So SR3 says Weapon Foci add its rating to your Weapon Skill, but does that mean you could then match the total dice (Skill + Focus Rating) with equal Combat Pool? I can't decypher if it simply adds some dice, or if they should be counted as "extra skill" dice.

The scenario I ran into was the mage has swords 6 + Rating 5 Focus (11 dice), 7 Combat Pool + Combat Sence 4 (11 dice). This means he can throw 22 dice at something or he gets only 17 (Skill + Combat Pool). Still alot of dice eitherway, but the clarity would help.

Thanks.

I interpret it as adding to the skill so in your case would be the 22 dice. Consider the weapon focus almost like an enhance skill spell. Otherwise it would just state that you would get another pool from the weapon focus which would work differently.

I disagree, I think the extra 5 dice do not add to the available pool for any given attack. C'mon, 17 dice is still pretty darn good.

Good lord.. a rating 5 weapon focus? Talk about priceless.

I'd have to agree with Joker. I'd treat the 5 extra dice on the focus as the bonus. 5 dice on the focus is still quite a bit, plus he can bust regeneration and immunity to normal weapons.

Regardless of how insane it COULD get, the description says that it is added to the skill, not to a seperate pool. In which case, it made the skill higher (consider it being attuned to that skill) and thus combat pool can be used to compliment the boost.

If I have a rating 5 weapon focus, I'd be too scared to take it anywhere and risk losing it.

Well, I think that clears it up Gil. But what is the actual verbage (no books on hand)? Does it say "added to the skill", or "additional dice to the skill", or what?

Big,

I'd be afraid to leave it anywhere in case it was gone when I came back. I would think the only one that could be afforded ever would be brass knuckles (0 reach).

p. 191 in the core books says "An active weapon focus adds its Force to it owner's appropriate combat skill when wielded in combat."

Well there it is. Combat pool dice, engage.

Wow. That makes them a lot crazier.

At least those above level 2 or 3, or those coupled with high skills to begin with. If I were making a new mage/physad with a weapon focus I'd keep the weapon skill lower and bump up some other skills. But I tend to prefer starting small and working my way up.

Is Force 5 foci really that powerful? Reading some of the examples in MitS in the Foci creation section, it seems like 5 is just average, since when you make it yourself, the costs drop way down. Hell, I was speculating on making a Force 8-10 monowhip weapon foci myself (yes I know; highly processed materials impact the target#s; I've already factored those into my calculations of dice odds), and was still worried that my char was going to be just a chump.

Don't get me wrong, I like some 5's and 6's in my skills. However, I like a nice range of 3's and 4's too.

Lina,

I need to reread that section again....maybe the power level of my campaigns is a lot lower than yours, or maybe I am too ingrained with SR2. I recall costs being above 1million for a force 4 sword.

I couldn't even fathom a force 8-10 weapon focus on a reach 2 weapon. Based on the prices in the main book, thats one item you dont want to be caught with, as it'd be worth millions.

I dont have my books with me here at work, but the sheer karma cost of bonding a focus that powerful makes me cringe, let alone the target numbers to make the damn thing, and the enchanting skill required to have a chance.

Personally, Id almost never ever let any focus with a rating over 2 or 3 in, due to the rarity of orichalcum and other exotic materials.

A rating 1 does just fine really, as it allows someone to damage spirits and other critters with nasty powers like regeneration. Anything over that is just gravy. Get much over 2 or 3 and it becomes gravy with a rich cheese aftertaste

Buying a Force 4 Reach 1 weapon would cost around 560 000 , times 2 if you're paying street price for it. It would cost 16 karma to bond.

Making a Force 4 Reach 1 weapon would cost 1K and 32 karma if you just enchanted a shiny new (or old, or what have you) katana, plus the cost of any exotic materials the GM decided you need (this could range from about free- a lock of hair or whatnot from an Awakened critter, which you could probably pick up on a run to the local zoo- to 60K or up). By standard rules, you've got a 4-in-6 chance of needing some sort of exotic material.

You can decrease the Karma cost, but if you're making a metal weapon, good luck on the virgin telesma- you'd need to mine and refine the metal yourself, which besides being expensive (Really, are they just going to leave an open viable mine lying around for you to dive into?) is probably a bit beyond the scope of Edged Weapon B/R. Likewise, I hope you're into herbs; since ALL the materials going into the object have to be virgin for that little -1 karma bonus, you'd have to collect and refine all of it yourself. Huge waste of time. If someone actually managed virgin telesma on a weapon in one of my games, I'd probably give him at least -6 karma (up to as high as -12 or so, depending on how far he goes with it), but that's beside the point.

Assuming you go with handmade telesma and three radicals, you're probably looking at anywhere from materials (probably around 500 for a katana) + 440 to... well, a lot more. This'll get you -5 karma cost, for a grand total of probably around 2k and 27 karma for your hand-made sword. The difficulty of the enchanting test will be either 10 or 8 (I'm not sure if you're allowed to start the enchanting back when you've got the raw materials or not).

Edit: Oh, and karma costs go up pretty fast when you're bonding weapon focuses. The first number is force, the first before the slash is 'premade' and the second is 'first bonding'.

5:20/40
6:24/48
7:28/56
and so on

Sigh. I'd love to have an adept with a force-7 sword, but that's just freakin' overkill, and would be the focus of a entire campaign. Sadly, I'm the GM.

Or luckily, depending on your point of view. *cackles*

You could probably expect to be spending well over a mil on a Force 8-10 weapon you enchant yourself, just in the costs of getting the radicals and exotics in order to make the thing enchantable.

I'd always thought that the focus adds a pool, but I can see the point. That just made the shamen in my camapign a lot harder, and the were-eagle sword adept is really sick.

Noneuclid, that is what I recalled for costs and Karma. Not to mention the potential for a force 4-8 weapon focus taking 6 months to a year to make, depending on the mining/gathering, refining, forging, enchanting, and bonding time required to use it.