From: David Cheng (drcheng@sales.stern.nyu.edu)
Date: Fri 16 Jul 1993 - 19:53:35 EEST
My inflammatory idea for the month of July:
I was speaking to Oliver about the proposed weapon damage & strength bonus
DC: "Why did the bastard sword go from d10 to d8?"
OJ: "Because a couple of guys who know a lot about weapons made a strong case
This is fine and good by me, but isn't this taking reality too far?
system:
that the bastard sword really shouldn't do more than a good broadsword,
given both are used one handed."
Personally, I don't really care that in reality, the broadsword and 1H
bastard sword hit just as hard.
Let's take away the historical names, and use generic terms:
Small 1H Sword
Average 1H Sword
Big 1H Sword
It makes a lot of sense to me, from a _game_ reality standpoint, that
Small 1H Sword = d6
Average 1H Sword = d8
Big 1H Sword = d10
So, reapplying more flavorful terminology:
Shortsword = d6
I would apply a parallel line of thought to:
Small 1H Axe (Hatchet) / Average 1H Axe (Battle Axe)
Small 2H Axe (Battleaxe) / Avg 2H Axe (Great Axe) / Big 2H Axe (Poleaxe)
Crossbows, Bows (?) etc...
Don't know about spears: Do they all hit the same, but with a
Broadsword = d8
1H Bastard Sword = d10
difference in Strike Rank being thier differentiating factor?
The determining factors about which a character uses would be:
*1) Culture
GM's must show discipline, and deny the whining of their minmaxing
players. The GM must be willing to say: "I don't care that you
have a 17 STR. You have spent your whole life in <nation>, and
they just don't use Bastard Swords there."
2) Strength & Dexterity
Now, the cries will go up:
Yes, I acknowlege this, and I don't want to deal with it. Let us postpone
Big 2H Axe takes more STR to use than Small 2H Axe, etc.
I would strongly favor readjusting the current cutoffs. 13
STR might be too low to use Bastard Sword 1H. Make it 15
perhaps. Whatever.
"But wait, bigger STR will already give you a bigger damage bonus, so
that's already factored in..."
that debate. If the next issue of RQ is perfect, this discussion group
will be obsolete. We can't go having that, now can we... ;-)
Comments and criticism warmly anticipated.
-David Cheng
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