Yeah, that would have been much better. Unfortunately, we didn't do that and we don't want to explicitly nerf you. We'll be more careful in future.
Well, for one, you're buffing our potential enemies instead, which has a very similar outcome. I'd personally rather take a nerf to us; it's transparent, and we avoid the panic that is currently making
@MadScientist silently scream in Kagome. For the record, I'm not upset about the nerf. The numbers looked a bit on the high side when I added up all the bonuses, so it seems fair to me.
Secondly, to me at least, "simulationist mechanics" should reflect the "reality" we're modelling as best as they can. I think the Pepper Macerators do a good job of this - intuitively, it's easier to hit someone with a macerator payload compared to just punching them, which is why the Taijutsu bonus is fine
for the purposes of determining hit chance, but the actual damage inflicted (Stress in FtD) is solely a property of the macerator payload. In FATE, a single skill roll determines both whether an attack lands, and the damage, but this makes no sense for Macerators in general.
Intuitively, Pangolin Gauntlets shouldn't just boost hit chance and damage and defense (which is what +Taijutsu does). Properly modelling their effect would be difficult, but I think some combination of the following would be more reasonable:
- Weapon: 2 - do more damage with attacks roughly equivalent to +3 Taijutsu, but without the bonus to hit or defense
- +1 to defensive Taijutsu rolls, +3 against melee Weapons. Having steel on your hands is very useful defensively.
- Taijutsu Aspect Bonus to defensive Athletics rolls against small projectiles. Blocking or deflecting a kunai or shuriken with a metal gauntlet seems very reasonable.
- -1 Taijutsu or similar malus. The gauntlets are a bit awkward, heavy, and make some moves (like grapples) all but impossible.
- Some kind of penalty to Roki. Maybe a malus to the Deceit roll? Roki must be harder with a weapon that restricts you from using certain attacks.
In any case, this type of nerf would not only make sense from a simulationist perspective, but also make them more interesting from a gamist point of view. Using Macerators or Gauntlets would become a tactical choice, rather than something we always use because it's always good.
Anyway, that's my three cents. I'm fine with whatever decision you make, and trust you not to suddenly throw elite jounin at us in the next update.
