Combine Weapon Finesse and Dervish Dance [Help =) ]

[Rocketmoose]

So for one of my houserules I've decided that players automatically get access to the benefits of Weapon Finesse without the feat but can take the feat in order to basically gain the effects of Dervish Dancer for a weapon of their choice (selected like Weapon Focus). This damage doesn't stack with Power Attack. To me this makes more Dex-based characters viable in melee combat with their light weapons, mobility, and extra dodge bonus while also keeping the raw damage output in the realm of the greatsword-toting hulk.

I've been just having characters write this in on their sheets but I'm curious about how I would go about just putting this into the game. Here's pretty much what I'm trying to do and need help with, if anyone is interested:

- All characters get the mechanical benefits of Weapon Finesse by default

- Change the feat Weapon Finesse to function as Dervish Dance, except you choose a light weapon or weapon that Finesse applies to (like the Elven Curve Blade).

For example: Duder the level 1 elf fighter has 10 STR and an 18 DEX and has a Rapier equipped. By default he should have a +5 bonus to hit at 1d6 damage. Taking the feat Weapon Finesse and selecting Rapier he now has +5 to hit at 1d6 + 4.

Is this possible or should I just stick with writing it in?


Thanks!

[Mathias]

This is two separate problems. Let's address the first one - all characters get the effects of Weapon Finesse.

On the feats tab in the editor, make a copy of Weapon Finesse. Then, on the Mechanics tab in the editor, create a new Mechanic. All mechanics are added to all characters, so what you'll do is to have the Mechanic run a script that applies the effects of Weapon Finesse. That way, all characters will get the effects of weapon finesse.

Here's weapon finesse's script:

 

      ~ If we're disabled, do nothing
      doneif (tagis[Helper.FtDisable] <> 0)
      
      perform hero.assign[Hero.Finesse]

The first part is a test to make sure the feat hasn't been disabled - you don't need to copy that. The second part is what actually makes the change, so on your Mechanic, add a new Eval Script, and copy this line of the script for Weapon Finesse into the new script on your mechanic:

      perform hero.assign[Hero.Finesse]

Also, at the top of the eval script window, you'll see that they have settings labeled "Phase" and "Priority" - copy those from Weapon Finesse to the mechanic.

[Mathias]

Oh, and don't forget to delete that copy of weapon finesse before you use "Test Now!".

[ShadowChemosh]

Add my "adjustments addon" and use the adjustments to set the "Weapon Damage Attribute"/"Weapon Attack Melee Attribute" of a weapon to use Dex.

You can also use the the adjustments as examples of how to do what you wish if you want to write a new script.

[Mathias]

For the second issue, on the feats tab, make a copy of Dervish Dancer, and rename that copy "Weapon Finesse".

Now, on the right-hand side, find the "Replaces Thing Id" box. Here, you'll enter the Id of the thing you want to replace, which is the weapon finesse feat. Its Id is "wWepFin" (note - no quotes when entering that into "Replaces Thing ID").

"Test Now!" doesn't work when you're making a replacement, so exit the editor, and in the Develop menu, make sure that "Enable Data File Debugging" is checked. Then, in the Develop menu, choose "Quick Reload Data Files" (the keyboard shortcut for that is ctrl-r).

[Mathias]

You will probably also need to alter the prereqs, so that the new version has the same prereqs as the old version of weapon finesse.

[Rocketmoose]

Ok, so the first part of it works great, thanks! The second part seems to have some scripting in the Dervish Dance section that makes it so it only applies to Scimitars. How do I adjust this so that it works with every weapon that Weapon Finesse applies to?

Here's the code:

~ If we're disabled, do nothing
      doneif (tagis[Helper.FtDisable] <> 0)

      ~ If we have a shield equipped or another weapon in our off hand, do nothing, we are done.
      doneif (hero.tagis[Hero.EquipShld] + hero.tagis[Hero.EquipOff] <> 0)

      ~figure out the difference between our DEX and STR modifiers (minimum 0, since the feat says "can", not "must")
      field[abValue].value += maximum(#attrmod[aDEX] - #attrmod[aSTR], 0)

      ~ Otherwise, go through to all scimitars on the hero and replace their Strength bonuses to Hit and Damage with Dex bonuses... Also apply the piercing weapon tag so we count for precise strike.
      foreach pick in hero from BaseWep where "IsWeapon.wScimitar"
        eachpick.field[wAttBonus].value += field[abValue].value
        eachpick.field[wDamBonus].value += field[abValue].value
        nexteach

and:

~ If we're disabled, do nothing
      doneif (tagis[Helper.FtDisable] <> 0)

      ~ Assign the piercing weapon tag so scimitars work with Duelist abilities.
      foreach pick in hero from BaseWep where "IsWeapon.wScimitar"
        perform eachpick.assign[wType.P]
        nexteach

Thank you for the help, sorry about the slow response. I went on vacation shortly after posting. Woops =P

[ShadowChemosh]

Originally Posted by Rocketmoose

foreach pick in hero from BaseWep where "IsWeapon.wScimitar"
eachpick.field[wAttBonus].value += field[abValue].value
eachpick.field[wDamBonus].value += field[abValue].value
nexteach[/code]

The bolded section is your issue. Its saying loop through the character and find all Scimitar weapons.

On the d20pfsrd HL repository is a Improved Weapon Finesse feat that does exactly what you want. Just FYI is all.

What you want is to instead find all the "Finesse Weapons" not just scimitars so you need to remove the "IsWeapon.wScimitar" and replace with the "tag" for Finesse. "IsWeapon.wScimitar" is a Group.Tag the group being IsWeapon and the specific tag is the "wScimitar" which is the Unique ID of the scimitar in HL.

So how do you do that? Great question.

Go to "Develop" menu inside HL and make sure that "Enable Data File Debugging" is turned on. If so then add a finesse weapon like a Rapier to your character. Then right click on the "?" and click on "Show Debug Tags". Then on the new window see which tag would identify the weapon as a Finesse weapon. Take that and fill it into the "IsWeapon.wScimitar". The value you want will be on the "Tag ID" column of the debug window.

[Rocketmoose]

Alright, great! That seems to have worked, thank you very much! And yeah, I've known about Improved Weapon Finesse but the number of hoops your character has to jump through are just inane for Pathfinder's core/base class power level. I also felt like having to wait until level 4 (higher, for lower BAB classes) just to do something that isn't really all that magnificent in the first place was a bit much. This was mostly just so I could make sure the math was right on HL before having players copy it over to their character sheets.

Thanks for the help!