I have seen a pair of attack tables, I know too that is has 'styles' options, then I'd like to know about some points:
1) I see the Fire Table and about 'balls' I suppose that now are developed as directed spells, using the bolts range modifiers, is that correct?.
The new attack tables have no effect upon an attacks range or range modifiers. Those are still the same as before.
Nor are ball spells learned in any different manner than before (i.e. there is no new skill for it). The only change is what table you roll the attack on.
2) Criticals: are all criticals rolled in the same table with the severity modifier? In that case I think I like more the old criticals, if not I think the system is too random-deadly, as you can kill with an 'A' critical only depending on the dice roll. I like those 'walls' that split perfectly criticals and their limits.
But then, are perfectly usable the old critical tables with the new combat tables?, I suppose that is fine.
Each attack table has its own critical table, with the crits designed to match the type of weapon/attack being used (i.e. a dagger won't chop off anybody's arm)
While you can use the old crit tables with new attack tables, many of the crits will be just as slightly inappropriate as before. (i.e. having a dagger do a crit that cuts off a person's arm, etc..).
As for the lethality, the original critical charts (from Arms Law) is actually more lethal than the Combat Companion critical tables. In CC, you have a 1% change of doing a killing crit (i.e. an unmodified 100) with an "A" crit, while in Arms Law, you have a 5% chance of doing a killing crit (i.e. 96 -100) for an "A" crit.
And how about large and huge criticals?, are the normal criticals used?, in that case I think large and huge creatures can be easily killed.
For that I think I like more the old ones, but if the combat and old critical tables are compatible then there is no problem.
Yes, the normal criticals are used, however, they are modified by the creatures size. There are size modifiers on each page, and those modifiers apply to BOTH the attack tables and the critical results (i.e. against a Huge/Super-Large creature, you get a -30 modifier to your OB AND a -30 modifier to any critical rolls as well). This makes them much harder to kill....
3) Attack tables: I like very much the new system, you use less tables, you can add very easily new weapons only determining its table, type and mods. Very easy to use, and it has yet much detail (I think really is not necessary having 20 columns with 1-by-1 results). At the same time the tables are correct, they has no the problem of tables from 'the armory' where low ATs have advantage.
I don't know all the tables, so I'd like to know if there is a 'generic' table as the old 'brawling' one.
No, there isn't. But then again "brawling" wasn't a single weapon type. A broken bottle is different from a frying pan, and so should use different tables. Most Brawling attacks will be Tiny, Small, or at the most, Medium in size, and each of the tables contain generic modifiers based on attack size, so that generic, non-specified attacks can be used if need be. Brawling would then just use the appropriate table, and appropriate size for the attack being used, based on the situation.
4) Styles: I only know that you use the style bonus as OB, so, can styles be used entirely as rank-based skills?, I'd like to know if it is not unbalanced with that style system using the original OB always (weapon, MA, etc.) and using the 'style' only by ranks. I know that any option has its penalties and limits (for example for multiple foes) so I think using the style as OB is not necessary, the explanation bellow.
Suppose a character with +120 OB in bow, it has few ranks and bonus in a bow-style, then, using the style not automatically convert it in a low-skilled with the bow, it has good skill with it, but IMO it simply can use few and low options with the style, in other words, obtain few benefits.
The styles are a replacement for the normal weapon skills, not an addition to them. So your +120 with a Bow, would actually be with a style that uses a bow. And the way that things are setup, in converting, you would end up with approximately the same number of ranks in a Basic Weapon Group style as you had in an individual weapon previously.
There are rules that allow for the adding of maneuvers to an existing style (and more options for that can also be found in EA #8). The only things that cannot be added later are the style options. (i.e. Reduced Range Penalties and Speed Loading for Missiles)
