I look at the rules and see "makes a Brawl check to deal damage to an opponent."

But then we are back to cherry-picking. The rule for Trandoshan claws does not stop at "+1 damage". It also sets a static crit value. It does not say use whichever part(s) you want. And it doesn't say ignore some of it if you want.

So if you are a RAW purist, I don't see how you can then allow a Trandoshan making a brawl check (of any kind) to have any crit value other than 3. Heck, the rule for their claws doesn't even say you may use them. By RAW you must use them all the time .

So if you are a RAW purist, I don't see how you can then allow a Trandoshan making a brawl check (of any kind) to have any crit value other than 3. Heck, the rule for their claws doesn't even say you may use them. By RAW you must use them all the time .

I wasn't actually the person arguing otherwise?

"Claws" says that Trandoshans' Brawl attacks have a Crit Rating of 3, and then on page 211 it says that if you use a Brawl weapon, you may choose which Crit Rating to use (your normal Crit Rating or the Crit Rating of the weapon). It's a question of one rule superseding another, as is known to happen.

Seeing as how combat rounds can be up to about a minute in length, and seeing as how brass knuckles cover very little of a person's hand (and shock gloves look to be very form-fitting...I'd imagine a Trando would have to cut holes for his claws?), I wouldn't have a problem with a Trandoshan using both of those things to inflict more pain on an enemy.

Read the last paragraph on page 211, it will convert you to my way of thinking and convince you of how very wrong you are.

On the flip side, I always have been a little ambivalent on the whole Trandoshans dealing Strain damage with their claws. Seems like they were made to inflict wounds. But that's just me. I happy running it RAW if a player is creative enough with their descriptions of combat

That's why they put out errata or FAQs...to answer rules questions that are unambiguous in a unified manner.

And by unambiguous you mean ambiguous right?

That's why they put out errata or FAQs...to answer rules questions that are unambiguous in a unified manner.

And by unambiguous you mean ambiguous right?

Ha, yeah

I wasn't actually the person arguing otherwise?

Not the "royal you", of course...

The way I read it is that unarmed (Brawl) attacks do a base damage of Brawn, have a range of engaged, a crit of 5, Disorient 1, and Knockdown. In addition, you can choose to do target strain instead of wound (technically, not Stun Damage, but similar in application. If it was actually Stun Damage, it would have that quality, which it doesn't).

A Brawl weapon augments this attack. You add the + damage to the damage of the attack (Brawn), have the option of using the base 5 crit, or the crit rating of the weapon, and combine any additional qualities of the Brawl weapon to the qualities of the base attack (Disorient 1 and Knockdown). If both the base attack and the Brawl weapon have similar qualities, you use the best one. So, if a Brawl weapon has Disorient 3, you use that quality, rather than the base Disorient 1. This is explained on page 211.

As for Trandoshans, their "Claw" ability is not technically a weapon, or even an attack. It's a special ability that is used when dealing damage with a Brawl attack. It states that Trandoshans deal +1 damage and have a crit rating of 3 when making Brawl attacks. There's no qualifying that states it is only used with the base unarmed attack, nor does it say that it can't be used with other Brawl weapons. It only says "when a Trandoshan makes Brawl checks to deal damage". So, as written, a Trandoshan would get an additional +1 damage to any Brawl attack that deals damage, including the base unarmed attack, AND an attack using a Brawl weapon.

The only bit of ambiguity I see here is with crit rating. Page 211 says that you can choose to use either the base crit rating (5) or the crit rating of the Brawl weapon. The "Claws" ability is not an actual weapon, however, but rather a Brawl attack enhancer. So, the way I see it, there can be two choices here: 1) choose either the crit of the base attack (5), the crit of the Brawl weapon used, OR the crit 3 mentioned in the "Claws" ability, or 2) always use crit rating 3 when using Brawl to deal damage, no matter what the crit rating of any used Brawl weapon is. Option 2 actually sounds like what is intended by the rules.

A related bit of ambiguity could also be whether or not a Trandoshan can choose to use his "Claws" ability or not. For instance, say he's using a Brawl weapon with a crit of 2. Could he choose NOT to use "Claws", not get the +1 damage, but still retain the crit 2? The "Claws" ability doesn't mention anything about a Trandoshan having the "option" to use this ability, which I suppose could mean that he doesn't have retractable claws like a cat and always gets these modifiers whenever he uses Brawl to deal damage, no matter what.

I see this as a logical interpretation of the rules. Does it make perfect sense? Not to everyone, apparently, which is to be expected. One way you could look at it is that, if "Claws" was supposed to supersede the base unarmed attack, or only augment the base unarmed attack, it would have been stated as such under the description of "Claws". As it's written, it is not described as a "weapon", or even an "attack", just two modifiers that get applied when dealing damage using Brawl.

Of course, as always, the rules shouldn't get in the way of the story, so if your group, or GM, is having issues with how this is applied, or if it makes no sense to you that you can, say, use claws with a shock glove, then house rule it and say you can't.

I find it easier to view the trando claws as an attachment for brawl weapons. It just doesn't take any hard points, kinda like jury rig. Increases damage by 1, change Crit to 3, and I like to think can't make strain attacks (unless trained, ie talent). With so many weapons having 3-4 hard points each, I'd like to think the makers threw the h2h lovers a bone since brawl weapons have 0-1 hard points.

As for choosing to use the claws or not in a round. It was mention before that rounds could be many seconds long. So why can't a brawl check be a series of strikes, blocks, traps, etc? So in any given round the trando could parry a strike with one clawed hand and strike with the other deep into a soft spot on the side of head (Crit). The goon's legs become jello as they decide it's time for their mandated union break (disorient). With a spinning leg sweep (knockdown) you stand towering above the goon readying the finishing blow long before the sorry sack of alien meat hits the unforgiving floor.

I would have zero problems with a Trandoshan player electing not to use his claws ability for a Brawl attack. Especially if he's trying to deal Strain damage.

If I was a trandoshan wanting to deal srain damage I would probably narrate my brawl attack as a series of knees, eblow throws, headbutts and holds.

I would have zero problems with a Trandoshan player electing not to use his claws ability for a Brawl attack. Especially if he's trying to deal Strain damage.

If I was a trandoshan wanting to deal srain damage I would probably narrate my brawl attack as a series of knees, eblow throws, headbutts and holds.

Right, and in that case I wouldn't give the player a 3crit +1dam boost, but that's me. However, I always say to the player if they can describe it well I'll let them try it. I've gotten some interesting social encounters with pc's rolling range light, mechanics, and even charm as a jester attempt in front of a Hutt.

has anyone used brawl like martial arts like kao tuato add more fluff ti the fighting

has anyone used brawl like martial arts like kao tuato add more fluff ti the fighting

How do you mean? Also, maybe check your spelling? Tried to Google your terms and wasn't really sure what you were talking about

sorry was lore mistake want be like tera kasi artist from star wars galaxies in wanted to know if it fell under brawl

sorry was lore mistake want be like tera kasi artist from star wars galaxies in wanted to know if it fell under brawl

Oh yeah, absolutely. I'd check out the most recent episode of Skill Monkey ( http://www.madadventurers.com/skill-monkey-hai-karate/ ) to hear some really good suggestions about Martial Arts, but Brawl skill checks (and some Marauder talents) work just fine for most Martial Arts application. Consider also the Coordination skill. Also there is the Pressure Point talent.