Quote:
Perhaps both!
It's not at all unrealistic to suggest that the traditional sword-forward fencing stance wouldn't be great for defending against attacks from the side. Giganti (again), suggests a different approach in the section of his manual where he describes how to fight multiple attackers.
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Good point! So, here's my current approach, along with the post I mentioned before:
Any one-handed weapon may adopt a "fencing stance." This involves placing the weapon in a more central position between the user and his foe, while blading his body and tightening his feet. This allows a weapon with Unbalanced or Unready property to gain improved retreating bonuses to parries, and allows other weapons to halve the penalties for multiple parries, but only from the front.
The fighter also gains the +1/-1 to parries in the same way as the Defensive Grip.
This is compatible with the two-handed Defensive Grip, but only if the weapon is being used with a one-handed skill. The parry bonus does not stack.
Encumbrance penalties apply to all parries in this case, and may lower retreating bonuses beneath +1.
Assuming this stance is a Ready maneuver.