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The "exotic martial arts weapon badass modifier" is a well known bonus that certain weapons get simply by virtue of not being bog-standard boring old Western European swords, daggers, maces, and similar weapons. Weapons from exotic cultures with curved or wavy blades definitely get a bonus, but the largest bonus is for blunt weapons used as an adjunct to martial arts.
The ultimate progression of this is of course the scrawny, mystical monk who can do twice as much damage by slapping someone with an open palm than a brawny knight can do with a two-handed sword.
We have min-maxing with a stick. "Same as a blaster".
I have known someone who could make a first level RoleMaster character min-maxed to having two +20% modifiers on things that first level characters normally have no modifiers for; this is the same player who made a Champions character with a massive level of Strength (provides a bunch of benefits beyond just physical strength, such as physical defense) combined with Stretching to turn that Strength into a ranged attack.
I wish I could say that we have never seen a stick with a modifier made as strong as a sword. The truth is, I can't tell. My memory isn't good enough to separate what actually happened from the things we joked about.
But I absolutely love the line, "Yep same effect" / "We need to do more testing".
What I am noticing though, is the lack of the <roll>; the lack of hit numbers. Imagine, arguing for bonuses to hit for situation, weapon damage, all sorts of favorable things, and then rolling a two.
I might not remember what I rolled, but I did miss.
Hold on a second - "don't kill anyone", and firing a blaster? And somehow, these blasters are weak enough that they are only doing the damage of a stick? Since when did stun weapon blasters become so common?
— Keybounce
"Testing".
This is a great excuse to do basically anything.
You took some food from somebody's plate? You were testing it for poison.
You were pick-pocketing townsfolk at the market? You were testing your dexterity and reflexes after recovering from a severe injury to your hand.
You broke into the estate of a wealthy noble? You were testing his security. (Bonus points if you can convince said noble to compensate you with his fantasy-Italian red carriage.)
The list goes on.
— aurilee
Transcript
Cassian: Let's get out of here. Don't kill anyone. You can disable them.
GM: Bria pulls out a <roll>... stick...
[SFX]: k-chunk...
GM: ... and whacks a trooper.
[SFX]: Crack!
Chirrut: What sort of stick?
GM: Does it matter?
Chirrut: It does for the damage roll.
GM: Like a baton, with a handle.
Chirrut: Ah! A techno-tonfa. With the exotic martial arts weapon badass modifier, that's easily 2d6. Same as a blaster.
[SFX]: Pow! {Bria shoots a trooper}
Cassian: Bria!
[SFX]: Pow!
[SFX]: swing...
[SFX]: Crack!
Bria: Yep, same effect.
Chirrut: We need to do more testing.