GURPS Dungeon Fantasy Denizens: Thieves

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by JulianLW

I've been enjoying Thieves a lot, and I'm trying to do some munchkinizing. I have a few questions for the people with the answers.

Darn Dirty Munchkin!

Originally Posted by JulianLW

Acrobatic Attacker on page 21 says "You must specialize by unarmed combat skill or by specific weapon type."

But then in the stat block it has this: "Acrobatic Strikes! [5]. Acrobatic Strikes! is “wildcard perk” that costs 5 (instead of 1) to allow it to work with all applicable skills – in this case, all attacks."

So it seems like something wasn't edited out? If not, what does the Wildcard Perk apply to?

Nope, that's a goof and errata. ARGH. Send it in please.

Originally Posted by JulianLW

Heroic Thrower on page 22 says "If you throw using two hands, all attacks start at a basic -2, but the above penalty accrues separately for each hand; e.g., three attacks with one hand at -8, two with the other at -5. One attack with each hand is at -2 instead of -3. Again, these attacks can target different opponents."

Is that ... right? Heroic Thrower essentially lets you add Rapid Strikes to a Dual-Weapon Attack ... all at half price? And basically halved again since they're applied separately for each hand? Just asking for clarification!

No, it's not. You can't add a Rapid Strike to a DWA because it's basically the same thing with a reduced penalty.

Originally Posted by JulianLW

Heroic Thrower also says "You can use maneuvers or combat options that are normally limited to melee weapon attacks, if they make sense. For example, you could use Feint or Deceptive Attack with thrown weaponry to 'fake out' a target."

So does that mean you could apply Hidden Draw on page 26 with Throwing Art when you use Fast-Draw (Knife)? Could you do that with every Fast-Draw in a Multiple Fast-Draw situation? It says "If you have the relevant Fast-Draw skill at 16+, you don’t have to roll at all!" So if my Fast-Draw (Knife) skill is over 16, does that mean I can draw as many knives as I want?! or should that say "if your effective skill is at 16+ ..."?

Yes, you could. Each knife is at a further penalty... so it's self-limiting and knives don't really do much damage - even with the power-ups I made to MAKE them do more.

Originally Posted by JulianLW

Finally, the perk Better Part of Valor on page 19 says "With a Move and Attack maneuver, you can move directly backward ..." and "With an All-Out Attack, you can move ...."

Does this mean you have to make either a Move and Attack or an All-Out Attack to use this perk? Can you use it with a regular Attack? Was this an omission?

Correct. Move and Attack or an All-Out. That's it. And like, Committed if you're using those rules.

[JulianLW]

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

No, it's not. You can't add a Rapid Strike to a DWA because it's basically the same thing with a reduced penalty.

Well, then ... this is like ... -2 for the first attack, then -3 for the next, then -3 for the next.... Cumulative for each attack. But applied separately for each hand.... This is just its own special thing, then?

A special thing that we're not going to call a half-penalty DWA added to a half-penalty Rapid Strike - but with the penalties applied separately to each hand ... and only for Heroic Throwers?

Because this seems like a way to basically get two extra attacks for every 12 CP added to Throwing Art.... Which the munchkins do like....

So if I cranked Throwing Art up to, like, 26, I could get 10 thrown knife attacks at Throwing Art-12 per turn?! (Assuming that I had Ambidexterity and could soak the -10 Fast-Draw penalty for drawing 5 knives with each hand.)

But I guess I'm just munchkinizing out loud here now. DF Bullseye.

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

Correct. Move and Attack or an All-Out. That's it. And like, Committed if you're using those rules.

Cool cool cool. Thanks for the answers!

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by JulianLW

Well, then ... this is like ... -2 for the first attack, then -3 for the next, then -3 for the next.... Cumulative for each attack. But applied separately for each hand.... This is just its own special thing, then?

No, it's literally just saying you get access to very rapid strike - baseline DF characters can do ONE rapid strike. Those with Heroic Thrower can do a very rapid strike with a -3 per attack past the first. That's it.

Originally Posted by JulianLW

A special thing that we're not going to call a half-penalty DWA added to a half-penalty Rapid Strike - but with the penalties applied separately to each hand ... and only for Heroic Throwers?

No. See above. You could do a DWA if you had a weapon in each hand and thus get two attacks for -2 each (-4 halved) or you could throw three or more and get -3 each after the first. As normal, you cannot combined DWA and Rapid Strike.

Originally Posted by JulianLW

Because this seems like a way to basically get two extra attacks for every 12 CP added to Throwing Art.... Which the munchkins do like....

It would if that's how it worked.

Originally Posted by JulianLW

So if I cranked Throwing Art up to, like, 26, I could get 10 thrown knife attacks at Throwing Art-12 per turn?! (Assuming that I had Ambidexterity and could soak the -10 Fast-Draw penalty for drawing 5 knives with each hand.)

That's a lot of points spent for one trick. So...yeah.

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

Nope, that's a goof and errata. ARGH. Send it in please.

From the description I assumed it meant something like being able to do basic punches, elbow strikes, kicks, headbutts, bites, strikes with natural weapons (teeth, claws, Strikers, etc), and so forth with Acrobatics rather than Brawling. Normally, you can just do one with each Perk, such as for the Acrobatic Kicks Perk. Granted, a wildcard to work for all possible attacks with a skill isn't as useful with most weapon skills (many weapons only have one attack mode, and it's rare for them to have more than two that use the same skill), at least not unless you'd normally restrict the Perk to work with a single weapon design (only Heavy Spear, only Longsword, etc).

[Christopher R. Rice]

It's basically all strikes with a single skill (Acrobatics).

[Donny Brook]

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

Yassss. I've been waiting to see this for over a year now. So happy it's out.

Um ... didn't you write it?

[Farmer]

Originally Posted by Donny Brook

Um ... didn't you write it?

Authors are keen for their work to be published and recieved?

[Donny Brook]

Originally Posted by Farmer

Authors are keen for their work to be published and recieved?

I just figured writers would know when their books are due for release.

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by Donny Brook

I just figured writers would know when their books are due for release.

Um nope.
Even if that were true its still exciting to finally see it in print.
Freelance writers generally know as much as the public do, or at least have the same sources (Kromm's Journal and GURPS News) for knowing what is in the editorial queue and the rough order.
We might know a bit earlier if we see the preview PDF for our review before were publicly announced as next in line. However that often does not happen. Even if you think you are next in line things can happen and you get bumped.
So most of us likely have less than 30 days notice and even then we cant be positive.

[Donny Brook]

Originally Posted by Refplace

Um nope.
Even if that were true its still exciting to finally see it in print.
Freelance writers generally know as much as the public do, or at least have the same sources (Kromm's Journal and GURPS News) for knowing what is in the editorial queue and the rough order.
We might know a bit earlier if we see the preview PDF for our review before were publicly announced as next in line. However that often does not happen. Even if you think you are next in line things can happen and you get bumped.
So most of us likely have less than 30 days notice and even then we cant be positive.

Hm. Quite a peculiar industry, at least compared to my experiences.