Proviso: I'm not saying a player necessarily should be allowed to play a character like the one I'm about to describe, especially if it's imbalancing. I'm just trying to figure out where certain lines get drawn. Also, I don't have my BBB here -- I'm at a public library -- so go easy with the "go look it up" stuff.

Let's say an adept has Agility 5 and Clubs (staff) 6. He also takes Improved Ability (Clubs) 1, and buys a Force 2 weapon focus (a staff) at character creation.

Wielding his magical staff, he'd have 5 (Agility) + 8 (Clubs, w/ specialization) + 1 (Improved Ability) + 2 (weapon focus) + 2 (staff's natural reach) = 18 dice.

But then you have to figure in the "modified" skill cap, i.e., base skill x 1.5. My question is, what counts as "base," what as "modified," and what as "bonus dice"?

According to errata, specializations don't modify the base. So his base, evidently, remains Clubs 6, with a "modified" cap of 9. Does that mean all those other bonuses fall under "modified"? If so, the result would be that a character can't benefit from, e.g., more than 1 level of Improved Ability while wielding a staff -- since the staff's reach is 2, for a total of +3, making a modified skill of 9.

Or are things like weapon reach and the force of a weapon focus just "bonus dice" that don't come under the cap?

Clarification would be appreciated.

-S

Since your skill rating is 6 you can take 2 more levels of Improved Ability before reaching the limit. You could also have a spell boost your agility by 2 before reaching the limit on that. Or both at once. Everything else is simply bonus dice.

Yeah... scary.... o.O

Anything that grants bonus dice does not count against the modified skill cap. In your example specialization, weapon focus, and reach are all bonus dice.

The erratta at fanpro's site has a little discussion about this in it that is pretty good.

agility 5- irrelevant
Clubs 6 +2 for spec +1 for ability up = 9 the modified max
+2 focus- irrelevant
+2 reach- irrelevant

Your agility, focus, reach, arent adding to your club skill so they dont count towards its augmented maximum.

Clubs 6 would be 45bp +2bp for spec. As long as all your other skills are 4 or less i guess there would be no problem??

45BP in what world? its only 4 BP per skill point and 8 for the final (if you have aptitude you pay 8 BP for both 6 and 7)

Specialization is also bonus dice, so it doesn't count against the modified maximum.

So, am I to conclude, contrary to my original impression, that the only modifiers that actually "modify" the base skill are spells, adept powers, and certain implants like Reflex Recorder?

Is there anything else that goes in this category? Or is everything else just "bonus dice" not subject to the cap?

-S

Yep. Everything else out there so far is just bonus dice.