Great White Games/Pinnacle Entertainment Group

Oswald Rabbit

I have a question regarding two of the Edges for this setting. On page 64 under the Sword and Blaster Edge, it reads: "The character can fight with a melee weapon in one hand, and a ranged weapon in the other. He can make an extra Shooting attack, at any target, per round--at a -2 to both the Fighting and Shooting attack. In addition, opponents subtract 1 from any “gang up” bonuses they would normally receive against the character."

What advantage exactly does this Edge confer? Anyone can make a melee attack with a sword in one hand and a blaster in the other at a -2 to both attacks. In fact, SWD specifically states on page 66 that a character can make a Fighting and a Shooting attack if he had a gun in one hand and a knife in the other. The Edge does subtract one from "gang up" bonuses, but it has the Florentine Edge as a prerequisite which does that anyway. I don't see what this Edge allows you to do that you couldn't do already, or any reason why anyone should take it.

On page 66, it says under the Brute Warrior Edge: "If a Brute Warrior character chooses the Berserk edge, they can balance it with a Minor hindrance, rather than a major." That sounds nice, except that Brute Warrior is a Seasoned Edge, so the character will have already taken his Hindrances to balance his Berserk Edge (if he has one) during character creation. Would taking this Edge retroactively allow a character to change a Major Hindrance into a Minor one? That doesn't make any sense to me. It would make more sense if someone with the Berserk Edge could take Brute Warrior and also raise the die type of a skill that is lower than its linked attribute.

ogbendog · Heroic Joined: 29 Jul 2004 Posts: 1910

I don't have the Mars book, but usually if you use two weapons, you are -2 with one, and-4 with the other (unless you have ambidextrous)

Oswald Rabbit · Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 2:09 pm Post subject:

ogbendog · Heroic Joined: 29 Jul 2004 Posts: 1910

shrug. dunno

because you also get the lowered gangup?

and even then it's only good if you can buy off the -2

Enno · Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2012 3:35 pm Post subject:

Maybe because it's a SWEX setting, and Ambidextrous is a Background edge taken at character generation only?

Florentine is basically a two melee weapon edge, while Sword and Blaster gives you advantages for a mixed blaster/blade fighting style.

S&B is the fighting style favored by the elite warriors of Callor - and not all of are ambidextrous i persume, but two-fisted at best.
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Other Mike · Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 5:50 pm Post subject:

Do a serch here. I asked almost the same question a year or so ago. There is a slight advantage to this, but you can take other edges that are much better and kind of do the same thing.
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Enno · Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 6:24 pm Post subject:

I read your old posting...

What are the usual modifiers for wielding a blaster in your main, and a blade in your off-hand? -2 for the blaster, and -4 for the blade IIRC. S&B reduces this to -2 for both, like you learned Ambidextrous, which is a background edge.

I concur, that the design is "suboptimal" as it should be a simple "trapping" for the florentine edge IMO.
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Other Mike · Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 9:46 pm Post subject:

I would tend to take Two Fisted over Sword and Blaster. That gives me -0 for one weapon and -2 for the one in my off hand ... assuming I didn't take Ambidextrous as well. The two weapons can be any combination of melee or ranged ... though I would lose the -1 vs. gang up bonus.
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ogbendog · Heroic Joined: 29 Jul 2004 Posts: 1910

I think I'd change it; if you shoot in melee you roll vs 4, not parry.

the idea being you can sort of block their sword with yours, giving yourself a clean shot at them.

Other Mike · Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 8:22 am Post subject:

Just to note from a previous thread on this subject, when I asked the author (Gareth-Michael Skarka) for some clarification on this Edge, I was told there was a typo in the book, and that it should be -1 for each attack, not -2. I'm not sure that has ever been documented anywhere else. Still, I'm not sure why Florentine is a requirement, especially since they don't seem to stack.
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Other Mike

mongo · Novice Joined: 17 Jul 2009 Posts: 94

We've started a Mars campaign, and I've rewritten the Edges.

Sword and Blaster (Mars, pp. 64-65)

Requirements: Seasoned, Agility d8+, Fighting d6+, Shooting d6+, Two-Fisted

When you have both a melee weapon and a pistol in your hands, you act as if you had the Ambidextrous Edge. In addition, you subtract -1 from your opponents’ gang up bonus.

Sword and Blaster, Improved

Requirements: Veteran, Sword and Blaster

As long as you have a melee weapon in one hand, you use the standard Target Number of 4 instead of the target’s Parry when making a Shooting roll against an adjacent target. In addition, you subtract -2 from your opponents’ gang up bonus.

Kodyax · Seasoned Joined: 29 Sep 2010 Posts: 492

I like your reworking, mongo