Alternate Core Documents

[Godna]

Added a new Tier 0 weapon to the weapons table: the Red Racer BB Gun.

Honestly, I would hope that whether or not an unarmed weapon qualifies as "bladed" would be self-evident. I don't want the rules to devolve into intelligence-insulting levels of over-clarification. So let's just leave bladed unarmed weapons in the realm of "If you're not sure, consult your GM."

Well there are also a great deal of weapons on the list I have no clue what the heck look like. So there is insulting intelligence and then there is just legit not knowing.

[Octavia]

Added a new Tier 0 weapon to the weapons table: the Red Racer BB Gun.

Honestly, I would hope that whether or not an unarmed weapon qualifies as "bladed" would be self-evident. I don't want the rules to devolve into intelligence-insulting levels of over-clarification. So let's just leave bladed unarmed weapons in the realm of "If you're not sure, consult your GM."

Well, if you look at any other PNP RPG out there, they over-clarify everything in order to keep the rules coherent so theres no real debate about what does what. Take DnD 4E, for example. They have keywords on everything, even if 'Poison Strike' is obviously a poison attack, they still have the poison keyword on it. Its there so you can say 'Hey, this enemy has poison resistance, so its not going to take as much damage.' There cant be any arguments whether or not its poison, because it says it right there in the power keywords; There is no room for arguing, which is good, because arguing slows the game down immensely. I see keywords as things to keep the mechanics unambiguous.

EDIT: Actually, I think a better example would be 'Numbing Shot' in DnD 4e. A players perception of the power could cause arguments over it without proper keywords. It sounds like it could be poison, and it also sounds like it could be just like someone getting hit in a specific way that makes them numb, such as exploiting a pressure point. Only when you look at the keywords do you see that it isn't a poison attack at all.

[SilverlightPony]

To play "devil's advocate" here for a second, a lot of experienced tabletop RPG players consider D&D 4th Edition to be "Babby's First RPG", so, perhaps not a shining example of the best way to construct a system.

[Warp]

To play "devil's advocate" here for a second, a lot of experienced tabletop RPG players consider D&D 4th Edition to be "Babby's First RPG", so, perhaps not a shining example of the best way to construct a system.

And a great deal of them also adore the system No one system will ever be hailed as unanimously beloved, and even if you don't necessarily care for something, that doesn't by extension invalidate every design philosophy that went into creating the system in the first place.

But, seeing as they are nearly 100% subjective and usually quite mired in very heated and...err..."passionate" opinions, I don't think edition wars discussions much lend themselves to engendering a positive or constructive atmosphere when it comes to discussing game design. I'll just mention that the concept of keywords for equipment attributes in a game's source material isn't exactly exclusive to 4e, nor is it a new concept by any stretch. We already use it with FO:E, even, considering weapons have things like "silenced" or "scoped" or "unwieldy" or "unlucky" on the weapon list already. Those all affect how a weapon functions in battle, and for gryphon unarmed specialists, a "bladed" attribute on the applicable weapons would be just as useful to have since it directly affects whether or not they get to use one of their abilities to its fullest. Especially, as Godna said, there are either weapons that are ambiguously sharp (body spikes, bear trap fist, spiked knuckles, etc.), or weapons where you just plain may not really know what they look like or how you really attack with them (yao guai helmet, mantis helmet.)

I don't think either way it will affect the game too terribly, but I agree clarification on this would be nice to have, since it may influence a character's weapon choice and would prevent future confusion or hold ups mid-session.

[Octavia]

To play "devil's advocate" here for a second, a lot of experienced tabletop RPG players consider D&D 4th Edition to be "Babby's First RPG", so, perhaps not a shining example of the best way to construct a system.

4th Edition is a fine system, and its not really given a fair shot by a lot of people. Anyway, the system is irrelevant to the issue at hand, I was just using it as an example.

