Finesse, intelligence, and Wolverine

[fourbanger]

Hey there,

Been trolling this board for about a week as I play (whilst suffering greatly from the dreaded 'restart syndrome') FO2.

Seeing as how this is my first post, I thought I'd try to make it worth your while with a few skill(?) testing questions. Or whatever.

First off, regarding the finesse trait, as stated on the vaultwiki web page:

"All of your attacks do -30% damage. Your critical chance is increased by 10%. Technically, this is done by adding a +30 DR modifier to all attacks, which is ignored by armor-bypassing criticals."

I take this to mean that, when I shoot some poor bastard deftly between the eyes, that not only do I lose a guaranteed 30% of damage over the next guy, but that my +30 DR modifier (from the trait) is nullified because of where I chose my mark?

I'm actually having a hard time grasping this concept; the part about DR being ignored by armor-bypassing crits especially. I supposedly am more likely to get the crit because of the high DR, but if that crit happens to be an armor bypassing one then I lose that DR modifier?

According to our quoted definition, that would be like saying you get +10% chance to score a critical hit unless the crit you just scored bypasses armor in which case you don't get an additional 10% chance to crit on the critical you just scored.

Somebody please straighten me out on this one...

NEXT!

I read somewhere, Per's awesome (if not totally ultimate) guide, I believe, that dialog options appear in relation to INT as, say, AP relates to AG. More specifically, that dialog options would be the same for a character (all else being equal) with either 6-7 INT or 8-9 INT but NOT 7-8 INT.

Not that I doubt the man, but I've yet to see that observation mentioned anywhere else, and was just wondering if there might be some confirmation to be had.

And finally...

I'm trying to work out a post-apocalyptic wolverine type char, and I wouldn't at all mind a bit of input on the idea.

What I've been thinking about is:

S 6
P 9 ("they're close by, I can smell 'em")
E 4
C 2
I 6
A 9
L 5

I think that's what I had in mind... I may consider dropping INT down to 5, and luck as well, to put the points into either PE/AG or END.

Small Frame (cause wolvy was never a big guy, just bad-ass)
Fast Metabolism. <--- That one's practically a given.... Isn't it??

With fast met. and an END of 6, I get a healing rate of 4, which means by the time I get from A to B I'm all healed up for the next fight. Pretty nifty.

Where I get really hung up on is the Tag skills. So far I'm thinking Sm guns and Outdoorsman. Yea yea, but it's like the 23rd century, and those spiked knuckles are only going to get me so far. Outdoorsman is also kind of nice: "Do you wish to encounter your ex-wife hiding in a group of lawyers?" "Hell NO!"

The third perk has me a little stumped though. Unarmed just doesn't make any sense as that's just so easy to raise right from the start and I don't see any real reason to raise it above 100 with such a high PER. Remember, I'm going for the post-apocalyptical Wolverine flavour here; he's bound to be a little different from the 90's stereotype slasher we all know and love. Was thinking maybe Doctor, but that would be a lot cooler if I could just sleep off broken limbs instead of actually going through the trouble of healing them myself... hmm.

Perks I'm just going to play by ear, though I'm open to suggestions.

I guess that about wraps it up. Probably enough here for three separate topics, but what the hell..

Thanks for your help guys.

TTFN.

 

[alec]

There's nothing Wolverine-ish about the character you propose.

My two cents:

Wolfie needs a perfect Endurance (10) and a high Perception (9-10). Charisma can be dropped to the lowest value, but I would keep my strength and Agility high as well (strength especially for hit points).

You should opt for Gifted to get the extra stat points, Wolfie is pretty gifted anyway, isn't he?
I wouldn't say Wolfie is small framed either. But Fast Metabolism definitely.

As for skills, you will just have to deal with the fact that Wolverine uses his hands and claws: so it's Unarmed and Melee for you.
For gaming pleasure I'd add either Speak or Lockpick to that, but Doctor or First Aid might be more logical, seeing as how Wolverine shouldn't really be using any Stimpaks, that's roleplaying for you, no?

Oh and definitely do an Iron Man game. Definitely.

