So... I've been playing around with ideas for a weapon I found on Wookieepedia, and thought I might post it here. I have a sneaking suspicion it's overpowered, but I've tried hard to give it some drawbacks, to keep it from becoming too strong.

Power Hammer

Skill: Melee

Damage: +3

Critical: 3

Range: Engaged

Encumbrance: 4

Hard Points: 3

Cost: 1,500 credits

Rarity: 5

Properties: Blast 5, Cumbersome 4, Disorient 3, Knockdown, Sunder

The power hammer (or repulsor hammer) is a durasteel bludgeoning weapon designed for use in heavy mining. Using repulsor and shockwave generators within the heavy head, it allows the wielder to strike with astonishing force. This ability allows miners to smash through rocks and dense ore veins with ease. The power hammer has also become a popular melee weapon, its use dating back to the early days of the Galactic Empire, when mining companies found themselves resisting governmental takeovers, their employees fighting back with whatever they had on hand.

The hammer is large and must be wielded with both hands. Its generators activate automatically when used, the repulsors creating a high-powered swing followed by the shockwave generator causing a shaped vibration burst upon a successful hit. Some users of the power hammer have modified their weapons to amplify the shockwave, making the weapon more dangerous not only to those on the business end of its strikes, but potentially to the user himself. (If the player activates the Blast property, he takes damage, as well, since he is engaged with the target. This damage may be mitigated with talents like Selective Detonation or by flipping a .)

I like the suicidal Blast property- and it doesn't feel like it'd be too powerful anyway as 5 base damage isn't going to get far through soak.

The Cumbersome property isn't really much of a balancing factor, as it's only high-brawn characters who'll want to be using melee weapons anyway- it's useful on rifles, where you're competing with Agility, but not in this case. I can see how it fits the writeup, but if it won't have an effect mechanically it might be worth simplifying out (particularly as any low-brawn character wanting an equivalent weapon will just go for a vibro-axe).

Sunder seems a little out of-place IMO, as the hammer doesn't feel very targeted. Considered Concussive? That's more powerful, true, but given the weapon already comes across as modest compared to the vibro-axe (which, with pierce 2, has effectively 2 higher damage *as well* as a lower crit cost) I don't think it'd be overpowered.

I like the suicidal Blast property- and it doesn't feel like it'd be too powerful anyway as 5 base damage isn't going to get far through soak.

The Cumbersome property isn't really much of a balancing factor, as it's only high-brawn characters who'll want to be using melee weapons anyway- it's useful on rifles, where you're competing with Agility, but not in this case. I can see how it fits the writeup, but if it won't have an effect mechanically it might be worth simplifying out (particularly as any low-brawn character wanting an equivalent weapon will just go for a vibro-axe).

Sunder seems a little out of-place IMO, as the hammer doesn't feel very targeted. Considered Concussive? That's more powerful, true, but given the weapon already comes across as modest compared to the vibro-axe (which, with pierce 2, has effectively 2 higher damage *as well* as a lower crit cost) I don't think it'd be overpowered.

The reason for the Sunder was due to the quote from Wookiepedia:

even heavily armored opponents could find themselves flying across a room when confronted with this weapon, their armor shattered, making it well suited for combat.

Thanks for the response. The biggest concern I had was the Blast property, but you're right, it's not going to get through much soak, so I suppose it's okay. As for Cumbersome... maybe swap it out for Unwieldy 3 or 4?

You still shouldn't forget that it is a big, heavy thing. It should have Cumbersome. Sure, only characters with a high Brawn would think of using melee weapons, but something like that should certainly have a Cumbersome rating. A high Cumbersome rating. You could also combine it with a modest Unwieldy rating, but not one so high as to dissuade users. *** 4 and Un 3 sounds balanced, and the Blast does damage the user, like a double-edged sword

With adding both modifiers - Cumbersome and Unwieldy - would it be too much to up the Blast by a point or two?

As it is meant to be a tool, it should have Inaccurate 2, just like the Pulse Drill and the Beamdrill.

