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Can damage exceed MDP?
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<blockquote data-quote="easl" data-source="post: 7530986" data-attributes="member: 6856073"><p>Here's an OLD version of the same concept: </p><p>Zweihander: base damage 4d6</p><p>Ogre using oversized version: +1d6</p><p>...with STR 10: +4 </p><p>"Deadly strike" exploit: +1d6</p><p>Noble origin career for +1,000 gp</p><p>Smith or Man-at-arms career to start with a HQ longsword: +1d6 to attack</p><p>Use your 1,000 gp from Noble to upgrade your large HQ longsword to "serrated": +1d6</p><p>Total = +1d6 attack, 7d6+4 damage.</p><p> </p><p>For NEW, you can also get to 6d6 damage with PSI 10, an Ergokinesis exploit, and the Deadly strike exploit. However you'll probably only be able to use it twice before running out of Psi points. Psychic 'big-damage' characters may do better with the Battlepsyche's career Psi-blast exploit and Deadly strike; that "only" does 4d6, but it's resisted by Mental defense - meaning it ignores physical soak. If your opponent has 8+ armor soak, the 4d6 mental is better on average than a 6d6 physical. On top of that, the career exploit doesn't use Psi points, doesn't require a PSI score of 10, and many big bruiser bad guys will have a lower Mental defense than Melee or Ranged. As if that wasn't enough, Battlepsyche/psi-blast only uses a single career slot with an easy prerequisite, which means you have a lot of freedom in character concepts (race, background, careers etc.) that can use this pretty big whammy attack.</p><p></p><p>Big damage isn't hard. But it isn't an instant win either; Morrus has said elsewhere that a challenging major villain should be a few grades above the PCs, so your biggest problem probably <em>isn't</em> going to be their HP total or soak value, but rather a DEFENSE score 7-11 points higher than the maximum for your PC's grade. The key to taking down those sorts of villains isn't going to be 'big damage and a lucky roll,' it's going to be using positional effects and tactical exploits that let you exceed your MDP. Four cross-firing PC's probably don't need more than 3d6 damage per person to quickly finish off an opponent. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>And now for something completely different: for OLD characters, take Runewright (from Eons #7) x4, with the Weapon Runes exploit and 3x Powerful Weapons exploit. Bide your time until Grade 6, when you take Powerful Weapons one more time. Congrats, you can now daily enchant your humble regular throwing axe (javelin, hammer, whatever) with Returning and Unerring, meaning <em>it always hits and then returns to your hand</em>. Hellooooo Thor! Plus you've still got another 5,000 gp equivalent of enchantments you can add to your hammer. Want Elemental? Yep you can add that too. Or perhaps Warning? Sharpened? Light-emitting? Rangefinding? Slayer? Well not all at once, but yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes. The Weapon Rune exploit can be applied to any weapon, too, so (a) you can retune that 'Slayer' enchantment to whatever beastie you think you'll be meeting that day, and (b) unlike an actual magical weapon, you can't really 'lose' this; if your first hammer is destroyed, you just buy a regular replacement and reapply the exploits.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="easl, post: 7530986, member: 6856073"] Here's an OLD version of the same concept: Zweihander: base damage 4d6 Ogre using oversized version: +1d6 ...with STR 10: +4 "Deadly strike" exploit: +1d6 Noble origin career for +1,000 gp Smith or Man-at-arms career to start with a HQ longsword: +1d6 to attack Use your 1,000 gp from Noble to upgrade your large HQ longsword to "serrated": +1d6 Total = +1d6 attack, 7d6+4 damage. For NEW, you can also get to 6d6 damage with PSI 10, an Ergokinesis exploit, and the Deadly strike exploit. However you'll probably only be able to use it twice before running out of Psi points. Psychic 'big-damage' characters may do better with the Battlepsyche's career Psi-blast exploit and Deadly strike; that "only" does 4d6, but it's resisted by Mental defense - meaning it ignores physical soak. If your opponent has 8+ armor soak, the 4d6 mental is better on average than a 6d6 physical. On top of that, the career exploit doesn't use Psi points, doesn't require a PSI score of 10, and many big bruiser bad guys will have a lower Mental defense than Melee or Ranged. As if that wasn't enough, Battlepsyche/psi-blast only uses a single career slot with an easy prerequisite, which means you have a lot of freedom in character concepts (race, background, careers etc.) that can use this pretty big whammy attack. Big damage isn't hard. But it isn't an instant win either; Morrus has said elsewhere that a challenging major villain should be a few grades above the PCs, so your biggest problem probably [I]isn't[/I] going to be their HP total or soak value, but rather a DEFENSE score 7-11 points higher than the maximum for your PC's grade. The key to taking down those sorts of villains isn't going to be 'big damage and a lucky roll,' it's going to be using positional effects and tactical exploits that let you exceed your MDP. Four cross-firing PC's probably don't need more than 3d6 damage per person to quickly finish off an opponent. :) And now for something completely different: for OLD characters, take Runewright (from Eons #7) x4, with the Weapon Runes exploit and 3x Powerful Weapons exploit. Bide your time until Grade 6, when you take Powerful Weapons one more time. Congrats, you can now daily enchant your humble regular throwing axe (javelin, hammer, whatever) with Returning and Unerring, meaning [I]it always hits and then returns to your hand[/I]. Hellooooo Thor! Plus you've still got another 5,000 gp equivalent of enchantments you can add to your hammer. Want Elemental? Yep you can add that too. Or perhaps Warning? Sharpened? Light-emitting? Rangefinding? Slayer? Well not all at once, but yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes. The Weapon Rune exploit can be applied to any weapon, too, so (a) you can retune that 'Slayer' enchantment to whatever beastie you think you'll be meeting that day, and (b) unlike an actual magical weapon, you can't really 'lose' this; if your first hammer is destroyed, you just buy a regular replacement and reapply the exploits. [/QUOTE]
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