Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post - [Powers/Thaumatology] Rethinking ST-based

cmdicely · 07-26-2008, 03:35 PM

Powers introduced (and Thaumatology reprinted and made significant use of, in the context of enchanted weapons as powers/characters) a variant of the Melee Attack limitation called Melee Attack (ST-based) which, in short, added a +100% enhancement to an attack with the Melee Attack limitation to allow certain innate attacks to have their effect enhanced by the characters inherent ST-based swing or thrust damage.

There seem to be a few problems with this modifier: Both Powers and Thaumatology recommend restricting its use because it is more efficient than Striking ST. Because it stacks on top of base thrust or swing damage, it can't be used to model, e.g., enchanted weapons that have less than base thrust or swing damage, as many smaller weapons might if their enchantments don't include damage bonuses. And, since it requires the Melee Attack limitation, you can't build muscle power ranged weapons with it.

As I've been thinking about how to put together a fantasy campaign using Powers as the basic model for magic (both spellcasting and modelling enchanted items), and because weapons are no small part of that, I thought it would be good to have a way of building ST-based attacks that was both better balanced and more general. What I've come up with is the following revised and new modifiers, which I think together provide a more balanced and general way of modelling muscle-powered attacks (ranged or melee) as advantages:

Modified

Melee Attack
The Cannot Parry option is now -10%, rather than -5%. New options include Fencing Weapon (+0%), the attack is treated as a Fencing weapon as described on p. 404 of the Basic Set, Unbalanced (-5%), which means that the attack cannot parry on the same turn that it has been used to attack (just like a weapon with the 'U' modifier in its parry rating), and Unready (-5%), which means that the attack becomes unready after being used to attack (just like a weapon with the double-dagger notation on its ST rating). An attack must have either Unbalanced or Cannot Parry in order to take Unready.

Limited Use
An attack with this modifier can have very fast (2 second) or ultrafast (1 second) reloads. These multiply the base value of the limitation by 1/4 (very fast) or 1/8 (ultrafast). [Note that, for Limited Use/1, this is equivalent to the same amount of Takes Extra Time, halved to account for the fact that the extra time does not need to be immediately before the next use of the attack.]

New

(Attack modifier) ST-limited (-10%)

Your ability's effect is limited by your ST, just like a muscle-powered melee or ranged weapon (with appropriate gadget limitations, your ability might be a muscle-powered weapon). To determine your attacks statistics:

Choose the Maximum ST that the power can use (the attack's ST will be 1/3 this value if it is a Melee Attack, or equal to the selected Maximum ST otherwise), and choose whether the attack will be based on swing or thrust damage (ranged attacks should almost invariably be based on swing damage). Subtract the base thrust or swing damage, as appropriate, for the chosen Maximum ST from your abilities total damage, this gives you the damage bonus (or penalty) the ability provides. For example, an ST-limited attack with a 4d base damage, based on swing damage and Max. ST of 18 (3d swing), would do Swing+1d damage.
If your ability is a ranged attack divide the calculated 1/2D and Max after all other modifiers are applied by the Max ST chosen for the attack to get the range multipliers for the attack. E.g., a ranged attack with a range of 50/100 before applying this rule, designed for a Max ST of 10, would have a range of ×5/×10.
If your attack is a ranged attack, choose whether effective ST is fixed (like a crossbow) or limited by your current ST (like a bow). In the fixed-ST case, the statistics of the attack are always figured with the attack's ST [so you always will get maximum effect], but you cannot use the attack at all when you have less than the attack's ST, unless you have taken Limited Use with a reload modifier; in that case the time it takes to reload the weapon depends on both the base time and your current ST (and possibly available equipment), just as for a crossbow.

(Attack modifier) Thrown Weapon (-35%)
The attack must be thrown at the target and later recovered; this is essentially a form of Limited Use/1 (Slow Reload). This modifier must be accompanied with appropriate gadget limitations.

