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M&M 3rd ed. Close Combat Skill Rank confusing itself with Attack Bonus?

S

SodaPop

New member
First, I am not currently running a game, but I am using Hero Lab to create a character and I am confused with a certain mechanic. I think I may be correct as this being a small bug in Hero Lab, but I could just as easily be wrong and want to run it past you guys first. I am currently under PL10.

With the skill Close Combat, it gives a bonus to attack checks only if I'm not mistaken. Going off of Fighting, my character has 11, and 2 ranks in Close Combat: Unarmed, making a total of 13 if I were to use Fighting as that is the only thing Close Combat would increase for the check.

Now Strength calculates the damage done, correct? When I have my character's Strength up to 8, it gives me a warning in Hero Lab noting that Unarmed: Attack Bonus is exceeding the Power Level by 1. After seeing this, I lowered Strength to 7 and the warning goes away. After raising it back to 8 and lowering the Close Combat skill rank to 1 (making Fighting checks with that skill 12) makes the warning go away as well. I set the Strength back to 7 and the Close Combat skill rank to 2 (making Fighting checks with that skill 13).

My problem here is now this. My Unarmed attack in the Attacks column under the Special tab in Hero Lab says 13, which would indicate the entire total of Fighting plus Close Combat is what determines the Unarmed Attack. Why does my Strength of 8 send the Unarmed Attack bonus to go beyond the limit of 20 (PL10) to hit 21? Shouldn't the Strength only determine the damage after the check? If it were to be a Strength check, shouldn't the Fighting+Close Combat be unable to give the bonus since it adds to the Fighting ability only? In the rules regarding Power Level limits, the Attack & Effect part states: "Attack & Effect: The total of your hero’s attack bonus
and effect rank with that attack cannot exceed twice the series power level..." If my understanding is correct on what Hero Lab says, the Strength would be the attack bonus even in a Fighting check using Close Combat: Unarmed?

I feel like this is a small bug or something miscalculating, regarding Unarmed Attack always totaling Fighting+Close Combat:Unarmed instead of either Strength, or then Fighting+Close Combat:Unarmed. It took my entire Strength (8) and added it to Fighting+Close Combat:Unarmed (13) to make it pass the limit, but I thought Strength is not in the calculation when using an Attack check from Fighting, only for the Damage check.

I'm sorry if this is too lengthy or confusing, but I'm just trying to understand why the Unarmed Attack is limiting my Strength when the total of it comes from my Fighting. Effectively, this disallows the growth of Strength and Fighting completely while still at this power level. Is this a Hero Lab bug?

tl;dr: Unarmed (in the Special tab under the attack column) is 13 from Fighting(11)+Close Combat: Unarmed(2), and won't let my Strength become any higher from 7 because of Power Level. Shouldn't Strength not breach the Power Level in Hero Lab?
 
For an attack, the damage bonus (if any) of the attack plus the attack bonus of the attack can total no more than 2x your PL. So if you're PL 10, the math looks like this:

Fighting 11 + Close Combat 2 + Strength 8 = 21, which is more than twice your PL.
 
And, just to further clarify, there are two sides to every PL tradeoff and Lone Wolf picked one, which is why they mention Strength despite the attack bonus being what is arguably above the level in this case.
 
Hollis said:
For an attack, the damage bonus (if any) of the attack plus the attack bonus of the attack can total no more than 2x your PL. So if you're PL 10, the math looks like this:

Fighting 11 + Close Combat 2 + Strength 8 = 21, which is more than twice your PL.
Click to expand...

I understand now, although it sort of puts a damper on being both excellent in Strength and Fighting. I didn't see it in the rules where Strength could have been the bonus in any Fighting check (let alone with Close Combat), which is why I brought it up. Much appreciated!
 
SodaPop said:
I understand now, although it sort of puts a damper on being both excellent in Strength and Fighting. I didn't see it in the rules where Strength could have been the bonus in any Fighting check (let alone with Close Combat), which is why I brought it up. Much appreciated!
Click to expand...

Its not a bonus on the Fighting check, but it yields damage, so it factors in on that end.
 
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