[Frankie the Fomori]

Okay i have seen this debated over at dumpshock, and for the most part I agree that if you have a weapon such as hardliner gloves enchanted as a weapon Focus then they can bind/use it. But by RAW it has its own damage code like a sword or dagger then the Adept losses the effect of critical strike. Now i have stated before that if this decreases the enjoyment/power level of the PC compared to the rest of the party then i would reconsider it and maybe making a house rule.

But after reading the FAQ on the main site I have a second thought on Adepts using weapon focus:

Can I have _____ as a focus? How much does it cost?

A focus can take any form: a ring, a dagger, a commlink, a cyberlimb, etc. For most foci, it is assumed the cost of the telesma (the physical basis of the focus) is incorporated in the cost of the focus. If the player wants the focus to be anything particularly large or expensive, however, then the cost of the item should be added to the cost of the focus.

Snowblood wants a Force 2 monofilament sword weapon focus; the talismonger tells her it would cost 20,750¥-750¥ for the telesma (monofilament sword) and 20,000¥ for the enchantment (Force 2 weapon focus).

So now I am thinking if a weapon focus can be of any shape/form then an adept could use a ring or something equivalent and gain the benefits of the focus? What are your thoughts, and if you’re a Dev what would you rule please?


Have a good night runners!

[Medicineman]

Hardliner Gloves as a Weapon Fokus is soooo oldschool
(I think every Melee Adept owns a pair or two)

and since my ....Groundschool...Basic School ?(Grundschule) Teacher used her Ring for punching us on the Upperarm,I think that a Ring is ok as a Weapon Fokus

with a Dance or Two
Medicineman

[anotherJack]

I think it has to be the weapon you're using. I mean : no way you gain benefits of your ring focus while using a standard blade (or it would be a way of having a less easily lost focus but applying it to a more powerfull weapon, even to many weapons).
You have to punch your opponent with the ring to gain these benefits.
So a ring seems okay, a jewelry on horns can apply, a earring or an amulet, it'll be a little bit hard.

[Frankie the Fomori]

I agree, what I was trying to say was for the adept to gain the weapon focus and still use his Adept powers like critical strike. So they would be making the strike with their hand. If the rules did not stat that it had to be one object i would say it would be in the form of two rings, but for now i am not going to get hung up on the mechanics of always punching with same arm and seeing how long that would last you before a opponent adjusts and no more adept. 

[Critias]

If you think it's a good idea to allow someone to have a Weapon Focus and Improved Ability and Critical Strike and Elemental Strike and Killing Hands and Distance Strike and Martial Arts and any other mundane bonuses they're also interested in....well, knock yourself out.

Me?  I think dedicated melee guys are -- potentially -- already pretty nasty.  If you choose to specialize in Unarmed Combat, you can do pretty well for yourself (and that's without even breaking out the Ork or Troll builds), when it comes to having a ton of dice to roll and a pretty high base damage value.  I don't think there's a terrible need for a Weapon Focus to stack on top of that, myself.

[Mäx]

If the rules did not stat that it had to be one object i would say it would be in the form of two rings  

Well one object is pretty fluid concept, for example i was planning for mys-adept to have her spellcasting focus as finger ring bracelet, most likely set of five rings connected to a bracelet with chains.
If you wanted to have rings in different hands you could go with an even more elobrate set of jewelry, for example a choker connected to armbands in both hands that are connected to bracelets that are futher connected to rings.
Ofcource that doesn't work as well if your character is a male.

[Frankie the Fomori]

Thanks for you input so far guys

[Walks Through Walls]

The problem with allowing critical strike or any other adept power along with a weapon focus is it can become very lethal very quickly.

Also the idea is that the weapon focus is used to focus your power and allow you to make a more powerful strike. If you are using an additional power then you aren't focusing through the focus any longer, but through the power you are using

 

[Glyph]

Most people house rule hardliner gloves as being a straight-up +1 to damage.  And a pair of gloves would not, in my opinion, interfere with the magical auras needed for most adept powers (gauntlets might be another story).

The REAL question is whether you think letting adepts add the abilities of weapon foci to the already-formidable power that they can get for unarmed combat is unbalancing or not.  If the answer is yes, don't let them get around it by getting brass nucks instead of gloves with built-in brass nucks.

[The_Gun_Nut]

Since the character is paying out the nose, karma wise, for both the adept ability and the weapon focus (neither of which are cheap) I'd allow it.

I don't see a huge issue with it, but if your GM sees a problem, then why not take a metamagic technique that allows it to work as an initiation?  You pay a (significant) sum of karma to get the extra magic cap and to pull the extra damage dice out.