07-28-2021, 01:33 PM | #1 |
Join Date: May 2018
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Should you have to be smart to be a weapon expert or master?
Weapon Expertise require IQ11 and DX12. I understand DX as being a pre-requisite as you need to be accurate with your weapons.
If Missile Weapons is available at IQ9 and wouldn't being better able to calculate trajectories and angle of fire require more smarts than engaging skillfully in hand to hand combat, then should Weapons Expertise be more appropriate to be available at a lower IQ than 11? Shield Expertise is available at IQ10 and aforementioned Missile Weapons is available at IQ9. Neither has a DX requirement either. To get to the next level of Weapon Mastery or Fencing Master, an IQ of 13 is needed, requiring a relatively high IQ. Last edited by pzmcgwire; 07-28-2021 at 02:08 PM. |
07-28-2021, 02:20 PM | #2 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Pacheco, California
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Re: Should you have to be smart to be a weapon master?
My head canon is that weapon experts are experts at reading their foes and have the reflexes to act on their observations.
That's how they get the extra damage in while avoiding getting hit themselves. 9/12/11 Fencer with ordinary rapier averages 3.43 damage per turn 9/15/8 swordsman with ordinary rapier averages 3.42 damage per turn So the advanced talent isn't buying any DPS.
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-HJC Last edited by hcobb; 07-28-2021 at 02:28 PM. |
07-28-2021, 04:22 PM | #3 |
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: New England
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Re: Should you have to be smart to be a weapon master?
No, you probably shouldn't need such a high IQ for Weapon Expertise and Weapon Mastery. Here are some additional thoughts on the talents.
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07-28-2021, 06:02 PM | #4 |
Join Date: Sep 2007
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Re: Should you have to be smart to be a weapon master?
But, you've also bested my Spaniard, which means you must have studied...
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07-28-2021, 06:31 PM | #5 |
Join Date: Sep 2018
Location: North Texas
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Re: Should you have to be smart to be a weapon master?
No, but as Vizzini points out, all of the ACTs (Advanced Combat Talents) should require formal training/study IMO.
We're straying into house-rules now, but I like to use the model established for the talents that can only be acquired from the Thieves' Guild (i.e. DETECT and REMOVE TRAPS). Learning FENCING, for example, requires time, a teacher and cash.
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“No matter how subtle the wizard, a knife between the shoulder blades will seriously cramp his style.” -Vladimir Taltos |
07-28-2021, 07:12 PM | #6 |
Join Date: Jul 2018
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Re: Should you have to be smart to be a weapon master?
"Learning FENCING, for example, requires time, a teacher and cash."
And the capacity to learn. . . The best fencers I've ever fenced, or have observed while fencing, (and then actually interacted with) have all been fairly above average in intelligence. When I say "fenced," I'm talking about both sport and HEMA. You don't have to be a genius, but raw athleticism will only take you so far in these disciplines. So to answer the OP - yes, you have to be smart. IQ 13 might be on the edge, but I don't think it's too much of a stretch. |
07-28-2021, 08:37 PM | #7 |
Join Date: May 2018
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Re: Should you have to be smart to be a weapon master?
I see Weapons Expertise and Mastery more as something acquired more through combat experience and not so much through study and practice, so the high IQ requirement seems a bit dissonant. An expert swordsman may not necessarily be able to become a scholar, mathematician, or chemist, but that's what IQ 13 also enables.
So expert archers can be dumber than an expert swordsman is what TFT RAW seems to imply, whereas I think it's an expert archer who might make a better mathematician. Last edited by pzmcgwire; 07-28-2021 at 08:40 PM. |
07-28-2021, 08:38 PM | #8 |
Join Date: Sep 2018
Location: North Texas
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Re: Should you have to be smart to be a weapon master?
I'm not sure the hot-blooded elites who killed each other off by the thousands in duels during the 16 and 1700s were all that smart. Well-educated, sure, but not too bright. ;)
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“No matter how subtle the wizard, a knife between the shoulder blades will seriously cramp his style.” -Vladimir Taltos |
07-28-2021, 09:02 PM | #9 | |
Join Date: Sep 2018
Location: North Texas
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Re: Should you have to be smart to be a weapon master?
Quote:
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“No matter how subtle the wizard, a knife between the shoulder blades will seriously cramp his style.” -Vladimir Taltos Last edited by TippetsTX; 07-28-2021 at 09:29 PM. |
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07-28-2021, 09:06 PM | #10 | |
Join Date: Jul 2018
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Re: Should you have to be smart to be a weapon master?
Quote:
I still believe that actual expertise/mastery requires a fair bit of IQ. |
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