Weapon Damage

[sinisterthings]

I just picked up the PDF and haven't finished reading it yet, but I already have a couple of questions.

The weapons table on page 9 of the SIF Fastplay rules lists the damage for Fist as Athletics - 3. I did not see anywhere a statement to the effect that "minimum damage is 1." Is the minimum damage 1?

How do Bonus dice in Athletic affect damage, if at all? I assume someone like The Mountain might have Athletics 4, 4B Strength. How is damage calculated in this case?

[Patchface]

I don't think there's an answer to either question in the quick-start rules, but I'll give it a try nonetheless.

The weapons table on page 9 of the SIF Fastplay rules lists the damage for Fist as Athletics - 3. I did not see anywhere a statement to the effect that "minimum damage is 1." Is the minimum damage 1?

I don't see why it should be. If a character with an average Athletics score of 2 should roll a total of 3 or less, he probably deals no damage on that attack (due to the -3 modifier).

How do Bonus dice in Athletic affect damage, if at all? I assume someone like The Mountain might have Athletics 4, 4B Strength. How is damage calculated in this case?

Based on what I've seen so far, I can see two answers to this question:

1) Bonus dice don't affect damage at all; or

2) it works like a passive test (see p. 5). So in the example above, Gregor would add +4 to his damage.

I'd lean towards answer 1, but for a definite ruling we'll have to wait for one of the developers to drop by and answer your questions. Or wait 'til October... (sigh)

[sinisterthings]

I don't see why it should be. If a character with an average Athletics score of 2 should roll a total of 3 or less, he probably deals no damage on that attack (due to the -3 modifier).

But damage isn't rolled.* It is your base damage times the degree of success. If your Athletics is 4, your base damage for 1 for a Fist and 5 for a Longsword. The damage for a Fist would be 1, 2, 3, or 4. The damage for a Longsword would be 5, 10, 15, or 20.

*: Unless I'm severely misreading every combat example given.

[Patchface]

You're perfectly right. I got confused there for a bit...

Without that error, I can see arguments for both "minimum damage of 1" and "minimum damage of 0".

[Patchface]

How do Bonus dice in Athletic affect damage, if at all? I assume someone like The Mountain might have Athletics 4, 4B Strength. How is damage calculated in this case?

Based on what I've seen so far, I can see two answers to this question:

1) Bonus dice don't affect damage at all; or

2) it works like a passive test (see p. 5). So in the example above, Gregor would add +4 to his damage.

After re-reading the combat chapter, I'm pretty sure answer 1 is correct; bonus dice don't affect damage at all.

In the example on p. 13, Gerard has Fighting 4 (Long Blades 4), but the damage he deals is only derived from his Fighting ability.

Also, the Powerful weapon quality on the same page allows a character to add his/her Strength bonus to damage; so that weapon quality aside, a character's Strength bonus does not matter when it comes to damage.

So it seems that, under normal circumstances, Specialties may only grant a bonus to Attack tests, but not to Damage.

[sinisterthings]

In the example on p. 13, Gerard has Fighting 4 (Long Blades 4), but the damage he deals is only derived from his Fighting ability.

I think that's just a coincidence that his Athletics is 4 (see also my comment in the Errata thread). Because the Weapon table clearly bases damage on Athletics and not Fighting.

Also, the Powerful weapon quality on the same page allows a character to add his/her Strength bonus to damage; so that weapon quality aside, a character's Strength bonus does not matter when it comes to damage.

Ok. In the context of Powerful, it makes sense. (I don't particularly like it, but I understand what the rule is.)

[Patchface]

In the example on p. 13, Gerard has Fighting 4 (Long Blades 4), but the damage he deals is only derived from his Fighting ability.

I think that's just a coincidence that his Athletics is 4 (see also my comment in the Errata thread). Because the Weapon table clearly bases damage on Athletics and not Fighting.

Right.

Also, the Powerful weapon quality on the same page allows a character to add his/her Strength bonus to damage; so that weapon quality aside, a character's Strength bonus does not matter when it comes to damage.

Ok. In the context of Powerful, it makes sense. (I don't particularly like it, but I understand what the rule is.)

I'm glad I was able to make one valid argument last night.

It'd be cool if the system let you customize weapons, buying weapon qualities during character creation (or later). That way, The Mountain's gauntlet/fist could have the Powerful extra, but not for free (which would be a good thing, imo).

[Aran MacFiona]

Bonus dice have an indirect effect on damages. If I understood correctly how bonus dice work, they raise significantly the degree of success. And the higher the degree of success the higher the damages done.
I like this way to deal with damage a lot. It's both elegant but stay simple while being realistic. I've always disliked having to throw dice to get how many damages were done regardless of how successful the attack was.

[sinisterthings]

The degree of success is based on Fighting (or Marksmanship), so bonus dice to Athletics for Strength, doesn't increase the degree of success of the attack. Also (and I haven't run all the numbers, so bear with me), adding a single bonus die tends to give lower totals (and lower degrees of success) than having the next higher rank.