Unarmed skill

[Exubae]

I'm not advocating crippling anything, just the logic behind an 'ideal' RQ basce skill level system, in my opinion.

True, but the rules seem to be suggesting a greater level of abstraction from the skill roll.
i.e that the skill roll only determines telling blows, it dismisses glancing blows, rather than the allowing damage dice to determine this.

A skill % is or was your skill in a particular ability, with combat degree of out come is dealt with by the damage die (ok modified by criticals/Specials)... the current base of STR for unarmed just seems odd from this perspective.

It just feels inconsistent with the other skills....

 

[simonh]

True, but the rules seem to be suggesting a greater level of abstraction from the skill roll.
i.e that the skill roll only determines telling blows, it dismisses glancing blows, rather than the allowing damage dice to determine this.

I'm not sure about the distinction. Skill determines the chance of inflicting damaging blows. Other than for characters with negative damage modifiers (a special case, I feel), you can't normaly roll no damage on the damage dice.

A skill % is or was your skill in a particular ability, with combat degree of out come is dealt with by the damage die (ok modified by criticals/Specials)... the current base of STR for unarmed just seems odd from this perspective.

It just feels inconsistent with the other skills....

Strength has always been a factor in combat skills, right the way back to RQ2 at least. IIRC Strength was a primary modifier for all attack skills in RQ3, so every point of Strength gave a +1% modifier to attack skills.

A stronger character can handle a sword more easily, and also strike with a fist or kick faster and is more likely to cause damage at all - which is what skill is about. Yes damage modifier is the primary way that the ammount of damage is modified, but it's also always been taken into account in in RQ terms of causing damage at all even for characters with STR high enough to avoid negative damage modifiers.

 

[Exubae]

Strength has always been a factor in combat skills

I'm not moaning about Strength, but the lack of the Use of DEX... which is pretty much quickness and hand to eye co-ordination.

And the appalling floundering unarmed starting skills characters have when they engage in unarmed combat

 

[simonh]

I'm not moaning about Strength, but the lack of the Use of DEX... which is pretty much quickness and hand to eye co-ordination.

That's fair enough. DEX realy should be included in unarmed combat.