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Old 04-15-2021, 07:22 AM   #2
ericthered
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Default Re: A flurry of questions about martial artists

Those questions feel very gurpsy, but...

Quote:
Originally Posted by tbone View Post

7) TbaM + WM
Trained by a Master and Weapon Master are a legal combo, right? The combination would offer improved weapon damage and improved weapon skill defaults from Weapon Master, access to chi skills thanks to Trained by a Master, and a halving of the Rapid Strike penalty thanks to either advantage – or should that be a quartering of the penalties thanks to the two advantages?


I take it from the pre-gen character Glint that the combination is perfectly kosher, and that the penalty reductions aren't doubled. The latter seems unfortunate to me, as it implies some wasted overlap between the two expensive advantages. But that aside, is my understanding correct?

13) Breakdown of tricky advantages
Not that it's a big problem, but the workings of esoteric combat power-up advantages (Trained by a Master, Weapon Master, Unarmed Master, Heroic Archer, etc.), each with its own (but sometimes overlapping) effects, always leave me re-checking exactly which advantage does what.

Out of curiosity, has anyone broken these advantages down into individually-priced components? (I suspect there's a thread for that.)

Ravens n' Pennies has a blog post that makes an attempt at breaking down those "Tricky Advantages". I've seen a few different folks use it.



This can also be used to calculate the overlap between Trained by a master and weapon master


Quote:
4) Mental Strength vs Mind Shield
I'm trying to understand the merits of Mental Strength (prevents against attacks targeting Will only) versus Mind Shield (prevents against attacks targeting Will, IQ, or Per; prevents against location attempts). Mental Strength's first +1 boost over plain Will is a little cheaper, but beyond that, Mind Shield seems more powerful, and even works when the MA is asleep.

The answer might lie in the line "If Magic Resistance or Mind Shield would help, Mental Strength gets the same bonus" - which I take to mean "if resistance would benefit from Mind Shield, you can roll vs Mental Strength + Mind Shield". But isn't it still all-around better to sink points into Mind Shield alone? I think I'm missing something.

(Side note: The cleric, druid, wizard, and MA all have access to Mind Shield. Seems to me it'd be a fair addition to the holy warrior template, too; spiritual warfare is part of their gig.)

Honestly... I think the two stack. I'd certainly do that in my games. so you spend 4 points to get a +2 with mental strength, and the rest of the time you buy mind shield.
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