 02-19-2019, 08:01 AM   #2
Humabout
 
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Default Re: Cost of Long Legs?

Price - not to my knowledge.

Benefits - I'd check Combat Writ Large in Pyramid #3/77 - Combat. Long Legs should give benefits for attacking from different heights. It also extends the Reach of your kicks, depending on what SM bonus you get and what SM you were originally.

General Comment - You're not wrong that Gigantism is super cheap (imo). You do still get all of those benefits, plus a Reach benefit for all attacks that originate from your arms, the speed bonus, and 10% reduction in the price of ST and HP at the cost of a penalty to Disguise and Shadowing, "a Social Stigma" in "backwards settings", and a potential penalty to hit smaller opponents in melee combat. That's a heck of a lot for [0], with the only major combat drawback being the penalty to hit. So Gigantism is almost a no-brainer for melee combat-oriented PCs who don't expect to attempt much social interaction.

[EDIT]
I forgot to include this:

Long Legs - Remember that these increase only the SM of your legs for targeting hit locations in combat, and they don't affect your base SM for calculating melee combat penalties for attacking different sized opponents or being hit.
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Last edited by Humabout; 02-19-2019 at 08:08 AM.
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Old 02-19-2019, 08:04 AM   #3
naloth
 
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Default Re: Cost of Long Legs?

+1 overall SM also gives you a +1 to be hit. Long legs usually doesn't and you can even make them switchable (foldable?) for 1 more point (switchable +10%) so you can pass for normal when you don't need to step over objects.
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Old 02-19-2019, 08:07 AM   #4
Humabout
 
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Default Re: Cost of Long Legs?

Quote:
Originally Posted by naloth View Post
for 1 more point (switchable +10%) so you can pass for normal when you don't need to step over objects.
... assuming you're not a spider or a human with freaky-long legs or a strider from War of the Worlds or Half-Life 2 or ...

Point is just that because something is in Basic Set, you can't assume that it's in play or that the GM would even consider allowing it for your particular concept.
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Old 02-19-2019, 10:35 AM   #5
Anthony
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
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Default Re: Cost of Long Legs?

The issue with SM is that it has a large number of disadvantages (which are scattered over various books) and long arms/legs don't have those.

That said, it would be a lot better if SM were broken up into a proper metatrait, and effects such as long arms/legs were just buying the reach element of SM.
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Old 02-19-2019, 04:06 PM   #6
smurf
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Default Re: Cost of Long Legs?

Long Legs 10pts

Increases effective SM for the purpose of calculating reach when it kicking (B402).

See B55 under Extra Legs.
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Old 02-19-2019, 06:23 PM   #7
Flyndaran
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Default Re: Cost of Long Legs?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Anthony View Post
The issue with SM is that it has a large number of disadvantages (which are scattered over various books) and long arms/legs don't have those.

That said, it would be a lot better if SM were broken up into a proper metatrait, and effects such as long arms/legs were just buying the reach element of SM.
I think the biggest issue with SM is how only some of the advantages and disadvantages are relevant in all games. Many are just not important to most players and GMs.
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Old 02-20-2019, 08:53 AM   #8
Plane
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Default Re: Cost of Long Legs?

Quote:
Originally Posted by malloyd View Post
I know that SM has been a problem since 4e came out, but has there ever been any sort of official fix to the price or benefits of this?

I can pay 10 points for Long Legs and get an ill-defined improved ability to step over things, and no extra reach (+1 SM gives +0).

Or I could take +1 SM via Gigantism, and get the same thing, plus +1 to Move which the Extra Legs don't give, plus whatever the benefits are of Long Arms without the damage bonus, plus the Intimidation and assorted grappling bonuses of higher SM, for 0 points.
I didn't know higher SM increased your move, where did I overlook that? I think the primary benefit to JUST having long legs is that there's no +1 to observe/hit your torso/arms/head
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Old 02-20-2019, 09:52 AM   #9
Flyndaran
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Default Re: Cost of Long Legs?

Positive SM alone doesn't increase move. Only Gigantism, the disadvantage, which includes a bump in SM, gives a boost to move.
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