Returning weapons

[Sorloc]

Trying to build an item that returns to the thrower's hand...

 

Does the item buy flight, or the character buy a limited TK?

 

(5th Ed)

[Ninja-Bear]

I’ve seen it done as OIF. Inaccessible means that (in this case it was a sword) if disarmed, it automatically went back to the owners hand.

[clnicholsusa]

Making the weapon OIF so it returns to the hand upon disarming is interesting, but 'thrown weapon returning to the thrower' is just a special effect for a blast attack. If there's a chance the thrower can't catch it the blast attack can have a limitation (requires a roll, burnout), otherwise it's just an effect.

 

[Christopher R Taylor]

I usually buy it as OIF but to make sure, a teleport or telekinesis to make it come back is a way to make it even more certain.  That lets you do tricks like leaving your weapon behind the super bad guy that came out of nowhere, has no back story or personality, and cutting him in half despite his established ability to know everything going on around him and see the future.

[Cantriped]

The "Item" only needs to buy powers if it has a sheet of its own (such as an automaton, computer controlled focus, or vehicle) in the form of a weapon.

 

Most simple "Returning Weapons" are built as lethal HtH Weapons with OIF (as mentioned above) and Range Based On STR. The focus returning to you after being thrown is simply the justification for it not taking Recoverable Charges like mundane thrown weapons.

[clnicholsusa]

1 hour ago, Cantriped said:

The "Item" only needs to buy powers if it has a sheet of its own (such as an automaton, computer controlled focus, or vehicle) in the form of a weapon.

 

Most simple "Returning Weapons" are built as lethal HtH Weapons with OIF (as mentioned above) and Range Based On STR. The focus returning to you after being thrown is simply the justification for it not taking Recoverable Charges like mundane thrown weapons.

This has always grated on me, a little, as the system indicates this is permissible for an axe, but not allowed for a club.

Axe: Hand-to-Hand Killing Attack
Ranged: An HKA with this Advantage (or Range Based On STR) still gets STR bonuses to damage. This is a good way to build HTH weapons characters can throw (such as some axes). It’s an exception to the general rule that a character must always use a Power’s Advantages when he uses a Power.

 

Club: Hand-to-Hand Attack
Ranged: A character may not apply the Advantage Ranged to an HA (except possibly when building throwable HTH Combat weapons in Heroic campaigns). To build such an attack, use Blast with the Range Based On Strength Limitation (and other Limitations, as appropriate), or buy the weapon as a normal HTH Combat weapon and use the Throw Combat Maneuver to inflict damage with it as a thrown object.

 

So, we get two questions from this:

1. What is it about Hand-to-Hand Attacks that suggests they don't benefit from the points added to STR when they are thrown?
2. What is it about Hand Killing Attacks that prevents them from being used with the Throw Combat Maneuver to do damage?

[Cantriped]

59 minutes ago, clnicholsusa said:

What is it about Hand-to-Hand Attacks that suggests they don't benefit from the points added to STR when they are thrown?

Nothing, the prohibition is an arbitrary rule related to HAs pricing structure compared to STR and TK... mostly I blame it on STR and TK not being expensive enough. STR should cost 2 points (and TK 3), or else always cost twice as much END (Per Heroic rules)... if either were the case we could have had a Normal Attack power just like Killing Attack but priced at 1d6 per 5 points.

 

As a semantic note, it can be argued that HA is only prohibited from having standard Ranged in CC/FHC (given that the various range affecting modifiers are now described seperately, but HA only prohibits Ranged specifically); so presumably it is legal to build Throwing Clubs using Limited Range or Range Based On Strength like we've been doing for at least two editions anyway.

[Ninja-Bear]

Clnicholusa in fifth (not sure in 6th) for Heroic games only, you were allowed to put ranged on a HA.