Multiple Attacks

[Grimthing]

Hey all. Grim's question of the week

In regards to multiple attacks. Is the 1/1; 3/2; 2/1; 5/2 a progression that applies to any increase, or slightly more arbitrary?

- A Thief two-weapon fighting attacks twice in a round, once with each shortsword - 2/1?

- A 7th level Fighter with 3 ranks of specialisation in Handaxe, attacks twice one round, and once the next - 3/2

- If the same Fighter was Haste'd - they would get double the amount of attacks, thus attacking - 2/1 or 5/2

- If the same Fighter was Haste'd and was wielding two Handaxes, how many attacks each round would they perform? 5/2 for the Off-Hand, and then ... ?

Thanks for any clearing up - I'm sure I've over-confused myself looking at niche occurrences.

Grim

[Solomoriah]

Hey all. Grim's question of the week

In regards to multiple attacks. Is the 1/1; 3/2; 2/1; 5/2 a progression that applies to any increase, or slightly more arbitrary?

- A Thief two-weapon fighting attacks twice in a round, once with each shortsword - 2/1?

Yes, that's correct.

- A 7th level Fighter with 3 ranks of specialisation in Handaxe, attacks twice one round, and once the next - 3/2

Yup.

- If the same Fighter was Haste'd - they would get double the amount of attacks, thus attacking - 2/1 or 5/2

Nope. 2 x 3/2 is 3/1. Three attacks per round.

- If the same Fighter was Haste'd and was wielding two Handaxes, how many attacks each round would they perform? 5/2 for the Off-Hand, and then ... ?

You're an evil man... The question of multiple attacks with the off hand is not addressed, I don't think. In general, I allow just one attack per round with a "second" weapon, regardless of specialization, but that's not in the supplement.

So my way would be 5/1 (3/1 with the primary, 2/1 with the secondary) for our Hasted handaxe specialist. But you could read the supplement as allowing 6/1 if you wish.

Either way, this fighter has a new name... Captain Cuisinart. "Slices, dices, makes Julienne fries..."

[Dimirag]

Is the 1/1; 3/2; 2/1; 5/2 a progression that applies to any increase, or slightly more arbitrary?

If you are asking if there is a logical progression here (sorry if I'm answering something you did not asked), there is one, half attack increments, as you can't half attack it goes to the next round.

- If the same Fighter was Haste'd and was wielding two Handaxes, how many attacks each round would they perform? 5/2 for the Off-Hand, and then ... ?

I would not allow extra attacks for specialization on the offhand, just to avoid repeating weapons and gaining more attacks, I would let specialization in an offhand weapon tho...

3/2 attacks are 1,5 attacks per round, with haste it becomes 3 per round, he could do 3&1 to 3&3 depending on offhand specialization level

[Grimthing]

Great summaries - thanks both of you!

My maths is the worst, this all makes sense, and the common sense applied also!

Cheers,
Grim

[SmootRK]

overall, I dislike the 'doubling' of haste effects. In the past, I have used a mechanism whereas there is a progression of attacks/round... 1xround, 3/2, 2xround, etc. Using this progression, when Haste or similar situation is invoked, I simply take the character to the next progression (instead of doubling).

Perhaps restrictive (or mean from character standpoint, especially with regular access to haste)... but this is done with Monsters/NPCs as well.

just my minor input here.... carry on

[Seven]

Haste is a very powerful spell in BFRPG.
Of course, it's even better when you don't run out of targets and the PCs are frequently outnumbered.

[teaman]

One possible house rule to consider is that the second attack is at a penalty of -4, and can't happen until the PC has at least a +5 . So the bonuses would look like:

+5/+1
+6/+2
+7/+2
etc...

(Disclaimer: This is not original to me. I think it is from one of the Star Wars games iterations.)

I like the idea that the second attack is less accurate, but still gives higher level combatants a little bonus. It makes things a little easier rather than having to count the rounds. However, if that isn't a problem, then go with it.

In my current game, my fighters and thieves get extra attacks at certain levels, but no penalties on the second attacks. (One of my players wanted to port it in from a later edition). Not sure how I feel about it:

1. It does give fighters/thieves a little more punch compared to spell casters.
2. They are all above 10th level, so they mow right through lower level opponents like superheroes. Can make it tricky in designing higher level adventures
3. The penalty on the second attack is more realistic than cinematic. Unless you are Bruce Lee (watch him play ping-pong with numchucks and you'll see what I mean)

Just my two cents. Which is about what it's worth.