Specialization Discussion - Scoundrel

Ikchor

I posted this in the Discord but it's been a few days (in lockdown time anyway) and this forum needs some love.
This spawned from the monthly discussion on Saturday and is something I regularly come back to and poke at, so I'm inviting others with more skillcrafting savvy than me (so, anyone, really) to poke Scoundrel specific specializations.

There's not a lot of rhyme or reason to this, and the organization is probably not that great.

Scoundrel Specializations


Gunslinging specialization - Desperado:
GAIN+

Dual wielding unlocked
Additional ammo (+8)
Split Ammo Switching
- gun switch ammotype(s) <PIECE/hand>
(GUN SWITCH REGULAR WEAKENING HYPERTENSION LEFT|GUN SWITCH ARCING IMPAIRING RANDOM for example)
New skills:

STANCE Gunplay (GUNPLAY FIRE/DODGE)
Channeled stance where the Scoundrel can choose whether to reduce their rate of fire to dodge hits, or greatly increase fire/reload rate at the expense of increasing resistance in all wetwiring subsys.
Lasts 10 seconds, cooldown of 30 seconds.

INSTAKILL - Overwhelm
Requirements:
= 8+ bullets available

= Sensory status reduced by 75% and internal status reduced by 50% (Idea being the target is horribly injured and cannot see straight anymore)

OR (if Albion's subsystem idea comes to pass- slight future proofing, provided I understand/remember his idea.)

= Subsys RESISTANCE in any three systems reduced by 55% (regardless of actual subsys status)

Combatmessage (maybe)
Scoundrel quickly blasts round after round at CriticalVictim, methodically targetting each joint on his/her/their limbs before firing a final two rounds right in his/her/their eye sockets, killing CriticalVictim.


LOSE-

Bombs
Knuckles

Guile - Street Fighter
(This is probably going to require a hard limit to haymaker's aff powered damage or else NO ONE is going to survive a guile spec scoundrel.)

Gain+

Second knuckleduster option
Individual limb balances similar to every monk ever
Greatly improved punch damage
Greatly improved kick damage
Shorter HAYMAKER balance (halved?)
Combos

Knuckleduster specific mods fashioned from new subskill in Improvisation


New skills:

Uppercut - First hit damages, second usage damages AND staggers (sensory subsys damage)
Gutcheck - First hit damages, second usage damages AND winds (Muscle subsys damage)
Groinkick - Heavy Damage and prones briefly.  Target gets a 20 second immunity to it happening again (I mean seriously, who'd let themselves get hit there twice in rapid succession, you're going to be watching for it) (Internal subsys damage)
Earslap - Damages, and will either disorient, deafen. (mind damage)
Jawbreaker - Damages and concusses
Gouge - Damages and blinds
Footstomp - Adds .5 seconds of balance to target, interrupts, does mild damage
Toss - Requires: prone. Throws target. Choices are GROUND(damage, reprone), DIRECTION(control), PROP(damage, triggers planted IED)
Backhand - Melee interrupt


INSTA - Pummel
Pummel does more damage, and only requires target to be at 25% health AND be blinded, concussed or disoriented
(Idea behind: Dempsey roll)


STREET FIGHTER LOSES
Bombs
PIECE usage



IMPROVISATION CHANGES -

IF GUNSLINGER

??? I can't think of anything ???


IF STREETFIGHTER

New skill: Dirty Tricks - usage: SCAVENGE
Fashioned from spare parts gained via SCAVENGE command.


SCAVENGE
scavengemessage:
You spend a few minutes looking for something specific, searching through discarded junk and browsing cheap wholesale parts online and come up with:

Blades - Applies bleed effects
Weights - Increases damage, increases balance cost
Injectors - Applies random afflictions

???

Any thoughts/improvements/criticism/light mockery?

Squeakums

Overall I like the direction you're suggesting with these. I think the "cons" of each specialization take it a bit too far, but maybe that kind of ambitious expansion for the skillsets in general is fine for this game.

For example, if you focus on Guile/punches, I would have suggested maybe losing dualshot and having increased balance on PIECE stuff, but not necessarily losing it entirely. Just a thought! I'm thinking of it in terms of the Achaea knight specializations, where it modifies a skillset but doesn't remove one entirely.

However, given that we have fewer classes, maybe customization where you trade one skillset for another like in your Guile example is something that is in the cards for Starmourn in the future. It's a neat idea either way. 

Steve

I'm down for class choices. I'd personally like to see a system where we can modify our PIECEs. I've daydreamed quite a few choices we could make that would modify our abilities in small ways, such as increasing base damage for some abilities, changing balance for some, increasing accuracy at range, and so on. Much smaller scale than Zarrach's talking, but it may be Specialization material.