Unarmed Combat Again

[Bill_in_IN]

Originally Posted by phiwum

It's certainly the case that some spells already do skew character creation. Fire, Illusion and Staff are very common for PCs and it's common as well for players to aim for Staff III quickly if they don't start with it.

And you're right that Ax/Mace expertise isn't as tempting as Fencing, since folks like the free two-weapons, though that's a bit short-sighted. The two-weapons is limited, I think, to two rapiers, rapier/main gauche or saber/main gauche. And in general, you're not getting better than the 2d-2 damage of a saber, whereas Ax/Mace (or Sword) expertise gets you to real damage with some ST investment.

I have come to the conclusion that starting a wizard without staff 3 is a huge handicap. But, that's just my opinion. It does limit the amount of ST the wizard has. It's a trade off.

Fencing is attractive for a beginning character per the reasons stated. There is also IQ points left to pick up more diverse talents. Via the sacrifice of sinking initial IQ into Weapon/Weapon Expertise and Two Weapons talent (Usually 8 IQ points), you effective start with a fencer if you start with Sword talent but as his ST increases he can wield larger swords than sabers. Fencing also requires that AdjDX be a minimum of 12. Weapons expertise requires DX of 12 and is not linked to AdjDX. So, unlike Fencing, if your armor drops you below DX 12, you still can use these talents. This also applies to the equivalent Axe/Mace, and some unusual weapons.

I have a player with a tank PC that went the Axe/Expertise route. It's worked out well for him. He has limited himself to one hand weapons because he also has shield expertise. So, his damage is a bit limited but he gets to stack the evasive/defensive benefits of weapons and shield expertise. It's a trade off.