Alternate Core Documents

[Kkat]

I definitely considered that. It would have been much easier.

However, the idea is that the Earth Ponies and Pegasi can take the perks earlier, and have more ranks available, because of their racial magic. Griffins and zebra can learn through training how to accomplish a similar effect, but not as well or as easily. Unicorn magic, of course, manifest quite differently. And the unicorns do not have a legacy of that kind of martial arts, nor do buffalo.

Keep in mind that a Pegasus, thanks to her wings, may use (Strength +2) to break free... but that's Strength-based.

[Viewing_Glass]

Huh, I remembered it as Agility...my bad.

[Zepheniah]

Perk Change Suggestions:

Out of a discussion in the Enhanced Racial Perks Project I've come upon the idea to postulate these changes for review:

Instead of reducing the chance to avoid a crit by 50% per rank, Clever Prancer instead reduces the enemy's chance to crit you by a flat 2% per rank.

Deft Defense - Level 12, AGI 7, 2 Ranks - Whenever you would be critically hit while wearing Light or Medium armor, you have a 50% per rank (A total of 75% chance at rank 2) chance to turn it into a regular hit instead. Rank 2 of the perk only works while wearing Light armor.

Steadfast Defender - Level 12 - When being critically hit, you gain +5DT per weight-class of armor that you are wearing against that hit. (+5DT for Light, +10DT for Medium, +15DT for Heavy and an extra +5DT for Powered Armor)

How we do it up on the Town! - Level 16 - Reduces the multiplier of critical hits scored against you by 1 with a minimum of x2 damage from critical hits.

[Night Light]

Instead of reducing the chance to avoid a crit by 50% per rank, Clever Prancer instead reduces the enemy's chance to crit you by a flat 2% per rank.

So, Clever Prancer would become a level 12 perk with a 6 Agi prereq that negates exactly half of Finesse, a level 6 perk with no prereqs? Given the incredible lethality of the system, particularly regarding the strength of crit/stealth builds, I can't see how nerfing Clever Prancer would be a productive decision.

Deft Defense - Level 12, AGI 7, 2 Ranks - Whenever you would be critically hit while wearing Light or Medium armor, you have a 50% per rank (A total of 75% chance at rank 2) chance to turn it into a regular hit instead. Rank 2 of the perk only works while wearing Light armor.

Given Clever Prancer already rewards character who're wearing Light or Medium armor with the available second rank, I don't see a reason to swap it for a functionally similar perk that just hates on people wearing Heavy Armor.

Steadfast Defender - Level 12 - When being critically hit, you gain +5DT per weight-class of armor that you are wearing against that hit. (+5DT for Light, +10DT for Medium, +15DT for Heavy and an extra +5DT for Powered Armor)

Now this is an interesting perk, given the number of perks/traits/weapons that contribute to critical hits I don't think another counter to them would be unreasonable, especially given a max of +20 DT is just a drop in the bucket for some critical hits. I don't know if level 12 would really be necessary for it however.

How we do it up on the Town! - Level 16 - Reduces the multiplier of critical hits scored against you by 1 with a minimum of x2 damage from critical hits.

All this would realistically do is hurt MEWs or negate How We Do it Down on the Farm for Firearms/Explosives or remove two-thirds of the increase that MEWs get from that perk.

[Zepheniah]

Instead of reducing the chance to avoid a crit by 50% per rank, Clever Prancer instead reduces the enemy's chance to crit you by a flat 2% per rank.

So, Clever Prancer would become a level 12 perk with a 6 Agi prereq that negates exactly half of Finesse, a level 6 perk with no prereqs? Given the incredible lethality of the system, particularly regarding the strength of crit/stealth builds, I can't see how nerfing Clever Prancer would be a productive decision.

What I have written down for Clever Prancer is "Through agility and reflexes, you have become deft at striking where it hurts while preventing your enemies from doing the same. +2% to crit and enemies suffer a -2% penalty to crit against you, per rank. The second rank only works when wearing light armor and you must be aware of the attacker to receive the bonus."

It's more of an investment versus effectiveness issue. The original Clever Prancer provided crit and massive crit evasion, which in of itself, honestly would have warranted a perk of its own. (See below.)

Deft Defense - Level 12, AGI 7, 2 Ranks - Whenever you would be critically hit while wearing Light or Medium armor, you have a 50% per rank (A total of 75% chance at rank 2) chance to turn it into a regular hit instead. Rank 2 of the perk only works while wearing Light armor.

Given Clever Prancer already rewards character who're wearing Light or Medium armor with the available second rank, I don't see a reason to swap it for a functionally similar perk that just hates on people wearing Heavy Armor.