You still shouldn't forget that it is a big, heavy thing. It should have Cumbersome. Sure, only characters with a high Brawn would think of using melee weapons, but something like that should certainly have a Cumbersome rating. A high Cumbersome rating. You could also combine it with a modest Unwieldy rating, but not one so high as to dissuade users. *** 4 and Un 3 sounds balanced, and the Blast does damage the user, like a double-edged sword

I'd argue against that. Cumbersome is used on existing weapons as a balancing factor, not a fluff thing. Look at the weapons list here . Most of the weapons with Cumbersome are those with properties that make them attractive to low-brawn characters (e.g. flat damage with no +Brawn or the Deflection property). Cumbersome serves to make them not no-brainers for low-Brawn characters, in the same way that most of the more powerful ranged weapons are Cumbersome so they're not no-brainers for high-Agility characters. The only weapons that don't appeal to low-Brawn characters with Cumbersome have it at 5 , in order to restrict them to serious melee specialists.

Compare this to the Vibro-Axe: +3 damage, crit 2, pierce 2, vicious 2, sunder, half the price, same mod slots and encumbrance. Even before Cumbersome is considered the axe is already better, particularly for low-Brawn characters who can't guarantee high Advantage rolls to trigger the 3 crit on the hammer. Adding more of a penalty is unnecessary.

Unwieldy is unnecessary as well- the only weapon with Unwieldy 3 so far is the Electrostaff, which is a +4 damage, cortosis, defensive, linked weapon. This hammer is nowhere near as powerful. Plus I'm not sure why this needs Agility to use; you'll cut its use by melee specialists, and as pointed out there's better alternatives as a backup melee weapon for agile characters.

With adding both modifiers - Cumbersome and Unwieldy - would it be too much to up the Blast by a point or two?

Honestly I'd up the encumbrance instead. For the high-Brawn melee characters who will be using this weapon, Cumbersome does nothing. If you add Unwieldy, that might be too much deterrent as it'll probably amount to +1 difficulty on melee attacks. Higher encumbrance presents you with serious choices w.r.t. armour and supplies for high Brawn characters, and still serves to discourage low-Brawn ones who have a lower carrying capacity.

One thing that would be interesting would be adding a reason to trigger Blast when you're only engaged with a single target (and they're not affected by the extra damage). Letting you spend 2A to trigger both Blast and Concussive would play up the whole 'This is an unsafe mining implement' angle- you'd hurt yourself, but impose a heavy penalty on your enemy.

I'd suggest dropping the Blast quality, as having Sunder and Disorient 3 and Knockdown gives the power hammer plenty of oomph already.

Damage I might increase to a +4, since right now the power hammer's raw damage output isn't the same as the vibro-ax, which costs half as much on top of lacking a minimum Brawn to use properly.

I like this weapon...

To build on Dono's point, Blast in of itself is not overly powerful, but according to some of the Dev Q&As, the other qualities of a weapon can affect the target's of the blast. So everyone caught in a blast can be knocked down, disoriented, or have their stuff sundered.

Secondly, you'll have this weird side effect of being able to damage the target even of a miss as long as you have the advantage to activate the blast quality. That works great for grenades, but I'm not sure it translates well to the hammer.

I also am not sure if Sunder belongs there. I see your reasoning for putting it there, and it makes some sense, but I don't think it's needed.

If you add concussive, drop the disorient quality. But I would caution you about adding concussive, it's a beastly quality.

As it is meant to be a tool, it should have Inaccurate 2, just like the Pulse Drill and the Beamdrill.

I understand your reasoning, but respectfully disagree. The Pulse Drill is essentially an improvised weapon because, well... it isn't designed like a weapon. But swinging a hammer is much like swinging an ax, and this thing would have to be balanced for striking a target, so no Inaccurate.

Secondly, you'll have this weird side effect of being able to damage the target even of a miss as long as you have the advantage to activate the blast quality. That works great for grenades, but I'm not sure it translates well to the hammer.

I actually like the idea, because it has the shockwave generators. I think it adds another dimension to the weapon.

So... something more like this...

Power Hammer

Skill: Melee

Damage: +4

Critical: 4

Range: Engaged

Encumbrance: 6

Hard Points: 4

Cost: 1,500 credits

Rarity: 6

Properties: Blast 6, Concussive, Knockdown, Sunder, Unwieldy 3

It feels a little odd removing the Sunder quality, largely because the hammer is designed to break things , but I can see why it might be a little over the top. I cranked the damage a little, and added Concussive 2 (swapping it with Disorient 3).

EDIT: Added Sunder back in. It's sort of an either/or quality, not like Pierce or Vicious that work without activation. The thing smashes rocks; it should be able to damage armor and weapons.

My question is thus: Where did you get that image?

My question is thus: Where did you get that image?

