Raindoll/PowerCombatReaperDaiklave

(For other takes on reaper daiklaves in Power Combat, see FixThePowerCombatRules/ReaperDaiklave)

Power Combat Reaper Daiklaves

Why (I think) the listed stats are bad, and a proposed fix

"The reaper daiklave favors speed and defense... Reaper daiklaves are popular amongst [those] who prefer the elegance and speed of the blade over... reaver or grand daiklaves." (Outcaste, p.51)

Here are the stats for reaper daiklaves in Power Combat as compared to normal daiklaves:

Reaper Daiklave</b>: Speed +9 Accuracy +4 Damage +4L Defense +1 Rate 4
<b>Daiklave</b>: Speed +7 Accuracy +3 Damage +6L Defense +2 Rate 5

By the stats in the PG, reaper daiklaves, while having longer reaches than ordinary daiklaves, are more ponderous (in that they have a lower rate) and are worse on the defense, despite the fact that they're supposed to be lighter and quicker and more suited to defense than ordinary daiklaves.

(I strongly suspect these stats were produced by a dumb formula. The PG weapon stats seem to follow the trend, "higher speed in polearms -> defense bonus; higher speed in swung weapons -> defense & rate penalties.")

Amendments

<b>1. Speed
Despite the fact that reaper daiklaves' description depicts the weapon as being designed for getting in the first strike ("the reaper epitomizes the ideal that the warrior who hits first rarely has to worry about how hard his opponent is going to hit him"), they are no longer than ordinary daiklaves: normal daiklaves are "over four feet long" (Exalted, p.340) while the reaper daiklave is described as "four-foot-long." There's no contesting that, at least when it comes to swords, the PG is consistent in its "Speed equals reach" philosophy: grand daiklaves now have a higher Speed than any other kind of daiklave, and reaver daiklaves have the same Speed as normal ones. There is no basis for giving lighter weapons higher Speed values in Power Combat. So, to be consistent, the reaper daiklave should have the same Speed as a normal one: 7.

2. Accuracy
This seems fine. Normal and reaver daiklaves both had their accuracies increased by 1, and the same change was applied to reapers.

3. Damage
This seems at first to be a problem. While most artifact weapons -- including all other daiklaves -- had their damages increased, the reaper daiklave's stayed the same. The smashfish and seven-section-staff, which used to have one less damage than the reaper, now have one more. However, this really isn't a discrepancy with the reaper's description: the reaper is supposed to do less damage than an ordinary daiklave, and it does. There is no pressing need to change the damage.

4. Defense
Too low. This value shouldn't be less than the defense value of an ordinary daiklave, if not greater. Increase to 3.

5. Rate
Ridiculously low: there's no way this value should be less than the rate of an ordinary daiklave. The real question is whether the reaper should have the same Rate as the ordinary daiklave (5), or one higher. To err on the side of conservatism, I'll say the Rate should be increased to 5.

Summary

Proposed new Power Combat stats for reaper daiklaves:

Reaper Daiklave</b>: Speed +7 Accuracy +4 Damage +4L Defense +3 Rate 5

Changes from listed stats:

Speed: -2

Accuracy: no change

Damage: no change

Defense: +2

Rate: +1

Comments

This is great, Raindoll, but I'd like to have a place for a vote tally, so I'm creating FixThePowerCombatRules/ReaperDaiklave (with a link to this page). --MF

And I'll just point out- the Reaper is supposed to favor speed and defense relative to the REAVER and the GRAND Daiklaives, according to the quote from Outcastes. Which, unless I misrecall, it does (higher Defense and Rate than those two weapons).

Frankly, I'd really like to see Power Combat get some actual play time (like, a monthish at least) before people start swooping in with 'OMG! This is so the broken!' DS

I always read that as meaning that the reaper was supposed to be the opposite of the reaver, in comparison to normal daiklaves. ("Where the reaver daiklave, with its great chopping blade, favors striking power, the reaper daiklave favors speed and defense.") There's a nice symmetry about it: reavers sacrifice defense and (old) speed for greater damage, and reapers sacrifice damage for greater defense and (old) speed. From the description of the reaper daiklave, it's quite clearly supposed to be lighter than a normal daiklave, too: reaper daiklaves are four inches across, while standard daiklaves are six inches across.

The PG version may be a perfectly balanced weapon. I don't think that it is (I think you'd have to be an idiot to choose it over a daiklave), but that's not my point. My argument was that, in the context of Power Combat, those stats don't adequately describe a Reaper Daiklave. - Raindoll

Raindoll i basickly belive that it should be just a tad faster then the defalt Daiklave, and felt that it should defenetly have a higher rate. - HeWhoSpeaksOfDarkness

A higher rate would make sense. I'll probably change my suggested stats to reflect that. I don't know about "faster", though: if a Reaver Daiklave isn't any "slower" than a regular one, why should a Reaper Daikalve have a higher speed? - Raindoll

True.-HeWhoSpeaksOfDarkness

I think the problem is with the base daiklave. It's rate is too high. As a matter of fact, I think all the rates need to be severely adjusted. I know most people care about the artifacts, but did anyone notice that the slashing sword is now basically a different variety of chopping sword? I think that the straight swords should have the best accuracy and defense, with an even 2 or 3 rate, +1 for artifacts. Maybe two. Slashing swords and chopping swords are both more offensive minded in different ways. Chopping with more damage, and a slower rate, while slashing has higher damage and a faster rate. Artifact weapons should exemplify that. - Jaelra

Actually, I was very pleased to see that the Power Combat stats for the straight and slashing swords now make some kind of sense that a real-world fencer can understand. The daiklaves are still horked up, though. --MF