Min ST penalties

[pzmcgwire]

Legacy ITL says that if you lack the ST required for a weapon (excepting crossbows):

If your ST is less than that required for the weapon you are using, your DX is -1 for each ST point you lack, and the damage done is -1 for each 2 ST (round damage down) that you lack.

So how does the round down work? If you are 1 ST less, is damage at -1?

If 3 ST less, is damage at -2 or -1?

Now for Crossbows, damage is not changed, but the -1 DX penalty for every ST point lacking remains.

[hcobb]

The final damage is rounded down towards negative infinity.
So lacking 3 ST is -2 damage and -3 DX.

C.f. the Flinger article at TFT Companion page 15.

Hopefully I'll make the Professional thief takes down Flinger video soonish.

[Steve Plambeck]

I beg to disagree with Henry. What is called for (in determining the damage penalty) is taking the number of ST points you are short (say 3) dividing it by 2 (resulting in 1.5), and rounding that result down (dropping the .5) resulting in this case for a penalty of 1.

A better way all such rules could be worded is to say "For every 2 whole entire points you are short (or ahead), apply a penalty (or bonus) of 1." Use of the word "round" can be ambiguous depending on sentence structure, but to say "for every 2 whole points" or "for every 3 whole points" is always clear.

[pzmcgwire]

Originally Posted by Steve Plambeck

I beg to disagree with Henry. What is called for (in determining the damage penalty) is taking the number of ST points you are short (say 3) dividing it by 2 (resulting in 1.5), and rounding that result down (dropping the .5) resulting in this case for a penalty of

So a character with 1 ST below the minimum would have no damage penalty then if we round down.

I agree that this rule could have been worded more precisely.

[Steve Plambeck]

Originally Posted by pzmcgwire

So a character with 1 ST below the minimum would have no damage penalty then if we round down.

That is correct!

[hcobb]

At ITL 107 it is the damage and not the modifier that is rounded down so lacking 1 ST means -1 to the damage the weapon does.