Australian Horizon - Dexterity Knack - No Prerequisite
Your intuitive grasp of the aerodynamics of thrown weapons is so refined that you may hurl any object as if it had the returning dynamics of a Boomerang. Doing so is tricky, and adds penalties of +2 to the difficulty of the attack roll and +1 to the Speed of the action. Likewise, it reduces the maximum distance you can throw the weapon to one-third what it would be otherwise (the weapon travels in a large circular loop, after all).
You may only use this Knack on weapons/items that you are strong enough to throw (see page 54 of Demigod for a full explanation - but in rough terms if you have 1 more Epic Strength or 5 more mundane Strength than needed to lift an item, you can throw it).
Regardless of whether the attack hits or misses, the thrown weapon comes back to your hands, ready to be used again on your next action. If the target has the Brick Wall knack or an active Boon such as Sun 5 or Fire 7, it's likely your weapon will be damaged. You should be particularly wary of throwing combustible boomerangs at Fire Giants.
If you also have the Richochet Symphony knack, you may choose the multiple attack option when throwing this way - though each attack must be on a separate foe.
A ready foe (one either acting on the same tick as you, or using an interruptible action such as Guard) may spend an action (Speed:3, DV:-1) to deflect your "boomerang" (so that it doesn't make the return trip) by rolling their Wits + Athletics and beating your attack roll. Also, a target with an active Whirlwind Shield deflects for free (and automatically) any time your attack roll misses their Parry DV. In order to so deflect it, they must be strong enough themselves to lift (not necessarily throw) the object you hurled at them.
Oops - a potential issue:
ReplyDeleteThis is a Dex knack, but the Prerequisite is a Strength Knack. I'm not sure if that's really a problem or not.
Edits:
ReplyDeleteChanged the prerequisite to Ricochet Symphony (from Hurl To The Horizon).
Changed the last paragraph as well. It used to let foes deflect if just parrying, not actively guarding. It also required a stunt, and allowed foes to catch it. While catching would be a stunt, I didn't want that to be a default assumption of how the power worked.
Edits: (inspired by feedback at the Scion forum)
ReplyDeleteEliminated the prerequisite. Changed the multi-attack option to be only if combined with richochet symphony. The base power of Australian Horizon is weak enough to not need a prereq, but the power now has a clause to reward building "the ultimate thrower" character archetype.
Changed the deflection bit to be a separate action - people who are guarding can still do it, and so can anyone acting on the same tick as you.
Oh, and while it's probably obvious, the 1/3 range is intended as a minor (and elegant) kludge to avoid having to divide by pi in the midst of combat. It does give a few extra feet of range, but that's far better than yucky math accuracy.
ReplyDeleteEdited: Added the statement about Whirlwind Shield. WS is an almost completely useless Knack in Scion Demigod, and I thought it would be nice to give that lame Knack a minor boost.
ReplyDelete