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Old 04-22-2019, 11:44 AM   #2
Verjigorm
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Charlotte, North Caroline, United States of America, Earth?
Default Re: [MA][LT] Dueling Buckler and Shield-Hand Knife

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Originally Posted by Sorenant View Post
This video shows a man wielding a dueling buckler and a knife with the same hand. From what I googled about this man he seems fairly controversial, so I wanted to ask the people here if it's an actual setup that has been used in history.
On the other side of the world, Scottish highlanders used targes with dirks, alongside basket hilted claymores. I think it's a plausible set-up, especially for any group of people who are prone to sudden skirmishes. Bucklers, knives and one handed swords are all rather quick to bring into action, as well as relatively convenient in comparison to other weapons, like shields or spears.

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In GURPS terms, he'd be suffering -2 to use both skills, plus -2 off hand penalty to Knife skill. There's a perk to get rid of the off hand penalty but not for shield-hand wielding so he'd be at least at -2 to both skills. On the other hand, those skills a Easy so if he had both at DX+2 [4] he'd still be able ot use them at DX. He'd have -1 to Block compared to wielding only the buckler, but it gives him the option to stab with the knife, use some armed grappling technique and an extra parry in a pinch. So it doesn't seem to be all bad.
Would a custom combat perk based on Rule Exemption to get rid of shield-hand weapon penalty to this specific setup (dueling buckler + large knife) be believable or at least balanced?
I'm pretty sure you've got it right. I think the a combat perk to dispense with the penalty sounds reasonable, either as a style perk or as a perk earned from experience.

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Also, what would be the GURPS equivalent of Pesh-kabz? It looks like a Large Knife with swing cut and thrust imp, but the article mentions it's also an armor piercer like Rondel Dagger, which doesn't have cutting mode. Maybe a Large Knife with the Armor-Piercing option from LTC2, at $160?
It's the distal tip. Notice the difference in the tips between the modern knife at the top, and the 18th century one at the bottom? The 18th century example has a reinforced distal tip. Allowing a distal tip weapon the bonus to targeting chinks in armor sounds reasonable.
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