I was discussing this with one of my players. He says that some weapons in the Armory should be classed as operative weapons. He says that the ribbon weapons should not be classed as operative weapons and some should be.
Like the ice needle:
Ice Needle
This handheld melee weapon appears to be nothing more than a handle with a slot in one end. Once a vial of an injectable substance is inserted into this slot, the ice needle forms a slender spike of ice around that liquid core, allowing you to inject the substance into a foe with a virtually untraceable weapon. Undercover and furtive ice needles are often used primarily for their injecting capabilities, while artifice, espionage, and subterfuge ice needles deal significant damage along with the injection.
He says that the ice needle should be classed as an operative weapon.
The battle ribbon should not be because it's unwieldy. What do you guys think?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The concealability of a weapon does not necessarily indicate the finesse with which it is used. "Operative" describes how a weapon interacts with Dexterity, not how it would be useful in a covert action.
For example, the Battle Ribbon is unwieldy because you need considerable space and freedom to make an attack with it, such that you can only make one attack per round, but that doesn't change the fact that it's a weapon made for dancers and is based around flowing, dexterous motion.
The ice needle is basically just an icicle filled with juice. You still need to jam that thing through armor to inject the payload. I can see that it would still need Strength.
I like the Ice Needle as a non-Operative weapon because I'd like to run a Strength Soldier/Biohacker after COM comes out, and making it Operative would cut down my damage considerably.
That said, I'm all for a variety of weapons with a variety of weapon properties. Make lower-damage Operative versions of all sorts of stuff, sure, go ahead... but don't take away my Strength gear.
|
"An operative can use the trick attack class feature with a weapon that has the operative special property, and any character can add her Dexterity modifier rather than her Strength modifier to melee attack rolls with these weapons."
You can still use your strength with an operative weapon. Using your dexterity to hit instead is an option.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
True... but between the lower damage dice and (more importantly) the 1/2 level specialization, making something an operative weapon means making it trash for strength-based fighters.
|
|
True... but between the lower damage dice and (more importantly) the 1/2 level specialization, making something an operative weapon means making it trash for strength-based fighters.
Which is why I love using the Handcannons. Nothing like picking up 2d8 at 3rd level as an operative and blowing a hole in a monster.