 

[Per]

"All of your attacks do -30% damage. Your critical chance is increased by 10%. Technically, this is done by adding a +30 DR modifier to all attacks, which is ignored by armor-bypassing criticals."

I take this to mean that, when I shoot some poor bastard deftly between the eyes, that not only do I lose a guaranteed 30% of damage over the next guy, but that my +30 DR modifier (from the trait) is nullified because of where I chose my mark?

DR means Damage Resistance; adding DR to the attack means it will do less damage (i.e. the downside to Finesse). But if you get a no-armour crit then this DR isn't counted, so basically the downside disappears in that particular case. It makes the trait better, not worse (at least if I understand that quote at all correctly).

I read somewhere, Per's awesome (if not totally ultimate) guide, I believe, that dialog options appear in relation to INT as, say, AP relates to AG. More specifically, that dialog options would be the same for a character (all else being equal) with either 6-7 INT or 8-9 INT but NOT 7-8 INT.

No, each line of dialogue has its own value anywhere from 1 to 10. The vast majority have 4, and of the rest most of the ones that matter are at 6 or 7. 5 wouldn't get you that much useful stuff compared to 4, while 7 is probably a noticeable improvement on 6.

 

[fourbanger]

Hey, thanks guys.

I think I see where I got all screwed up on the finesse definition..

"All of your attacks do -30% damage. Your critical chance is increased by 10%. Technically, this is done by adding a +30 DR modifier to all attacks, which is ignored by armor-bypassing criticals."

I probably associated the sentence about adding a +30 DR mod to the one behind it about adding a 10% crit chance, but disregarded the first sentence from the equation. Also, it seems I may have been confused about the definition of DR... Anyway... Thanks for clearing that one up, Per. That actually makes a lot of sense, now. And the issue about the intelligence factor as well. I appreciate the insight.

Now, back to Wolverine...

This could go on for days, but, The reason I couldn't bring myself to tag un-armed and/or melee is that a) unarmed is so easy to bring up without a tag anyway, and b) Wolverine with a sledge-hammer? Really? I don't buy it. The ripper, maybe, but not a big dumb clobbering tool. The other issue is that I have yet to find any adamantium (sp?) claws anywhere, and I'd sooner settle for a more modern day, uzi-packing wolverine who also happens to be addept at beating the crap out of fools when ever the mood strikes him. Which would be often.

You maybe right about the gifted thing, though. I did want to stay away from that one trait this time, but it's hard to be happy with those stat numbers the way they are. Hell, it's hard to be happy with those stat numbers no matter what. Who's kidding who?

I'm a little curious about the difference between doctor and first aid, though. If first aid heal minor wounds, and doctor heals, well, major wounds, then shouldn't it stand to reason that doctor would heal all minor wounds as well? I'd think so.

Blah blah blah.

Ok. Thanks for the thoughts, guys.

Happy falling out.

P.S.

I believe my original posting had the correct spelling of "intelligance" in the subject. It seems someone out there is trying to make me look stupid. Also, your spellcheck is broken.

 

[TwoEyedYum]

to Fourbanger:

It was intelligEnce for all times Believe an old russian RPG fan, that hates localised versions...

First Aid purely restores hit points, and does it somewhat faster than Doctor. But, if you so bored about Stimpacks, you also may think, that skilled and educated weremedic is not a good idea

On other hand, you can imagine, that your Doctor skill is (well, just imagine that) NOT your skill in surgery, but your ability to concentrate on your werewolfy nature and heal yourself, including regenerating broken limbs. To make roleplay in that way, you should use NO doctor's or paramedic's bag. Use the Force, WereLuke

Sadly, it's not a FOT, and you are not a ghoul ^^ Because ghouls with somewhat "Cancer" perk REALLY can regenerate crippled limbs. But ghouls fits more for err... Zombie?

Additional ideas: really i'd not choose FA, Science, Repair, Barter, Gambling, Big&Energy and yes, even Melee Weapons. Fast and deadly were-thingy can use throwings, through, Unarmed for sure. He can Lockpick and Steal, if he's so agile. But in steal case you also would want Sneak...