Help playing a one-armed character

[Angcuru]

I notice that you have skillfully avoiding any gender-based terminology. care to expain why? you have left me rather perplexed.

 

[Tsyr]

I notice that you have skillfully avoiding any gender-based terminology. care to expain why? you have left me rather perplexed.

Like I said. There's a story there.

Check out my prior thread on this character...

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=43798

 

[blackshirt5]

I've gotta second Angcuru on his suggestion to use the artificial limbs from Quintessential Dwarf. It'd probably require a quest, story, etc., not to mention the fact that they'd have to reopen the wounds to be "trick" your body into accepting the prosthetic.

Hey Blip, maybe I should cut your arm off.

In game, of course(yeah, that's the ticket...)

 

[Angcuru]

what do YOU think about my heal/regenerate/psionics suggestion, blackshirt?

 

[blackshirt5]

You'd make Red Mage proud Angcuru.

 

[Gargoyle]

C'mon guys, you can come up with better advice than this. Let's give the guy a hand...

Sorry.

Anyway, I'd say from a gameplay perspective that there would be an impact. But I'd keep it simple and abstract and minor. After all, even people who have lost both arms can do some amazing things with their feet and teeth. People adapt.

As the DM, I would have given you a -2 penalty to Dex and Strength, and left it at that. That amounts to a lot of -1 penalties, and is painful, but logical and not unplayable. Though again, remember your teeth and feet. From growing up in the country barefoot I have the odd talent of being able to deftly pick up small objects with my toes and toss them with my foot up to my hand with almost perfect accuracy, but then again, I'm weird. Handy for picking up car keys and stuff. Going bare foot might not be a horrible idea.

There is a variant rule in the DMG that sort of covers this as well. On page 66, Variant: Damage to Specific Areas, it has a list of locations (including the hand and arm) and what skill rolls are affected by damage to that specific location. You would take a -2 penalty to all of the following: Climb, Craft, Disable Device, Escape Artist, Forgery, Alchemy, Heal, Open Lock, Pick Pocket, Use Rope, and Swim checks, attack rolls, and Strength checks.

I feel like the DMG rule is a bit too complex. A penalty to Strength and Dex affects all skills based on those abilities, and attack rolls, and just seems easier to me.

Personally, I'd just live with the disability and not try to overcome it with magical arms etc and salute you for not quitting on the character. It will make it all the more satisfying when you do win.

 

[Umbran]

I feel like the DMG rule is a bit too complex. A penalty to Strength and Dex affects all skills based on those abilities, and attack rolls, and just seems easier to me.

It may be easier, but it would be inconsistent with other rules and rationales.

For example, you do extra damage when using a weapon two-handed. You do normal damage when using a weapon one-handed. Why, then, would missing an arm you weren't using to do damage decrease the damage you do? That makes little sense.

Similarly, Dexterity covers a lot of things that have little to do with how many hands you have. Armor Class being perhaps the most obvious example. A character who has just lost an arm might have a short period in which his sense of balance and motion and ability to get out of the way might be hampered, but that would be quickly overcome.

I think the general idea should be that if your basic image of a thing doesn't specifically call for a second hand, after a period of readjustment the character would have no penalty. The character learns how to move differently to compensate for the loss.

Can you dodge and roll about with only one hand? Yes. One can easily imagine that happening. Can you swing a weapon two handed? No.

Most Medium and Heavy armors really call for aid in donning them anyway - more Fighters shoudl have squires. These armors are basically inflexible, and most folk would have problems reaching all the buckles even if they had two hands

 

[Gargoyle]

Oh, I don't disagree with you Umbran. But the way I would do it is simple and abstract, and to me, that's more important than realism. YMMV though, and if it seems to violate your suspension of disbelief, I'd say you're right to do it differently.