Clarification on Special Attack (and others)

[drkrash]

Does the 5 point limit on Special Attack apply solely to the bonus to hit and damage, or does it also include Range and Area?

In other words, can I make a +1 to hit, +4 damage, long range, small area Special Attack that costs 9 points?

Or is it the case that if I want long range, that's already 3 of the possible 5 maximum points already accounted for?

I can't seem to find utter consistency in character examples.

If the answer is the first above, can I make, for example, a 10 point Variable Special Attack that allows me 9 points to work with, as long as no more than 5 points are applied to accuracy and damage?

Thanks.

[Dustland]

In other words, can I make a +1 to hit, +4 damage, long range, small area Special Attack that costs 9 points?

Yep, the 5 pts only limits the hit and damage bonus. Same with Continual Damage, Immobilize, etc

[drkrash]

I thought that was the case. So what about my latter question? It would seem that it has to be limited to 5 points for balance, plus I've never seen more than 5 Variable Special Attack.

[BASHMAN]

I never made a Variable power with more than 5 levels- but you could have the "base" power also be for Extreme range I suppose and let Variable alter that around.

That's more of a Narrator call though if that is allowed.

[drkrash]

Thanks. I think I might be houseruling using ranged attacks one square away as well. Too much incentive for the blasters with variable attacks to stand next to someone like a melee fighter to get extra levels to put into accuracy and damage. Doesn't feel right to me.

BTW, I really like that there are no explicit range modifiers to hit. Another Champions legacy I'm happy to get rid of.

OK. Similar question. Weapon Technique: Is hand-to-hand combat (w/o weapons) a 1 pt. group? Or is it sufficient to call that the "weapon" in question and not need an extra point? I'm pretty sure I've seen it done both ways. It seems to me that HTH should count by itself and for 1 point extra you'd get all melee weapons as well. Yes or no?

[urbwar]

I have a tangential question about this, based on my last one shot.

In the book, it says that powers that go up to 5 can be scaled up. In BAM 5, the planet being is using Size that goes past level 5. So say some Cosmic being has a Special Attack, they can buy it up past 5 levels? The section indicates that Push/TK can be, and what effects, but what about Special Attack? There's nothing in that section that details going over level 5, but as the others do, I'm assuming it does as well,

so, how does that scaling affect the limit of adding 5 between hit and damage mods that Special Attack normally has (not including the Annihilation enhancement)?

[BASHMAN]

OK. Similar question. Weapon Technique: Is hand-to-hand combat (w/o weapons) a 1 pt. group? Or is it sufficient to call that the "weapon" in question and not need an extra point? I'm pretty sure I've seen it done both ways. It seems to me that HTH should count by itself and for 1 point extra you'd get all melee weapons as well. Yes or no?

Fists and swords, knives, etc are all together in the "All Hand to Hand" enhancement. the word "hand to hand" in BASH! is like the word "melee" in most rpgs.

[BASHMAN]

In the book, it says that powers that go up to 5 can be scaled up. In BAM 5, the planet being is using Size that goes past level 5. So say some Cosmic being has a Special Attack, they can buy it up past 5 levels? The section indicates that Push/TK can be, and what effects, but what about Special Attack? There's nothing in that section that details going over level 5, but as the others do, I'm assuming it does as well,

so, how does that scaling affect the limit of adding 5 between hit and damage mods that Special Attack normally has (not including the Annihilation enhancement)?

Yes, you can have Special Attack 6+ if you are a cosmic character. The Cosmic Genre specifically allows you to break those caps. So you could have a cosmic attack that is +8 to hit and +7 for Damage as a Level 15 power for instance. But only Cosmic characters can do this.

[urbwar]

Yes, you can have Special Attack 6+ if you are a cosmic character. The Cosmic Genre specifically allows you to break those caps. So you could have a cosmic attack that is +8 to hit and +7 for Damage as a Level 15 power for instance. But only Cosmic characters can do this.

Ok. I thought that might be the case, but I wasn't sure. I didn't post the characters from my last one shot (other than the first two) as I wasn't sure (and I felt the writeups I did were underpowered).

I missed that the Harbinger of Doom template in the Cosmic section has SA of 10. Or the part of someone having a SA of 8 in the second paragraph of the Cosmic Powers section. I realize now I actually underpowered the characters. Good thing I was fudging things!

[drkrash]

OK. Similar question. Weapon Technique: Is hand-to-hand combat (w/o weapons) a 1 pt. group? Or is it sufficient to call that the "weapon" in question and not need an extra point? I'm pretty sure I've seen it done both ways. It seems to me that HTH should count by itself and for 1 point extra you'd get all melee weapons as well. Yes or no?

Fists and swords, knives, etc are all together in the "All Hand to Hand" enhancement. the word "hand to hand" in BASH! is like the word "melee" in most rpgs.

Sorry, I'm still being dense. So if I want a +1 to hit with punches and kicks, that does NOT need the Enhancement, but if I wanted a +1 to hit with punches, kicks, and swords, that would need the Enhancement?

[Dustland]

Sorry, I'm still being dense. So if I want a +1 to hit with punches and kicks, that does NOT need the Enhancement, but if I wanted a +1 to hit with punches, kicks, and swords, that would need the Enhancement?

That's exactly right. Unarmed is considered a weapon group, swords another, knives another, etc. So for 2pts, you'd get the bonus to all non-ranged weapon groups.