Weapon vs. Revised Attack

[Clay]

A worthy point, and one that's already being addressed. Will Attack is no longer a free Perk.

Normally I'd rule Armor is not effective against a Will Attack. However, there's no reason you cannot create a perk or Ability that does perform as Armor for Will Attacks.

As for my tardiness posting, I've just been busy is all. Feel free to poke me now and again. *laughs*

[Joe_Mello]

Normally I'd rule Armor is not effective against a Will Attack. However, there's no reason you cannot create a perk or Ability that does perform as Armor for Will Attacks.

I'd perk it, since you could probably shield from both physical and mental with the same piece. Something like a kevlar vest won't prevent mind rape, but a helmet made from aluminum could, and it could mitigate damage from boot to the head.

[MelancholyofNyX]

Well yeah I already thought about a 'mind armor' perk but if will attack isn't free, how much is it expected to cost?

[Clay]

I'm not entirely sure, actually. I'm thinking +10 at the moment, since not only does it work as an instant armor-piercing, it also bypasses the typical defense rolls that every combatant tends to have.

Does that seem fair?

[MelancholyofNyX]

Well good question. Comparing the cost/benefit ratio to other abilities (especially Armor Piercing in this instance) would make be want to raise the cost (considering Armor Piercing 2 costs the same but only reduces the Armor value by 2). Ignoring the opportunity this represents for the power hungry munchkin types, Will Attack is actually a rather rare ability compared to the other forms of combat that exist in most animes (save for any that primarily deal with psychics of course). Very few heroes are going to have an entire repertoire of mental based attacks and in the event that the heroes are fighting a cabal of mind melters or what have you that possess incredible mental defenses, Will Attack might end up being a hindrance instead.

So I think 10 is a fair and balancing cost compared to most of the other perks and flaws, but I'm basing that opinion on the original OVA's perk/flaw costs.

[Clay]

Armor Piercing works differently now. Taking it once reduces your opponent's Armor by two and twice by four. Three time means you can pierce any armor.

In other words, Armor Piercing is a bit more effective per purchase than before. This was necessary due to the changes in how Armor behaves.

As it stood, Extra Damage and Armor Piercing were equivalent in every way except that Armor Piercing only worked sometimes. The only way to fix it was to increase the cost of Extra Damage (which is not plausible) or to increase the effectiveness of Armor Piercing.

Still have the same opinion of Will Attack by comparison?

[MelancholyofNyX]

You know, that issue with Armor Piercing vs Extra Damage actually came up in our group. Other than for flavor purposes, there was no reason to take AP over ED so I am very glad you've managed to correct this. I love the way it works now.

Comparing the Revised Will Attack to the Revised Armor Piercing... For a cost of (+10) I have the choice of either reducing my opponent's Armor by four OR using abilities like willpower and completely ignoring armor (as long as it's physical and not mental) and making him use willpower and related abilities to defend. I think it's a fair cost considering there's always the chance that the opponent could be stronger mentally than they are physically or at the very least the same strength. A lot of enemies don't even have armor to begin with, which like Armor Piercing means that it will only benefit you 'sometimes'.

[zeth]

How does this attack ability work now if there are no endurance costs?

[Joe_Mello]

How does this attack ability work now if there are no endurance costs?

The endurance costs come in perks and flaws.

[zeth]

Let me refine my question. I got the attack ability. And I add on some perks like ranged. Do I pay endurance points each time I use this? Or are perks and flaws permanent like weapons were?

[bushido11]

Let me refine my question. I got the attack ability. And I add on some perks like ranged. Do I pay endurance points each time I use this? Or are perks and flaws permanent like weapons were?

Whenever you use an attack with an endurance cost, due to perks, you pay the endurance cost per use.

You can create multiple settings with a single attack ability; the common denominator between each attack setting is that they all start off with the same bonus. Say you have Attack +3 and you want to have two different settings: a ranged attack that has the extra damage perk and continual damage perk (both which have an endurance cost), and an area attack that deals no damage but has the mighty blow perk. You can do this, and they'll start at a base bonus of +3. You also have the default melee attack that is provided by the Attack ability, which has no endurance cost by itself AND you can apply extra damage from any bonus from Strong.

[zeth]

In your blog you state concern people will roll attack to hit due to confusing name. Why not just call the attack ability DAMAGE?

[StarRaven]

This kind of seems like it's sort of coming out of nowhere after reading the rest of this topic, but I remembered you saying something at one point about having a "Weapon" flaw for attacks, and I'd just like to point out that there is already a "Requirement" flaw for attacks, so a specific "Weapon" flaw with more complex rules might not be entirely necessary. It could easily just be used as an example in the "Requirement" flaw.

At the moment, these are the guidelines I'm using:
- The attack can be used with any weapon of a common type (any sword, any bow, any gun, etc.) An example could be a general slash attack with a sword, or a character who needs to be wielding a sword of some type to use her Holy Sword Skills. Requirement: Requires a sword. (-5)
- The attack can only be used with a rare or very specific type of weapon (kusari-gama, iron fans, double-bladed sword, machine gun, sniper rifle, giant boomerang, etc.) An example would be a giant boomerang thrown at an enemy, an entangle attack with a kusari-gama, or rapid-fire gunshots from a machine gun. Requirement: Requires a giant boomerang. (-10)
- The attack can only be used with a specific magical or custom weapon (Tetsusaiga (sword), the Twin Dragons (iron fans), the Watermelon Gun, the Crescent Moon Wand, etc.) An example would be Inu-Yasha, who needs the Tetsusaiga (not just any sword, not even just any giant sword) to perform various attacks. Requirement: Requires the Tetsusaiga. (-15)

On another note, I'd love to see a Perk/Flaw that causes the attack to deal gag damage rather than normal damage or something, so that it'd be possible to make an attack that stuns or deals knockback without actually doing damage. :3

If you think out of the box, you'll often find the tools were there all along.

-- This is the thing I love the most about this game. <3

[Joe_Mello]

Remind me what Angry Female Strike does....?

[Clay]

StarRaven: Yes I was aware of the redundancy when I made the flaw. But OVA is full of them for the sake of clarity. (Just check out the Weaknesses list and you'll see what I mean.)

Your idea on it is certainly sound. The problem is even if a weapon is the ultimate rare sword of the ancient Galbezan kingdom, it's readily available to the character who uses the attack. Sure it could be stolen or taken, but such scenarios are likely to affect the guy with the regular old sword just as much. (Locked up and all your possessions taken? You're likely in just as much of a bind whether your weapon was RARE or not. It's still a quest to get the weapon back, it's just a matter of which one.)

It might be a good -5 vs -10 distinction, but I think -15 might be too little bang for too much buck.

But we'll see. Perhaps I'll drop the Weapon flaw. It just seemed nice for clarity on attacks. "Oh, I see right away this is a weapon." etc. etc.

Glad you appreciate one of the game's strong points though.

Joe: It's just a goofy rule in the combat section that was a leftover from OVA's earlier beginnings as a highschool meets Ranma 1/2 type campaign setting. Essentially it allows women to inflict insane amounts of gag damage at will. Gag damage being temporary damage that only lasts long enough to have some immediate affect, but requires little or no time to heal or recover from. I'm going to elaborate on this mechanic in the new addition and probably rename it, and AFS, if it remains at all, relegated to an "Expanded Notes" box.