Foci and Gestures

[PerennialRook]

If I am making a wizard and I am aplying disadvantages to his spells. Can I take both gestures requiring two hands and focus with a wizards staff that he holds in one of the hands? Effectively making gestures with one hand and a staff.

-Preston

[Nightshade]

Yes. You can define the gestures to include manipulating a Focus, if you want to.

Nightshade

[prestidigitator]

Right. Gestures doesn't necessarily mean you can't be holding something in your hand. It means you can't do anything else useful with that hand, such as attacking or using another power with Gestures.

This should not keep you from holding an item which is another requirement of the activation of the spell. However, I would say holding a shield or something not related to the activation of the power wouldn't work.

[Mike]

I've looked for a thread already answering my question but I couldn't find one; sorry if I missed it.

Gestures means the character can't do anything with her/his hand(s) except activate the Power. Does that mean I can build a sword, say, as HKA with the Focus and Gestures Limitations, with the Gestures being wielding the sword? It seems a little counterintuitive but I can't think why not: it is a limitation compared to a character who doesn't have to use her/his hands to activate an HKA. And what about Gestures as a Limitation to model a bare-hands HA? I suppose HA and HKA could have the "uses hands" limitation built-in, so what about a rifle built as an RKA with Focus and Gestures?

[Pattern Ghost]

No, you can't build an attack with Gestures being the attack action. I believe it says so under the description for Gestures.

[Lord Liaden]

According to the description of Gestures, a character can take it as a Limitation "only if he makes gestures which are obviously out of the ordinary." Just swinging a sword like everyone else swings a sword would not count IMO - there's nothing to indicate anything unusual about the situation. OTOH if you had a magical "singing sword" that was only effective if you had to finger it like a piccolo while you swung it, I'd say that that was sufficiently indicative to the casual observer of something wierd going on to justify the Lim. ;)

[TheEmerged]

Swinging a sword or pulling a trigger on a gun wouldn't count as gestures under the "not part of the ordinary attack" clause. However holding the sword above your head and shouting "I am the power" or something like that would count for G & I.

[JmOz]

On Gestures think of things like the Power Rangers, even when they have there weapons in hand they will do this big flourish of moves before the big attack, THAT is gestures