Trigger on Hand-to-Hand Attack

[Duane From RI]

If a character buys a Hand-to-Hand Attack with the trigger advantage, do they also have to buy the trigger advantage for their STR?

[Steve Long]

Re: Trigger on Hand-to-Hand Attack

 

In the interest of clarity and general application, I’m going to restate this question a bit:

 

Q: The rules on 6E1 231 and 6E2 102 describe how STR and Hand-To-Hand Attack and HKA interact in regard to Advantages on one, the other, or both when the Advantages in question affect how the attack does damage. What about Advantages that don’t directly affect how damage is done, such as Trigger, Reduced Endurance, or the like? If a character has such an Advantage on STR or on HA/HKA but not on the other element, does the Advantage still apply?

 

A: If a character wants an Advantage that doesn’t affect how the attack does damage to apply to both his damage from STR and his damage from an HA or HKA, he must buy the Advantage for both parts of the attack. As noted on 6E1 231, Reduced Endurance for HA doesn’t apply to the STR used with HA, and this same logic extends to other Advantages, such as Trigger.

 

If a character wants an Advantage to apply to both the STR and the HA/HKA, he must buy it for both — otherwise, the Advantage only affects the game element it’s bought for. If there’s a way to handle this logically that doesn’t violate the rules, the GM can allow the character to use only part of the attack so that the Advantage applies. If this isn’t possible under the rules (such as with HA, whose dice can’t be used on their own without STR), or if doing so violates the GM’s common sense or dramatic sense, then the Advantage cannot be used at all.