If someone wants to do that, why not?
Because it can't be derived from the existing rules in any way, and making stuff up "just because" is terrible game design. It's in the same category as asking why the Stinking Cloud spell doesn't reduce Charisma until the stink is washed out, or why you can't re-ignite an
NPC romance by getting them drunk. There's only the barest of connection between them as far as the game is concerned.
If ranged weapons are not part of the weapon styles, then it is unfair that melee weapons get TWO sets of proficiencies which dictate how well the weapon can or can not be used.
Privelege is bad, right? Fairness has nothing to do with a game's rules unless the game in question is targeted at pre-schoolers. Rules are blind dictators, not kumbayah camp counselors.
The melee styles grant bonuses that tend to be exclusive outside of the weapon profs themselves, like extending critical range or granting an
AC bonus. Those styles also cover a far greater number of weapons to be applied to; there's only two categories of missile weapons, thrown and leveraged. I'm curious what your missile weapon styles would look like.
Also, a good sturdy bow can be used much the same as a quarterstaff in melee. A crossbow while a bit cumbersome can bonk heads just as effectively as a club. If someone chose to give such weapons a melee component, would they be covered?
This is ludicrous. "Hey, it's wood so all wood things must be usable in the same ways, right?" Imagination needs to have at least its starting point in reality. You couldn't find a wood product less suited for use as a quarterstaff than a bowstaff. Just... no.
Its more my curiosity about how it actually works that needs to be satisfied than making any actual changes. Documented proof would be preferable over idle speculation. Since ToBex handles the game engine, surely such information will be discovered. It has to be controlled by the engine as there is nothing on any item to set weapon style proficiency that affects it.
The styles are dependent on two things: the ITM's item ability has to be Melee, and whether the item flag 18h indicates 2-handed or not.
I bashed you pretty hard, but only for the dual-purposed weapons which just would never work; impossible in reality, silly in a game.
I'm not sure where it is on Asc64's to-do list, but I questioned where the styles' benefits were granted from a while ago in the hopes they could be externalized to a 2DA. If they could, you'd be able to make up some Ranged Weapon Styles, which would actually be pretty cool.
Edited by phordicus, 10 April 2012 - 09:27 PM.