[Godna]

counter point. 3.5 The system of choice for many of those folks did something similiar with both their spells and weapons. Including damage typing and spell descriptors.

[Kkat]

Corrected Lead Rain to also have a Magical Energy Weapons option.

[uSea]

It was pointed that special ammo like Hollow Point rounds gave crazy damage bonuses. They were based on HP rounds from New Vegas, which did Damage x 1.75 and Target DT x 3. Of course, +39ish damage for a Hunting Rifle might work in a single player video game but is a kinda ridiculous boost in a multiplayer PnP setting.

Special ammo types are being looked at again. Expect them to give less bonus damage than they do at the moment (HP rounds in particular).

New Text: Your character has probably read of Big Iron or Shootout at Cherry Hill Ranch and managed to learn a thing or two. Choose a combat style: Battle Saddles, Firearms or Magical Energy Weapons. This perk reduces the AP cost of each attack using your chosen style by 5 AP, up to a maximum savings of 35 AP.

I really like this idea. It keeps the uniqueness of those perks without letting them get out of hand.

-

Also, I don't mind adding a rule like 'Bladed' (or maybe 'Sharp') to melee/unarmed weapons to aid clarity. I've had some ideas about a very simple Bleeding mechanic (mostly to give medics something to do with bandages) and a rule like this would fit right in.

[Kkat]

Having reworked Lead Rain and Gladiator Pony, it has become necessary to revamp the spell Spirit of Wind. As it is, the spell is hugely overpowered.

The original version looked like this:

Spirit of Wind
Basic (Cost 15): Duration lasts (Potency) minutes. Weapons imbued with Spirit of Wind reduce their AP cost to use by (Potency * 2) (minimum AP cost 10). Characters wearing clothing imbued with Spirit of Wind may make an extra move action during their turn for free, as can vehicles and robots imbued with this spell.
Advanced (Cost 30): Duration lasts (Potency * 10) minutes.
Expert (Cost 50): Duration lasts (Potency) hours.

New Version:

Spirit of Wind
Basic (Cost 15): Duration lasts (Potency) minutes. Weapons imbued with Spirit of Wind reduce their AP cost to use by (Potency) to a minimum AP cost of 10 and a maximum AP savings per turn of (Potency + 15). Characters wearing clothing imbued with Spirit of Wind may make an extra move action during their turn for free, as can vehicles and robots imbued with this spell.
Advanced (Cost 30): When cast on weapons, the maximum AP savings becomes (Potency +20). In addition to the benefits of the basic version of this spell, Characters wearing clothing or operating vehicles imbued with Spirit of Wind gain one-for-one benefits for spending remaining AP on dodging at the end of their turn, as can robots imbued with this spell. Duration lasts (Potency * 10) minutes.
Expert (Cost 50): Weapons imbued with Spirit of Wind reduce their AP cost to use by (Potency + 5) to a minimum AP cost of 10 and a maximum AP savings per turn of (Potency + 25). In addition to the benefits of the advanced version of this spell, characters wearing clothing imbued with Spirit of Wind may make an additional extra move action (for a total of two) during their turn for free, as can vehicles and robots imbued with this spell. Duration lasts (Potency) hours.
Note: The reduction to AP from Spirit of Wind stacks with the reductions from the perks Gladiator Pony and Lead Rain, but no combination of AP cost reducers can reduce a weapon’s AP cost below 10. In addition, the maximum AP savings do not stack -- only the higher value applies.

[Godna]

Note: The reduction to AP from Spirit of Wind stacks with the reductions from the perks Gladiator Pony and Lead Rain, but no combination of AP cost reducers can reduce a weapon’s AP cost below 10. In addition, the maximum AP savings do not stack -- only the higher value applies.

In addition, the maximum AP savings do not stack -- only the higher value applies.

Shouldn't each max AP savings only apply to the source it grants?

Oh and Expert has a lower Savings then Advanced.

Also Huzzah! that spell has had it coming for AGES.