[Combat]: Do you bow, bro?

[Kalzazz]

I really hate the mad reliance on weapon bond

Not everyone should be using weapon bond. Most weapons should just be random weapons you are using today, that you may get broken or find a better one tomorrow

Weapon Bond only really comes into its own at higher TL when you can afford nice weapons as sig gear and arent as likely to find cooler weapons in dungeons

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by Kalzazz

I really hate the mad reliance on weapon bond

Not everyone should be using weapon bond. Most weapons should just be random weapons you are using today, that you may get broken or find a better one tomorrow

Weapon Bond only really comes into its own at higher TL when you can afford nice weapons as sig gear and arent as likely to find cooler weapons in dungeons

In Low Tech periods, many weapons are pretty expensive, hard to replace, and personal property of their user. An archer probably would use a single bow exclusively for years.

In High Tech periods you're a lot more likely to be using issued weapons or to be able to afford to treat your weapon as disposeable.

[Kalzazz]

At TL 8, 1pt in sig gear is 10k, quite enough for (many, though not all) really shiny guns, so buying a sig gear gun and weapon bond and such can make sense

At TL 3, 1pt in sig gear is 500, which is not enough for a Composite Bow, let alone one with cool options (its not enough for a good quality thrusting broadsword either)

Want to make a Balanced Thrusting broadsword? Thats +3000, thats 6pts in sig gear, youd be better off just putting 4pts into Broadsword skill

As a DM, I am probably going to A - make opportunities for getting cooler weapons available, and B - make opportunities for getting weapons lost, destroyed, whatever available

I am probably not the only DM who does such a thing . . . . . so, I am really really dubious about Weapon Bond being a good idea at times

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by Tomsdad

We all walk*, we have for the sake of using this thread's context 'a high skill in walking', so high in fact it would take severe negative mods for us to have to "roll" our walking skill even in combat. Most falling in normal circumstances would be more akin to critical failure, not a skill 10 person missing a close range attack.

We in fact take years to gain our mastery of the skill of walking - up to the age of five, I'm frankly not surprised when a child just falls over for no particular reason. Five years of extensive daily practice to just gain fairly reliable stability. Up to the age of seven or eight, if the child is running around, I'm still not surprised when they trip over their feet or otherwise utterly miscalculate - simple "running" is just a task difficulty modifier on top of "walking". Not "Running" as in skilled running, but just being able to get over 1-2 yards per second by a controlled increase in your instability.

[Celjabba]

Originally Posted by Kalzazz

I really hate the mad reliance on weapon bond

Not everyone should be using weapon bond. Most weapons should just be random weapons you are using today, that you may get broken or find a better one tomorrow

Weapon Bond only really comes into its own at higher TL when you can afford nice weapons as sig gear and arent as likely to find cooler weapons in dungeons

In a realist setting, a low-tech archer who trained every day for years to achieve high skill and upper body strenght, usually with the same bow, is one of the most credible candidate for weapon bond, imho.
And it have excellent value for an archer.

In a fantasy setting, especially a diablo-like game, yes, it is probably not a smart choice for a primary weapon user.

Celjabba

[Bruno]

On the subject of walking critical failures, sometimes people really do just totally fail at walking. I know of at least one person who just totally snapped her Achilles tendon by walking across a flat indoor floor. No particular provocation, it just went pop. Her doctor told her she wasn't a freak case either; a very small minority, but not exotic.

I've severely dislocated an ankle under similar conditions. No idea why, all the little bones just went higgledypiggledy in my ankle, ripped some stuff, pretty ugly.

And some babies more-or-less skip the falling-on-their-faces stage entirely by spending an extra six months closely studying other people's walking (and perhaps practicing standing at night in their cribs when nobody's watching). Watching someone's late-walking kid go straight to running is disconcerting, but clearly some people are just good at some stuff.

I was not particularly good with the bow the first time I used it; I was hard pressed to get the arrow to leave the bow in any sort of organized fashion at all, let alone where I wanted it to or any significant distance. Another girl in my class flat out broke the bow the first time she tried, and then after that was so terrified of breaking the replacement she basically couldn't draw it any more.

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by Kalzazz

At TL 8, 1pt in sig gear is 10k, quite enough for (many, though not all) really shiny guns, so buying a sig gear gun and weapon bond and such can make sense

At TL 3, 1pt in sig gear is 500, which is not enough for a Composite Bow, let alone one with cool options (its not enough for a good quality thrusting broadsword either)

Want to make a Balanced Thrusting broadsword? Thats +3000, thats 6pts in sig gear, youd be better off just putting 4pts into Broadsword skill

As a DM, I am probably going to A - make opportunities for getting cooler weapons available, and B - make opportunities for getting weapons lost, destroyed, whatever available

I am probably not the only DM who does such a thing . . . . . so, I am really really dubious about Weapon Bond being a good idea at times

You don't have to buy your weapons as Signature Gear to buy Weapon Bond. And aggressively making sure PCs regularly lose non-Signature gear, to my mind, is simply meanspirited. I mean, you might lose the non-Signature weapon you've got a Bond to, but most people really don't go through very many swords...

Sure, under certain tropes the PCs may be expecting their starting gear to be replaced with something shinier soon. That just means they should wait to pick up the Weapon Bond after they've gotten the nicer weapon.

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by Kalzazz

I really hate the mad reliance on weapon bond

Not everyone should be using weapon bond. Most weapons should just be random weapons you are using today, that you may get broken or find a better one tomorrow

Weapon Bond only really comes into its own at higher TL when you can afford nice weapons as sig gear and arent as likely to find cooler weapons in dungeons

I personally think you shouldn't be buying weapon bond unless you've already paid for signature gear and the weapon is uniquely yours. As in its an heirloom, has game-granularity customizations, or you use it despite it being an odd choice for who you are.

[Tomsdad]

Originally Posted by Bruno

We in fact take years to gain our mastery of the skill of walking - up to the age of five, I'm frankly not surprised when a child just falls over for no particular reason. Five years of extensive daily practice to just gain fairly reliable stability. Up to the age of seven or eight, if the child is running around, I'm still not surprised when they trip over their feet or otherwise utterly miscalculate - simple "running" is just a task difficulty modifier on top of "walking". Not "Running" as in skilled running, but just being able to get over 1-2 yards per second by a controlled increase in your instability.

Very good point

Cheers

TD

[Tomsdad]

I tend to view weapon bond more just as extra familiarity and adaptation to a specific weapon, rather than anything more so not requiring tying to signature gear. I think it's very apt for a melee weapon that relies on balance, and a missile weapon that can be tailored to fit the user.

I think its also very in keeping bonus to give more elite troops who will have had time to develop one, and thus another advantage they get over conscripts, levy's etc. that can be leveraged

It is of course about the cheapest +1 in the game though!

The advantage that TL give you, is at TL4 you need time to work and practice and develop a familiarity with the weapon, as well maybe few adaptations.

At Higher TL's if they have the resources to devote to it kit can be tailored to you specifically with less time being devoted by the user (but still some time obviously)