07-26-2008, 03:35 PM	#1
cmdicely Join Date: Aug 2004	[Powers/Thaumatology] Rethinking ST-based Powers introduced (and *Thaumatology* reprinted and made significant use of, in the context of enchanted weapons as powers/characters) a variant of the Melee Attack limitation called Melee Attack (ST-based) which, in short, added a +100% enhancement to an attack with the Melee Attack limitation to allow certain innate attacks to have their effect enhanced by the characters inherent ST-based swing or thrust damage. There seem to be a few problems with this modifier: Both *Powers* and *Thaumatology* recommend restricting its use because it is more efficient than Striking ST. Because it stacks on top of base thrust or swing damage, it can't be used to model, e.g., enchanted weapons that have less than base thrust or swing damage, as many smaller weapons might if their enchantments don't include damage bonuses. And, since it requires the Melee Attack limitation, you can't build muscle power ranged weapons with it. As I've been thinking about how to put together a fantasy campaign using *Powers* as the basic model for magic (both spellcasting and modelling enchanted items), and because weapons are no small part of that, I thought it would be good to have a way of building ST-based attacks that was both better balanced and more general. What I've come up with is the following revised and new modifiers, which I think together provide a more balanced and general way of modelling muscle-powered attacks (ranged or melee) as advantages: Modified Melee Attack The Cannot Parry option is now -10%, rather than -5%. New options include Fencing Weapon (+0%), the attack is treated as a Fencing weapon as described on p. 404 of the Basic Set, Unbalanced (-5%), which means that the attack cannot parry on the same turn that it has been used to attack (just like a weapon with the 'U' modifier in its parry rating), and Unready (-5%), which means that the attack becomes unready after being used to attack (just like a weapon with the double-dagger notation on its ST rating). An attack must have either Unbalanced or Cannot Parry in order to take Unready. Limited Use An attack with this modifier can have very fast (2 second) or ultrafast (1 second) reloads. These multiply the base value of the limitation by 1/4 (very fast) or 1/8 (ultrafast). [Note that, for Limited Use/1, this is equivalent to the same amount of Takes Extra Time, halved to account for the fact that the extra time does not need to be immediately before the next use of the attack.] New (Attack modifier) ST-limited (-10%) Your ability's effect is limited by your ST, just like a muscle-powered melee or ranged weapon (with appropriate gadget limitations, your ability might be a muscle-powered weapon). To determine your attacks statistics: Choose the Maximum ST that the power can use (the attack's ST will be 1/3 this value if it is a Melee Attack, or equal to the selected Maximum ST otherwise), and choose whether the attack will be based on swing or thrust damage (ranged attacks should almost invariably be based on swing damage). Subtract the base thrust or swing damage, as appropriate, for the chosen Maximum ST from your abilities total damage, this gives you the damage bonus (or penalty) the ability provides. For example, an ST-limited attack with a 4d base damage, based on swing damage and Max. ST of 18 (3d swing), would do Swing+1d damage. If your ability is a ranged attack divide the calculated 1/2D and Max after all other modifiers are applied by the Max ST chosen for the attack to get the range multipliers for the attack. E.g., a ranged attack with a range of 50/100 before applying this rule, designed for a Max ST of 10, would have a range of ×5/×10. If your attack is a ranged attack, choose whether effective ST is fixed (like a crossbow) or limited by your current ST (like a bow). In the fixed-ST case, the statistics of the attack are always figured with the attack's ST [so you always will get maximum effect], but you cannot use the attack at all when you have less than the attack's ST, unless you have taken Limited Use with a reload modifier; in that case the time it takes to reload the weapon depends on both the base time and your current ST (and possibly available equipment), just as for a crossbow. (Attack modifier) Thrown Weapon (-35%) The attack must be thrown at the target and later recovered; this is essentially a form of Limited Use/1 (Slow Reload). This modifier must be accompanied with appropriate gadget limitations.