[MA] Best dirty-fighting style for a callous weakling?

[Kromm]

I didn't say that ST is the only thing that matters. What I said was that reducing ST below average significantly gimps a warrior. Warriors can get by on average or only slightly above-average ST if they have other factors like good DX, HT, and Basic Speed; advantages such as Combat Reflexes and Weapon Master; and/or high skill.

Still, damage is important, and that means ST for those who rely on muscles. In particular, damage bonuses for Weapon Master, while a way to compensate somewhat for low ST, are skill-based and awarded per die of basic ST damage, so they're more pronounced for skilled, strong fighters. Likewise, the weapons with the largest damage adds also have the steepest ST requirements. And at higher TLs, where the muscles don't matter as much, ST 8 means relying mostly on backup pistols, light carbines and SMGs, and the lightest assault rifles, while even ST 10 gives you all but the heaviest pistols, proper battle and sniper rifles, underbarrel grenade launchers, shoulder-launched missiles, and even light flamethrowers.

Moreover, survival relies a fair bit on ST. A ST 10, HT 8 character can wear 56% more armor than a ST 8, HT 10 character, which at modest Wealth translates into about DR 3-4 vs. DR 2 at low TLs. The stronger character also has +2 HP. Faced with other ST 8-10 fighters doing around 1d damage, the stronger one won't even need to roll HT most of the time. At higher TLs, most weapons kill in one shot if they pierce your armor, almost regardless of HT, so the ST to move whilst lugging trauma plates becomes vital. Inasmuch as you can survive, that's more about your medic's skill and gear than your HT, and stronger medics can carry more gear.

Thus, while it makes little sense for a warrior to have less-than-average DX or HT (I wasn't knocking HT above!), it makes almost no sense for him to have below-average ST. There are plenty of paths to "effective warrior," but few of them lead through the land of reduced ST. Which is as it should be . . . I can't think of a type of serious, career warrior that wasn't consistently chosen for physical power.