Sweep Attack

Sweep Attacks are basically a form of Multi-Attack employing physical objects. Thunderstrike will be happy to demonstrate.

One moment while Thunderstrike acquires a steel girder, without knocking the building down on anyone's head in the process.

WITHOUT.

Thank you.

In a Sweep Attack, the physical object is swung, thrown, or rolled in an attempt to strike as many Characters as possible. Using an object, instead of his person, negates some of the penalties of a regular Multi-Attack. The object must be at least 1 AP long, and the size of the object in comparison to the size of the defenders' area will matter.

Thunderstrike is currently holding a 12-foot steel girder, which is within the 1 AP distance range, so he is good to go. It is a piece off the heavy steel, thick girders used to make skyscrapers; it weighs a hundred pounds per foot (so around 5 APs of weight), and has a Body approximately equivalent to a flagpole (so around 6 APs).

By the time the GM is done looking up and figuring out all of these statistics for the object, five Freakshow gang members are running across the plaza to assault Thunderstrike. Looking at the adjustments for a Multi-Attack, and the fact that a 1 AP length of steel is not going to spread far enough to hit everybody unless they are in a straight line, Thunderstrike decides to wait until they are clustered in front of him. He plans to swing the girder like a baseball bat through the lot. His usual penalty for Multi-Attacking five opponents would be +3 Column Shifts to their OV and RV on his Action Check …

BUT! Thunderstrike is using an object instead of his fists! His reach is extended, and therefore a little harder to dodge; the Opposing Value drops back down 1 Column Shift. In this case, the GM will add only +2 Column Shifts to the OV. (Thunderstrike still suffers the entire +3 Column Shifts to the RV, though.)

Oh, hey, Freakshow are more likely to take damage from electric attacks, due to their black market cyberware, and steel conducts electricity, and … yowch.

A few things to keep in mind with Sweep Attacks

• The object being used has to be larger than the length APs of the area in which all of the defenders are present.
• If the RAPs of damage are greater than the Body of the object used in the attack, the object is destroyed.
• If the object used isn't just longer, but has enough surface area to be overall BIGGER than the area in which the defenders are standing -- for example, if Thunderstrike throws an inflated swimming pool (diameter 2 APs, weight 2 APs without water, Body 1 or 2 at most) at them instead of swinging a comparatively thin steel beam -- then the defenders' Resistance Value also receives a decrease of one Column Shift.
• No curveballs. Objects can be thrown or rolled in a straight line through the defenders' area.
• Sweep Attacks can cause Knockback!