Weapon Bonus vs OB

[jowe01]

When creating a new weapon, I can give it a bonus. There are two entries possible there, "Weapon Bonus" and "OB". I am not sure, what is the difference between the two? For me they are the same thing, but apparently, they are not.

[Dakadin]

Weapon Bonus is for the item's bonus. The OB is the final total that is used in the combat tracker for the attack. The weapon bonus will not show up for the players if the item isn't ID'd.

[jowe01]

Thank you for the fast answer Dakadin.

I do not really get the logic. Why should there be a field in the ITEM definition which specifies the entire OB, i.e. the OB of the wielder has with this kind of weapon if it is a variant without bonus PLUS the magic/ material/ quality bonus that the weapon gives to the wielder? The former differs from wielder to wielder, it does imho not make sense to put it into the weapon definition. I will often define a particular weapon type (eg table leg to be used as an improvised club, which I derive by duplicating and renaming the standard “club”item but adding a -20 on attack rolls) and then distribute it to several NPC who have different skills in this kind of weapon. How / why could / should I define the total OB in the item definition?

[Dakadin]

Hi jowe01,

Basically it was setup that way so an item could have a magic bonus that could be hidden from the PCs. That value gets added to the skill bonus to set the OB for PCs but won't be shown to them. This was so a PC could equip different weapons and use the same skill for the skill bonus. Otherwise they would have had to manually change the skill to add the modifier for the weapon. NPCs can just use the OB field.

So for your improvised weapon if a PC is using it, set the weapon bonus to -20 and then if there is a skill associated with it the PC would select the skill and it will fill in the skill bonus and calculate the correct OB.

Hopefully that helps explain it but please let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks,
Dakadin

[jowe01]

Hi Dakadin,
thank you!
Alas, I still do not completely understand. I have set up the following example (attached screenshot):Chair leg - Example.jpg
1) I define the item "Chair leg" as using the "Club" attack table, but with a penalty of -25 on the OB. These -25 I put into the field "Weapon Bonus" as you suggest.However, for experimentation purposes, I also put a +10 into the field "OB"
2) I give this new item to a player character, the young Ranger "Robin Wood". I put it in his inventory.
3) Then, in the "Combat" tab of his character sheet, I associate the weapon "Chair leg" with the skill "W1-HC -" in which Robin Wood has a total Skill Bonus (actually: skill+stat+level) of +12

Doing this lets Robin Wood have a total OB of -13 (last window to the right in the screenshot) with the "Chair leg". How is this computed? Well it is
-25 "Weapon bonus" defined in the item setup
plus
+12 Robin Woods Skill Bonus with the skill "W1-HC -" which is associated with the item in Robin Woods Combat tab.

The +10 "OB" bonus which I have also specified in the item definition do not seem to do anything.

What is the purpose of the "OB" field? Under which circumstances does it have an effect , and which one?

Thank you again

Joerg

[damned]

What happens when you actually roll?

[jowe01]

What happens when you actually roll?

See attached. Chair leg - Example - Attack roll.jpg

Robin Wood is wounded which deducts another -10 from his attack roll, but that is it as far as I understand:

Roll 44
+
Robin Wood's Offensive Bonus of -13 with the Table leg (= +12 Weapon Skill and -25 "Weapon Bonus" as defined for the item)
-
Wounded > 25% penalty of 10
=
+21 Total result for the roll

The +10"OB" defined in the item do not show up anywhere, it seems.

[Dakadin]

If there is a skill associated with the item then the OB becomes a calculated total of weapon bonus and skill bonus. That OB you have in the item will get overwritten once you select the skill. That is why the OB becomes -13 when the skill is selected. If you want to include an OB for the item then just include it in the weapon bonus. The OB being changeable is for NPCs. It wasn't meant for PCs.

[jowe01]

Thank you, Dakadin. I see what you mean when I add the Chair leg to an NPC. The NPC then gets his OB for this weapon straight out of the "OB" that I have defined in the Item definition.

I need to admit that for me as an old Pen&Paper GM but a newbie in Rolemaster for FG, this is a bit weird/confusing. For me, there is always a distinction between the part of the OB that comes from the skill of an actor, NPC or PC, with a weapon type, and the OB-Bonus of a particular good or magic weapon. Both need always to be added to derive the total OB that the actor has with that particular weapon. For example, in a fight, a hostile NPC might pick up the magic sword of a fallen PC. His new OP would then be his old Skill OB, but now with the additional magic bonus of the weapon he has just picked up. I would have expected that an item bonus is always added to a skill bonus, for both PC and NPC (only that for the NPC, I would not derive the skill bonus from a complex skill develpment matrix, but I would simply type it into the NPC record, based on a "Typical NPC/Level" table, or based on GM discretion. Defining the entire OB of an NPC in the ITEM is strange for me.

Now, if course, I can overwrite the OB of the NPC in the NPC record, and note the components of the total OB (Skill and item bonus) somewhere in my notes. Not much of a hassle, now that I understand the mechanics thanks to you.

Thank you very much again!

[jowe01]

BTW, a somewhat related question: In an NPC record, is the DB figure in the upper part supposed to include any shield that I specify in the lower part? Experimenting with it, I would say yes, it is, but I would like to be sure .

EDIT: Mmmh, watching the Wolfshield Games video on NPCs again. There he shows the record of a Ranger which has “DB: 0” in the upper part of the record, while having a “Full Shield:+25” in the lower part. that would mean that the DB is nearly certainly not inclusive of the Shield, correct?