Variable Advantage on HAs and STR

[Silbeg]

In my campaign, I have a couple of characters now that have HAs with a variable advantage, and the time has come to make sure I am ruling how their STR damage adds.

Per FREd, p272, if the character has not paid for the advantage on his STR, the STR DCs get added at a rate equivelent to the cost of the HAs.

I see two possibilities on how this works . In my example, we will assume a character with a STR 25, and 5d6 HA w/ +1/2 Variable Advantage, and the character is assigning "Armor Piercing" to the Variable Advantage.

Option 1:
As AP is a +1/2, he gets 5+(25/7.5) = 8d6 AP.

Option 2:
As the total advantage on the HA is +1.5, he gets 5+(25/12.5) = 7d6 AP

My gut feeling, as there are no rules to the contrary. The Rules FAQ states that "Variable Advantage is no different from any other Advantage when it comes to calculating the END cost", which I would extend to assume means that it is no different in adding STR damage.

Thank you for your time.

Silbeg...

[Steve Long]

Either I'm not understanding your question, or you're misunderstanding the rules on 5E 272 (or both, I s'pose ;)). So, let's walk through the steps.

With an HA that has an Advantage, the character can add points of STR less than or equal to the unmodified Active Points in the HA (IOW, the HA without the Advantage applied). If he does so, then the Advantage applies to all the damage done. There's no need to pro-rate the damage for the Advantage, as there is in some other situations.

If the character's STR exceeds the unmodified Active Points in the HA, he either has to limit himself to no more STR than the unmodified Active Points in the HA, or he cannot add his STR.

So, let's take your example: 25 STR, HA +5d6 with Variable Advantage. The unmodified Active Points in the HA are 25. The character's STR, 25, is less than or equal to 25. Therefore he can add all of his STR damage to the HA and have the Advantage apply to all the dice. Thus, if the character assigned the Variable Advantage to Armor Piercing, the character would be making a 10d6 AP Normal Damage attack.

If the character had STR 30, he would either have to restrict himself to using no more than 25 points' worth of STR, or he could not add his STR to the HA.

Does that clarify things for you? If not, please post a follow-up.