PowerCombatArtifactCreation/Alpha

Point Scheme Alpha

(First version by Raindoll)

Note: this version has been superceded by an improved one. See PowerCombatArtifactCreation for the current best schemes.

This is a formula for generating custom artifact weapons in Power Combat. This formula is only intended to be used to create artifacts between levels 1 and 3.

Speed:    1 point
Accuracy: 8 points
Damage:   4 points
Defense:  1 point
Rate:     7 points

Cost to make piercing: (Damage+2) x 6 points
Cost to make clinch enhancer: 23 points

Bonus points for minimum Strength:
    Min Str. 1, 0 bonus points
    Min Str. 2, 2 bonus points
    Min Str. 3, 3 bonus points
    Min Str. 4, 5 bonus points

Bonus points for minimum Dexterity: (same as for Strength)
Points for every Artifact level (including first): 16

Starting Points: 35

All traits start at zero, although traits can be lowered, granting you the same number of points it would cost to raise them. After you have spent all of your points, you may add 2 levels to any one trait, and one level each to two others. You cannot "double up" these bonus levels. These bonus levels do not count when determining the cost to make the weapon piercing.

This formula can be used to generate the stats for daiklaves, reaver daiklaves, wavecleaver daiklaves, grimcleavers, direlances, short daiklaves, reaper daiklaves, grand daiklaves, grand goremauls, smashfists, god-kicking boots, goremauls, razor claws, and crushfists.

This formula builds the base weapon onto which the Magical Material bonuses are added. This formula is not compatible with serpent-sting staves; this formula would require Minimum Martial Arts to have a negative value. (That means that according to this formula, serpent-sting staves are worse than they should be.)

Example

Let's say I don't like the Power Combat reaper daiklave, and want to make a weapon that is faster (i.e. has higher Rate) and has higher Accuracy and Defense than a normal Daiklave, but deals less damage.

I decide that the weapon is Artifact 2 (+32 points), and requires a minimum Strength of 2 (+2 points) and a minimum Dexterity of 3 (+3 points). Added to my starting 35 points, I now have a total of 72 points to work with.

First, I raise the Accuracy to 2 for 16 points, leaving me with 56 points left. (I plan on using my bonus dots to raise my Accuracy up to 4 later.) Then I raise Defense to 3 for 3 points, leaving me with 53. I want my weapon to be "faster" than a normal daiklave (that is, have a higher Rate), so I increase the Rate to 5 for 35 points (I plan on spending a bonus dot on this later), leaving me with 18 points. My weapon is fairly light, so I don't think it needs to do much damage: I'll buy an extra 3 levels of damage for 12 points now, leaving me with 6 bonus points. I'll spend these last 5 points to raise the weapon's Speed to 6.

So now, my weapon has Speed 6 Acc 2 Dam 3L Def 3 Rate 5. I'll spend 2 of my bonus dots on Accuracy, one of my bonus dots on Damage, and one of my bonus dots on Rate. This gives me with a weapon with Speed 6 Acc 4 Dam 4L Def 3 Rate 6. Speed 6 is a little low for Power Combat, and doesn't sit right with the reaper daiklave's description as a first-strike weapon. If I shave a level off of Accuracy, I can add an extra three levels to Speed and one extra level to Defense. The weapon I'd have then is Speed 9 Acc 3 Dam 4L Def 4 Rate 6, which isn't dissimilar to something you'd see on FixThePowerCombatRules/ReaperDaiklave.

Thoughts on Applying Formulas to Artifact Creation

Obviously, the published configurations are not the most efficient given the custom point scheme. In light of this, I propose the following two rules for custom artifacts:

1. No custom artifact can be made that has all traits greater than or equal to the traits of a published Artifact of the same level, regardless of minimum requirements. The exceptions to this are if the published weapon is either Piercing or a Clinch Enhancer and the custom weapon is not, or if the published weapon is a grimcleaver.

2. No custom artifact with an artifact rating between 1 and 3 can have a rating higher than 4 in either accuracy or defense. (Not including Magical Material bonus.)

Just as a general observation, I might also add that it's impossible to lower any trait of an artifact weapon below the equivalent trait of its non-artifact analogue, excluding ability minimums.

Comments

Any suggestions on directions this should be altered? I know Defense is undervalued; I'm working on it. How about the Clinch Enhancer and Piercing costs, though? Are they too low, too high? (Those I can adjust without too much difficulty.) - Raindoll

Does this work for the starmetal fingernails of the Deadly Starmetal Offensive? - willows

Well yes, depending on your assumptions, since we don't know what the fingernails' rate is and any artifact level and ability minimums for them will be made up. If we decide that the fingernails have Rate 5 and no ability minimums, then it works out neatly as a Artifact 2. You start with 35 points, and Artifact 2 raises this to 67. Raising Speed to 6 costs 6 points, raising Damage to 6 costs 24 points, raising Defense to 2 costs 2 points, and raising Rate to 5 costs 35 points. Total: 67 points. Then, you use your (+2,+1,+1) bonus to raise Speed from 6 to 7, raise Damage from 6 to 7, and raise Accuracy from 0 to 2.

Note, however, that under the second limitation -- that no custom artifact may be absolutely better than a printed one -- this could not be created as a custom artifact, since it is equal or superior to the wavecleaver daiklave in all respects. - Raindoll

Yo, RD, not a specific comment on what you've got- just some of my own work in this area, Pre-power combat. AlternateMechanics/DSAlternateArtifactCreation

I will suggest, however, that providing bonus points for minimum stats is a Bad Idea, as it encourages a certain level of pure munchiness if PCs start to make Artifacts. 'I'm almost unique in my strength of 5, so it's no penelty to me, makes the weapon stronger, and less useful to anyone that's NOT me!'

Another thought, one I've considered but not tried to work into either a mundanely based model or pure points based; could their be a staggered rising cost? IE, the first 3 points are x1, the next 3 points are x2, the next 3 points are x3, etc. The way Backgrounds go from 1 point for the first 3 dots to 2 points for the last 2 dots. Which could help explain why the artifacts have generally balanced stats; no one thing is getting juiced. DS

You're right. Ability limitations on artifacts aren't even slightly limiting. However, the way things are printed, it seems as though they are compensated. If I want the model to be able to account for the printed artifacts, I will have to accept that (or else come up with a clever way around it). As for the characters: if a character has access to an Exalted artificer who is willing to craft a weapon to perfectly fit his physical limits, of course he's going to rock with it!

A staggered cost system might work. I've considered it too, and the reason I haven't pursued it is that it would be a bugger to solve.\\

- Raindoll