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Old 11-09-2020, 02:51 PM   #5
Anaraxes
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Default Re: ST +2, Only with long knives

This is the sort of thing where I consider the likely utility. How often is a PC actually going to be deprived of their favorite weapon? Sometimes -- the GM might feel like throwing in the traditional tavern brawl where you don't want to be using obviously lethal weapons, or slave gladiators, or captured and escaping prison, or all those good old cliches. Sometimes there will be a fight where you need crushing damage, or a ranged weapon. But almost all the time, the PC is just packing whatever gear they like, and are able to use it. The effective difference between "only with long knives" and "in any melee combat" (in which I happen to prefer to use long knives) is small. The character concept is obviously being built around using exactly those weapons, so we don't have to worry about the space of all possible melee weapons.

Keeping in mind that gamer contract where disads (or limitations) are features the player wants the GM to bring up in play, the more points for the discount, the more often the player should expect to be deprived of his favorite weapon. That also matches the utility and gamist forms of the argument. The narrative one is just "who cares as long as the story is good", but then, the extreme form of that principle argues for not caring about having the discount -- or point balance at all, for that matter.

The Accessibility chart (Powers 99) gives -10% for an 80% probability for "Percentage of Time the Ability Works". But I also expect that the PC isn't going to be unable to use their favorite weapons in even 1 out of 5 fights, much less more often. So -10% might even be generous. I usually feel that chart is a little stingy, though, so it's probably OK. -20% would be unusable half the time, which seems highly unlikely in most games.
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