The perk doesn't include heavy armor, because it's about evasion. The perk designed around tanking crits is for heavy armor and is below.

Steadfast Defender - Level 12 - When being critically hit, you gain +5DT per weight-class of armor that you are wearing against that hit. (+5DT for Light, +10DT for Medium, +15DT for Heavy and an extra +5DT for Powered Armor)

Now this is an interesting perk, given the number of perks/traits/weapons that contribute to critical hits I don't think another counter to them would be unreasonable, especially given a max of +20 DT is just a drop in the bucket for some critical hits. I don't know if level 12 would really be necessary for it however.

Maybe multiply the DT bonus by the multiplier of the crit, minus one. (So, +20 against x2 crits, +40 against x3, etc. Remember, these are the stats for Power Armor, which really shouldn't be defeated by something that does less than 20 damage per attack. [although most things do after one or two damage perks, due to the way the dice-scaling escalates with lower damage weapons])
The idea was a heavy armor counterpart to the original Clever Prancer, although actually getting there would require a good deal more tweaking.

How we do it up on the Town! - Level 16 - Reduces the multiplier of critical hits scored against you by 1 with a minimum of x2 damage from critical hits.

All this would realistically do is hurt MEWs or negate How We Do it Down on the Farm for Firearms/Explosives or remove two-thirds of the increase that MEWs get from that perk.

The version I have written down eliminated up to 50% in damage bonuses added to crits, (Such as bonuses from scaling +1d10 perks, drugs, etc.) but I didn't entirely think it suitable for the way crits are currently set up.
Although now that I go over it again, it might work like so: "When you are critically hit, the attacker only multiplies the weapon's base damage and base dice. Damage dice bonuses are still applied, but only once in total."
It might be an idea to combine this with Steadfast Defender (above) and add a "if you are wearing heavy armor or better" as a condition for the effect.

EDIT: Fixed some typos.

[Night Light]

What I have written down for Clever Prancer is "Through agility and reflexes, you have become deft at striking where it hurts while preventing your enemies from doing the same. +2% to crit and enemies suffer a -2% penalty to crit against you, per rank. The second rank only works when wearing light armor and you must be aware of the attacker to receive the bonus."

It's more of an investment versus effectiveness issue. The original Clever Prancer provided crit and massive crit evasion, which in of itself, honestly would have warranted a perk of its own. (See below.)

I would definitely agree that Clever Prancer would still be fine if the +2% crit was removed from it, the perk is good enough without it.

However, nerfing Clever Prancer to a -2% penalty to crit does nothing more than make the already very powerful crit builds (even accounting for Clever Prancer) just that much stronger, and this system seriously doesn't need to get more lethal. Damage already escalates far faster than defense, the few defensive perks that exist should be very good.

The perk doesn't include heavy armor, because it's about evasion. The perk designed around tanking crits is for heavy armor and is below.

The only problem is that you can't tank crits, at least not from most weapons. Heavy armor isn't a significant enough improvement over Medium armor to really justify removing any decent crit protection from them (even with your perk idea below). Now, granted, Kkat's Stalliongrad game is a higher level and very high-damage game (given we've seen single burst attacks from enemies that've done well over 800 damage, and a single crit that did nearly 500 points of damage) so my focus is definitely at Clever Prancer as a later-game perk. However, given that it's a level 12 perk, I feel that's appropriate. As much as I love my Perfect-quality, Ah' Fixed It Salvaged Power Armor on Night Light, I'd trade it in a heartbeat for Medium armor if that change was actually made.

Maybe multiply the DT bonus by the multiplier of the crit, minus one. (So, +20 against x2 crits, +40 against x3, etc. Remember, these are the stats for Power Armor, which really shouldn't be defeated by something that does less than 20 damage per attack. [although most things do after one or two damage perks, due to the way the dice-scaling escalates with lower damage weapons])

The idea was a heavy armor counterpart to the original Clever Prancer, although actually getting there would require a good deal more tweaking.

Indeed, I just noted max for ease of reference. Most ponies would be getting +10 or +15 from that. Having it multiply based on the damage source would be interesting, but hardly a trade compared to Clever Prancer or your suggested revision. The crit-focused sniper or explosives-expert really doesn't care about your DT, especially if they're using armor piercing rounds (such as what's available for the Anti-Material Rifle) or using a Spirit of Diamond.

The version I have written down eliminated up to 50% in damage bonuses added to crits, (Such as bonuses from scaling +1d10 perks, drugs, etc.) but I didn't entirely think it suitable for the way crits are currently set up.
Although now that I go over it again, it might work like so: "When you are critically hit, the attacker only multiplies the weapon's base damage and base dice. Damage dice bonuses are still applied, but only once in total."
It might be an idea to combine this with Steadfast Defender (above) and add a "if you are wearing heavy armor or better" as a condition for the effect.

