Multi-Aim: What is it good for?

[tbone]

Originally Posted by kirbwarrior

That's actually what I thought might be fair. 6pts to be able to Aim at every single target, which still costs an action, might be fine. And there's definitely diminishing returns on each level, so there's very likely some fair finite price for infinite targets.

That's a good way to approach it. Essentially, the ability is "Apply the effects of Aim to any target chosen freely when firing, not one target specified at the start of aiming." There should be some fair cost for that, as you say; with that in hand, it's just a matter of figuring out fair costs for the in-between levels of "Apply the effects of Aim to any of n targets specified at the start of aiming" (where 1 < n < any number).

Musing a bit more:

Scouts complicate things a bit as Heroic Archer essentially gives them "Reduce the time required for Aim by 1 second" in most situations. That is, the usual 1 second of Aim to gain the Acc bonus becomes a free action; the further +1 or +2 TH bonuses from 2 or 3+ seconds of Aim are gained at only 1 or 2+ seconds of Aim.

Scouts pay for that ability with Heroic Archer. Hence my suggestion that, however a fair price for Enhanced Tracking is figured for the general case, and however that's adjusted through limitations and enhancements to build scouts' Multi-Aim in particular, "Weapon Acc Does Not Apply to Extra Targets" is arguably one of the limitations that should be worked into the latter (so scouts aren't paying again for a benefit they've already bought).

Originally Posted by sir pudding

Allowing DWA for bows in DFRPG would make a big difference. Especially if Heroic Archer only adds Acc if you are shooting at one target.

I think what you have in mind is MA's Dual-Weapon Attack (p. 83) and Multiple Fast-Draw (p. 103) to shoot two arrows at once, even at two different targets. DF 11 (p. 32) makes that easier with Double-Shot. (Kromm expands that to Triple-Shot and better here.)

Double-Shot (which has Heroic Archer as its prerequisite) makes clear that you only get your Acc bonus against one target, unless you have Enhanced Tracking/Multi-Aim. So this is an area where Multi-Aim would actually shine: If you bring Double-Shot (and Triple-Shot, etc.) over to DFRPG, and if a scout uses that to shoot at 2+ targets, each level of Multi-Aim lets Acc (and +1/+2 TH if turns of Aim are used) apply to one more target.

Hm. That doesn't change my opinion that Multi-Aim should have a pretty low cost, but the trait does become interesting if combined with Double-Shot.

Anyway, I'm not doing anything here other than reciting rules. Just trying to get it all set down clearly, in case I or someone wants to later take a shot at calculating a fair cost for Multi-Aim.

[benz72]

Originally Posted by tbone

Maybe even add an enhancement:

• allows stacking the acc bonus, even if you've already taken it with heroic archer

Why not just let someone with an accurate weapon in a fantasy setting double the bonus if there are two traits, each paid with points, that allow the PC to use the bonus? What breaks?

[tbone]

Originally Posted by benz72

Why not just let someone with an accurate weapon in a fantasy setting double the bonus if there are two traits, each paid with points, that allow the PC to use the bonus? What breaks?

In the big picture, "What breaks?" will be a case-by-case thing. When theory and testing show no problem, then yeah, just let things stack! Easier than fiddling with trait costs to fix spots of double-charging.

In the case under discussion, though, what would we have? The pricey Multi-Aim lets a scout gain the Acc bonus against additional targets. Cool, but the scout already bought an Acc bonus vs all targets through Heroic Archer. So, if we just let those Acc bonuses stack...

The scout now enjoys the Acc bonus versus one target (thanks to Heroic Archer), but enjoys twice the Acc bonus versus additional targets (thanks to Heroic Archer and Multi-Aim)? I don't think I'd want that...