The Disarm Blues...

[Deecely]

Hello folks,

I was wondering if anybody has experienced what my gaming group perceives to be the mechanical weakness of disarm attempts, and, if so, how they've worked around it.

For example:
"Normal" 20-point hero has BR 2 and AG 2, vs. Minion Mook with DEF of 7.

Average roll for the hero (theoretically at the peak of human agility) is 14 (7x2=14), yet he'd need at least a 17 to hit on a called shot/disarm attempt at the accountant mook without any formal training holding a gun.

And this is without any special powers meant to increase the chances for disarm. It could theoretically take at least half a dozen character points (between increased Ag to hit for non "normals", or purchasing Disarm Expert or Weapons Mastery or Grapple MAM, etc.) to level this playing field in a way to make disarming possible - and this would be against a minion!

Is the 10 point penalty for a called shot in this case too much for a 2d6 based system? Could a Hindrance penalty to the dice roll or a multiplier penalty be better suited?

Help me Bashman-wan Kenobi. You're my only hope.

[BASHMAN]

No it isn't too much. You need to roll a 9 on 2d6 to make the Disarm. OR even easier, spend 3 Hero Points on a dead average roll. If you roll an 8 (that's just 1 above average), you'd only need to spend 1 Hero Point to make the disarm.

That said, most characters are assumed to be at least semi-competent at fighting. If you want someone to be completely incompetent at fighting, maybe a new Disadvantage is in order:

Non-Combatant: This character is completely unskilled in combat. This character takes a -2 Dice Penalty to all combat rolls, including Priority, to hit, Defense, and Soak.

Give that Disad to an accountant, and suddenly his 7 Attack and Defense drop to 5. Then you are 1 Hero Point away (or a semi-above average roll) from a successful Disarm.

[Deecely]

That scales just fine for a Mystery Man power level vs. low powered mook minions. I'm worried that my Normal gadgeteer PC, who will still only have an AG of 2 after we "level up" with XP to a 30 or 40 point power level, will still be incredibly overmatched mechanically by the villains and higher-level minions we'd be facing then. No one is expecting he'd be able to successfully disarm anyone at anytime, but it would be nice if he could heroically do so once in a while. What can be done to help a Normal character out?

[BASHMAN]

Hero Die to power stunt Disarm Expert at the right moment. Or spend 12 XP to buy it.

Spend XP on Boost Agility [only for Offense] in 6xp increments until you have a x5 or 3 levels in it. That's 18 XP for 3 levels. This latter option is notably more versatile, especially when combined with the Hero Die for a Power Stunt option.

[BASHMAN]

Also, if you have the "Normal" Disadvantage, add the "Esoteric Training" Enhancement to your Offensive Boost power. This means you learned it as the result of some sort of Batman-like martial artistry instead of some superhuman power.

[Deecely]

FYI: That Esoteric Training enhancement will work wonders, and I think really captures, mechanically, my player's character concept in a nice little package.