Now that the Alien Archive is out, we have a few more playable races with a natural weapon perk. However, these new natural weapon stat blocks are much more specific than their Vesk counterpart in the Core Rule Book.

For example, the Reptoid is listed as having a slashing attack at 1d3 + 1.5 x CL (at 3rd) due to claws. The Nuar have horns which also specify piercing.

So now with the new examples of natural weapons, does the Vesk ability require a descriptor? Is the Vesk ability a bludgeoning attack (tail slap), slashing attack (claw swipe), or piercing attack (bite)? Does it stack with Improved Unarmed Strike as a rules-as-intended effect vs its rules-as-written entry? If the latter is true, then can the new races with the same feature also make use of the Improved Unarmed Strike feat in this manner (to improve the die from 1d3 while keeping the 1.5xCL damage)?

Hi all,

I'm curious if anyone else has considered changing weapon specialization to being damage = to character level for all weapons.

Just toying with an idea of a change for my own games and it looks like small arms and operative weapons do less static damage solely to limit the Operative.

It also seems to have the effect of forcing people to consider taking a weapon proficiency. What was the point of making small arms deal less damage both from the dice AND the flat modifier?

What is the damage tax that the Operative pays for being an Operative, and why is it this was passed on to everyone else?

A level 20 Gyrojet Pistol (small arm) deals 5D12 or an average 32.5 dmg (42.5 with current weapon specialization).

A level 20 Paragon Seeker Rifle (longarm) deals 12D8 or an average 54 dmg (74 with specialization).

A level 20 Paragon Reaction Cannon (heavy weapon) deals 12D10 or an average of 66 dmg (86 with specialization).

So without even talking about specialization, each tier of fire arm going from small -> longarm -> heavy weapon deals more damage than the last tier.

Currently, if the stars align perfectly, and an Operative hits with 4 attacks at 20 with the pistol above, that is 170 dmg. Bumping up their weapon specialization brings this to 210.

A ranged Solarian with the longarm above would deal 234 since they gain a +4 damage bonus from Photon mode. Non-Photon would be 222 on average. So the Operative with small arms is starting to encroach on the Solarian's damage with a longarm. If the Solarian was using the same pistol as above, their 3 attack damage would average 157.5. Yet, a Solarian's best at melee with an average 315 dmg with a reasonable build. ...An Operative with the best melee weapon would yield 224 average and we're thinking this would include a +8 str mod which is unlikely.

A Soldier using the longarm averages 255 if a Sharpshooter using Bullet Barrage and Focus Fire. With only Bullet Barrage that's the same as a Solarian in Photon mode. A heavy weapon using Soldier that is also a Sharpshooter deals 297 dmg on average. Or 258 average damage if the Soldier decided to not play a Sharpshooter or take Bullet Barrage. And a reasonably optimized melee Soldier will deal around 297 dmg with a 2h weapon or 288 with a 1h.

It doesn't seem like the Operative is that close in damage with the Solarian or Soldier that is is threatening their combat roles that much... or is it?

Genuinely curious on just how overpowered this would be.

**edit: And it would seem that any damage increase in favor of an Operative needs to account for Trick Attack which I didn't really bother with at the time...

So toying around with probabilities of hitting a KAC 34 any buff to an Operative's TA dmg potential (be it improving a sniper rifle shot with TA dice or upping weapon specialization) pushes it closer to the Soldier's single shot damage with a Heavy Weapon and almost always out damages everyone else's single shot (except for a Mechanic using Overcharge).