Finesse weapons

[old school gamer]

Just wanting an opinion. I was running C&C with someone new to the system and wanted to know if he could add his Dex bonus to hit if he is using a light weapon. I don't think their is anything in the rules about that and I was wondering if I missed something and if not whether anyone out there in internet land has house ruled this or not.

[Rigon]

I would allow either Dex or Str, but not both.

R-

[Go0gleplex]

Define a light weapon. Most weapons rely on strength to take advantage of the weapons weight or to get through armor/scales/hide, etc. About the only ones I can think of that wouldn't necessarily do so would be such weapons as the rapier and daggers that rely more on accuracy to pierce the weak spots of the opponent's defenses. So I would look more at those type of piercing weapons in addition to them being lighter weapons.

[serleran]

Not to be rude, but the official answer is: ranged weapons. Also, in a sense, dual-wielded weapons where the penalty can be offset.

Some can also benefit from Strength adjustments such as muscle-powered hurled weapons (dagger, axe, some bows, etc.)

For melee-only, Strength is the de facto attribute to consider.

It is not impossible to use Dexterity over Strength if desired but this is not what C&C assumes. It might work best with some type of quick, agile, attacker like a fencer/duelist or maybe even only against lightly armored foes.

Oh, there may be an Edge or whatever they're called in the CKG as well -- I don't know as I don't use them. But, if there is, then that is an official option as well.

[soloplayer]

I would allow either Dex or Str, but not both.

R-

This makes the most sense to me. No doubt DEX could play a role in melee, but probably would help "To Hit" more than "Damage".

Now that I type that, perhaps you could allow a DEX bonus for your "To Hit", and then the STR bonus for "Damage"... but I'd probably just allow the choice of one.

[Rigon]

I would allow either Dex or Str, but not both.

R-

This makes the most sense to me. No doubt DEX could play a role in melee, but probably would help "To Hit" more than "Damage".

Now that I type that, perhaps you could allow a DEX bonus for your "To Hit", and then the STR bonus for "Damage"... but I'd probably just allow the choice of one.

It would be for "to hit." Str for damage.

R-

[Buttmonkey]

I would not allow a dex bonus to hit and then add a strength bonus to damage. The whole point of using Dex is that the PC is hitting through finesse, not brute strength. How would the PC inflict extra damage when they aren't using their muscle to hit?

[Fizz]

I would not allow a dex bonus to hit and then add a strength bonus to damage. The whole point of using Dex is that the PC is hitting through finesse, not brute strength. How would the PC inflict extra damage when they aren't using their muscle to hit?

One can make an argument for both. Dex is for aim, and Str is for power. First the character uses precise aim to pick the point of attack, and then he uses his strength for greater penetration. So Dex determines where the strike goes, and Str determines the power of the strike.

It's the same rule as for thrown weapons, so i don't think there is a problem using it that way.


-Fizz

[jdizzy001]

The decipher rpg for LOTR did this. They used agility (dex) for accuracy then str to modify damage. I wasn’t a fan. 3e also did this with their weapon finesse feat. Again, I wasn’t a fan. That being said, using dex to resolve attacks isnt going to make a huge difference. Depending on which stat bonus array you are using you’d be looking at a 5 to 10 percent difference in the dice rolls. It won’t be game breaking, and if it makes your PC feel cool, let them do it. In 4e you could use what ever stat you wanted. All you main attacks were tied to your primary stat. Clerics hit with wisdom, bards hit with charisma, wizards, well they still used spells but they were int based rolls. My point is, it wont be game breaking, stat bonuses in cnc are much smaller than dnd. In dnd it is par for the course to start a character with a a 16 or higher in their primary stat. That is quite rare in cnc.

[soloplayer]

...if it makes your PC feel cool, let them do it.

Well said...

[Captain_K]

If a PC has one or two high scores they are usually in class prime. STR for fighter and DEX for say thief. Ranger might make a great example. If DEX is the only really high score then do you force the ranger to fight giants with ranged weapons to get his best to hit or allow the ranger to finesse his attacks on the giant while still NOT getting the DEX to damage bonus. Granted this case gets the class damage bonus. But the idea allows some flexibility and avoids the need to desire or work toward high scores in all things.