I made it this afternoon. It's not exactly like the one on Wookieepedia, but I wanted one that looked more like Fantasy Flight's art style.

My question is thus: Where did you get that image?

I made it this afternoon. It's not exactly like the one on Wookieepedia, but I wanted one that looked more like Fantasy Flight's art style.

Both of my art degrees went "Hnnng."

My question is thus: Where did you get that image?

I made it this afternoon. It's not exactly like the one on Wookieepedia, but I wanted one that looked more like Fantasy Flight's art style.

Both of my art degrees went "Hnnng."

I'm not sure if that's a good "Hnnng" or a bad "Hnnng." I'm no artist, but I play around from time to time. I don't pretend to be great at it, and it tends to take me a lot longer than it would take someone experienced.

I actually like the idea, because it has the shockwave generators. I think it adds another dimension to the weapon.

So... something more like this...

Power Hammer

Skill: Melee

Damage: +4

Critical: 4

Range: Engaged

Encumbrance: 6

Hard Points: 4

Cost: 1,500 credits

Rarity: 6

Properties: Blast 6, Concussive, Knockdown, Sunder, Unwieldy 3

It feels a little odd removing the Sunder quality, largely because the hammer is designed to break things , but I can see why it might be a little over the top. I cranked the damage a little, and added Concussive 2 (swapping it with Disorient 3).

EDIT: Added Sunder back in. It's sort of an either/or quality, not like Pierce or Vicious that work without activation. The thing smashes rocks; it should be able to damage armor and weapons.

Well I'd take it over a vibro-axe everytime, attaching a weighted head (with two mods) on turns it into +6 damage concussive 2 doom bat.

I also disagree with it having 4 hard points , 3 seems to be more than enough

Wow...just...wow. I was adding some custom items into Oggs character generator and I would have killed for renders like that. If I saw that, I'd swear blind it was from one of FFGs books.

Very nice hammer. Please let us know how it feels to wield :-)

That seems more than a little overpowered to me. If you're going to make it have Concussive and hit that hard, then add Slow-Firing 1 (or higher) in to show that the generator needs to recharge between hits along with stats for striking with the unpowered/recharging weapon. This is how the Repulsorfist from Lords of Nal Hutta does it.

I would add Cumbersome back in. It makes more sense than unwieldy. Perhaps both?

That seems more than a little overpowered to me. If you're going to make it have Concussive and hit that hard, then add Slow-Firing 1 (or higher) in to show that the generator needs to recharge between hits along with stats for striking with the unpowered/recharging weapon. This is how the Repulsorfist from Lords of Nal Hutta does it.

How is it overpowered compared to the weapons I've listed above, except perhaps with that built-in Concussive 2 (which I've already agreed should be taken down one notch)?

I would add Cumbersome back in. It makes more sense than unwieldy. Perhaps both?

Indeed. I had both there for a while, and the weapon seems like it's both to me.

Wow...just...wow. I was adding some custom items into Oggs character generator and I would have killed for renders like that. If I saw that, I'd swear blind it was from one of FFGs books.

Well... thank you. I'm not an artist, as I said earlier, but I dabble a bit in Photoshop. It takes me too long to produce anything at a reasonable rate, but I enjoy tinkering nonetheless.

Current write-up:

Power Hammer
Skill: Melee
Damage: +4
Critical: 3
Range: Engaged
Encumbrance: 6
Hard Points: 3
Cost: 1,500 credits
Rarity: 6
Properties: Blast 6, Concussive 1, Cumbersome 4, Knockdown, Sunder, Unwieldy 3

Unweildly is usually for things that require inordinate amounts of finesse to use properly. For this I'd think Inaccurate 1 (or maybe 2) would be more appropriate.

Well... thank you. I'm not an artist, as I said earlier, but I dabble a bit in Photoshop. It takes me too long to produce anything at a reasonable rate, but I enjoy tinkering nonetheless.

You know, if you like doing that kind of thing, I think I know of a project that might be able to use your talents….

Well... thank you. I'm not an artist, as I said earlier, but I dabble a bit in Photoshop. It takes me too long to produce anything at a reasonable rate, but I enjoy tinkering nonetheless.

You know, if you like doing that kind of thing, I think I know of a project that might be able to use your talents….

I do enjoy it, but I don't do it at a speed quick enough to justify doing it often. A good artist (or experienced Photoshop user) should have been able to whip that out in fifteen minutes or so. It took me two hours.

Just for comparison's sake.