Setting new attack types

[tintagel]

Hypothetical Scenario:

Let's say that you have a primitive campaign that's using simple weapons like bows & arrows, but they pick up a sci-fi Blaster from a crashed space ship. They want to try and fire it but it really shouldn't use their [Shooting] skill.

So you want to assign a different skill, like [Energy Weapons] or [Alien Weapons] to the attack. The common method is to change the attack type with this little trick: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMdt9-enpno

Basically, right-click the attack, go to Attack Info, right-click on Type and Set Trait, then paste your new skill there.

However:

One huge limitation of that method is that it only really works with Melee attacks. Ranged attacks that have the Type set to a custom skill do not keep their Range, Rate of Fire, or Shots fields. It defaults to a Melee type weapon (complete with Reach)

Does anyone know of any extensions or threads that discuss how to add additional drop-down options for weapon types, or possibly a workaround that keeps the Range, Rate of Fire, etc? Or perhaps a way to keep the existing fields when using a custom Type?

[kronovan]

How did you create your Energy Weapons or Alien Weapons skill?
I ask, because I just tried it with a custom [Blaster Fire] skill and it worked. However, my way of creating my Blaster Fire skill was to drag and drop the Shooting skill within the skill list. I then just edited the name field of the copied skill to rename it to Blaster Fire. Creating a new skill from scratch seems to work differently, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's a keyword that can be inserted into the text box to make it work correctly - I don't know what it is, if in fact there is one.

[Jiminimonka]

How did you create your Energy Weapons or Alien Weapons skill?
I ask, because I just tried it with a custom [Blaster Fire] skill and it worked. However, my way of creating my Blaster Fire skill was to drag and drop the Shooting skill within the skill list. I then just edited the name field of the copied skill to rename it to Blaster Fire. Creating a new skill from scratch seems to work differently, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's a keyword that can be inserted into the text box to make it work correctly - I don't know what it is, if in fact there is one.

Yeah, opening the skills window and make a new one, that is how it is done (copy also works the same way) - but the skills are saved to the campaign you are in. If you want them to be used in another campaign, you will need to /export and make a .mod file to load.

[tintagel]

Thank you both for replying but I don't think I made my problem clear enough. I'm NOT having an issue assigning an attack to a custom skill.

I have created the custom skill
I have correctly applied it to the attack as seen in the video
The die for the custom skill shows up on the attack and I can roll it fine. Everything resolves fine.


However - the attack fields default to a Melee attack (it shows Reach) and the Range, Rate of Fire, and Shots are missing. Once I set the custom skill, the attack seems to forget it's a ranged attack and I lose the fields. See screenshots below:

The attack is initially a Ranged attack using Shooting.
55957

Once I change it to a custom skill (like Firearms) it's fields reflect a melee attack
55958

[Doswelk]

Not sure there is a way around it, all I can think right now is make it a power then you can have a custom skill, range and damage, not perfect but it would work.

[tintagel]

I think I discovered a workaround, and I'll leave it here in case anyone else needs to know:

I took the difference between the PC/NPC's Shooting skill and their Firearms or Alien Blaster skill (or whatever). Then I used the Shooting skill as normal with a ranged attack and applied an Effect on the item (so it's applied when equipped) to lower the skill die by the appropriate amount.


For example, if he has a shooting of d10 but is untrained in Firearms: [>Shooting -3d, >Shooting -2] This simulates a d4-2.
If he has a shooting d8 and Firearms d4, [>Shooting -2d]

[dogfisc]

I think I discovered a workaround, and I'll leave it here in case anyone else needs to know:

I took the difference between the PC/NPC's Shooting skill and their Firearms or Alien Blaster skill (or whatever). Then I used the Shooting skill as normal with a ranged attack and applied an Effect on the item (so it's applied when equipped) to lower the skill die by the appropriate amount.


For example, if he has a shooting of d10 but is untrained in Firearms: [>Shooting -3d, >Shooting -2] This simulates a d4-2.
If he has a shooting d8 and Firearms d4, [>Shooting -2d]

Nice workaround. Could you also use
[>Shooting =1d] for Firearms d4? Then you only need to update the item when Firearms changes, rather than when either that or Shooting changes.

[tintagel]

Ah good point, yes!