Quite different from what you had noted before. That's an interesting idea, but it feels kind of clunky, maybe something there though.

[Viewing_Glass]

I also will agree that Clever Prancer should not be changed, or at least, the change could just be the loss of the additional 2% crit on it. Currently Clever Prancer is the balancing factor for the perks and traits that increase critical chance.

Deft Defense, while an interesting perk, increases the number of dice rolls and takes away from the value of Heavy Armor, as Night Light noted. Honestly, Clever Prancer does what this perk does, better.

As far as the other suggested perks, Night Light hit my objections on the head.

[Zepheniah]

Deft Defense, while an interesting perk, increases the number of dice rolls and takes away from the value of Heavy Armor, as Night Light noted. Honestly, Clever Prancer does what this perk does, better.

Deft Defense is a carbon copy of the crit evasion part of Clever Prancer. I think you're missing something.

The only problem is that you can't tank crits, at least not from most weapons. Heavy armor isn't a significant enough improvement over Medium armor to really justify removing any decent crit protection from them (even with your perk idea below). Now, granted, Kkat's Stalliongrad game is a higher level and very high-damage game (given we've seen single burst attacks from enemies that've done well over 800 damage, and a single crit that did nearly 500 points of damage) so my focus is definitely at Clever Prancer as a later-game perk. However, given that it's a level 12 perk, I feel that's appropriate. As much as I love my Perfect-quality, Ah' Fixed It Salvaged Power Armor on Night Light, I'd trade it in a heartbeat for Medium armor if that change was actually made.

As higher levels come along damage values escalate even more than before and they already escalate to ridiculous degrees at lower levels, especially with rapid-fire and low-AP weaponry. This is because every 1d10 that's added is a flat increase in average damage of 5.5, so low-level weapons can get their damage doubled by perks alone.
DT has no such mechanic and is already very low overall to begin with, with even Power Armor having an absolutely pitiful amount of DT that can be overcome by a .22 pistol after a few perks. (A suggestion here would be to give armor massive bonuses against attacks if the attacker's weapon's base damage is lower than the armor's DT.)
Honestly, this isn't something that should be fixed with perks, but rather a flaw in how the current system is set up that should be fixed somehow. Yes, combat should be lethal, but it should remain within reason. Unless it's a weapon on the level of a B.E.L. 500 damage in one hit is far beyond what can be considered reasonable.

But as it stands right now, light armor really is the way to go, since at such highly escalating damage values, the chance to dodge a crit currently is worth much, much more than the drop in the ocean of a difference of 20DT makes past level ~14 (often even much before that).

Indeed, I just noted max for ease of reference. Most ponies would be getting +10 or +15 from that. Having it multiply based on the damage source would be interesting, but hardly a trade compared to Clever Prancer or your suggested revision. The crit-focused sniper or explosives-expert really doesn't care about your DT, especially if they're using armor piercing rounds (such as what's available for the Anti-Material Rifle) or using a Spirit of Diamond.

The perk alone is obviously not designed to counter full-focus builds, but rather stop the Steel Ranger getting one-shot by that one pony with a plasma pistol that invested one perk into HWDIDOTF and got a lucky crit.
With that said, it could definitely do with a buff in terms of its power-level to remain functional. Maybe replace the DT bonus with a DR bonus?
That would give you up to 40% DR against critical hits, depending on your armor level (assuming it's increased to +10% DR per armor-level).
It would fit in well with the 'Reliable' archetype that heavy armor is supposed to represent, rather than the evasion chance of lighter armors, making it an 'all or nothing' situation.

Quite different from what you had noted before. That's an interesting idea, but it feels kind of clunky, maybe something there though.

It doesn't seem all too clunky, really.
Weapon does 50++ before perks.
You have two damage perks of +1d10 each.
You crit for x3.
Result: 150+6d10(base, multiplied by crits)+2d10(from perks)

[radmelon]

Well, in regards to how to fix the problem of too many +d10s on low AP weapons, I myself did really like the idea of adding a flat bonus to weapon damage that scaled with the AP/shot of the weapon. I know it required slightly more math, but if AP costs are always divisible by 5, then simply make the bonus X/5 AP. I don't believe that it is unreasonable for people to be able to divide a number (that is guaranteed to be equally divisible by 5) by 5.

[Rabbs]

for perks like 'Armed and Dangerous' I re-wrote it to

The first AGI/2 attacks with weapons which use Firearms skill do +1d10 damage. Mastery: First AGI attacks.