View Single Post
Old 08-18-2010, 03:27 PM   #14
Icelander
 
Icelander's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Iceland*
Default Re: On Swords, Blades and the Song of Swords

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ze'Manel Cunha View Post
Nodachi isn't a real term for anything, afaik, it's like saying chainmailring armor.
I don't speak Japanese, but a field sword in the size and weight range of a Western longsword is a real thing.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ze'Manel Cunha View Post
Odachi are two-handed greatswords which aren't balanced one handed weapons, they weigh in at 3.75+ lbs and do have blades that are 36"+, by definition.
Odachi/nodachi are terms so confused by different scholars and competing claims as to be almost unusable.

I find the progression of tanto/shoto/daito logical enough. The famous swords would then be wakizazhi < tachi/katana (depending on how they are carried) < nodachi < odachi. But since this is clean and logical, it is likely to be ahistorical and an invention of latter-day scholars.

No matter.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ze'Manel Cunha View Post
Katanas, aka tachis, aka daitos, are paired to the wielder's height, someone below 1.65m (5'5") would wield a 28" katana, which historically was tall in Japan, so most katanas are under 28" in blade length.

A 30" katana would be wielded by someone 6'.

The biggest katanas made were 33"-34" in blade length and meant to be wielded by people over 6'4".
I know. And this is utterly irrelevant.

A typical GURPS character is not 5'5", he's 5'9". And when he wields a katana, it is Reach 1. That's the game rules and I agree that they represent reality well enough.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ze'Manel Cunha View Post
You seem to be confusing the issue and mixing blades meant for taller people vs. normal blades used by average height wielders.
I didn't write the stats for the Katana in GURPS. Nor did I write the explanatory note in MA that clearly states that these stats do not represent a typical historical katana, but instead a blade closer to a two-handed nodachi.
__________________
Za uspiekh nashevo beznadiozhnovo diela!
Icelander is offline   Reply With Quote