[Varyon]

Here are a few optional rules, as well as some examples.

Extra Effort (Improved Grip): This increases a character's Grip CP by their maximum thrust damage, and can exceed their normal maximum CP, but only lasts for a second. Thus, a character with ST 13 (thr 1d) swinging a halberd (MinCP 18) with Grip CP 12 could use this to temporarily increase his Grip CP to 18 - the weapon would cease to be Unsteady (no skill penalty, no loss of Grip CP upon attacking with it) and he would get full damage for his ST 13 (instead of using ST 12's damage). Similarly, an ST 20 (thr 2d-1) character swinging a broadsword (MinCP 5) with Grip CP 7 could use this to temporarily increase his Grip CP to 18, allowing him to use his full ST 20 for damage (instead of the ST 14 Grip CP 7 would have restricted him to). If using Relative Weapon Weight (MA110), he would also enjoy a +3 for Stop Hits and similar, get a +3 to make or resist a feint, and only suffer -1 per additional Parry beyond the first, thanks to having over 3xMinCP.

Whips: Whips are weapons that require a lot of wind up/recovery, particularly with the longer versions. Optionally, a character can improve Grip CP up to twice their normal maximum. As soon as the character attacks, all Grip CP in excess of their normal value is instantly lost. This can be combined with Extra Effort, above. While it is probably best to only allow this for whips, it may be an interesting solution for other weapons as well.

Lookups Are a Pain: Instead of determining damage based on current effective ST, simply apply a penalty for being below your character's normal CP for the weapon. For one-handed weapons, this is -1 damage per -CP to thrust, -2/CP to swing. For two-handed, this is -1 per -2 CP to thrust, -1/CP to swing.

Bigger and Stronger: The above system actually still makes it a little harder for an SM+3 giant to wield a scaled halberd than it does for an SM+0 human, due to the way effective weight increases with Reach. This is probably realistic, but if you prefer you can change it so that instead of being +n% per yard it is approximately +n% per half the wielder's linear dimension. So, SM+0 is a linear dimension of 2 yards, so every yard is +n%. SM+3 is a linear dimension of 7 yards, so every 3 yards (technically 3.5, but I'm sticking to SSR for ease of math) is +n%.


Example Weapons (due to the round-up nature of Grip CP, many one-handed weapons have MinST 1 lower than it "should" be, but I don't think this is a huge problem)

Dagger: Weighing in at a mere 4 ounces, the Reach C dagger has MinCP 1. Any ST is technically enough to wield it (although when you get down to ST 1, you really need some better resolution), but damage caps out at only ST 10 (Grip CP 5).

Rondel Dagger: At 1 lb and Reach C, a rondel dagger has MinCP 2. ST 3+ is needed to wield it, and damage caps out at ST 20.

Large Knife: At 1 lb, Reach 1 (swinging) or C (thrusting), and balanced, the Large Knife has MinCP 2 for thrusting, 3 for swinging. MinST is thus 3 (thr) or 5 (sw), and thrust damage caps out at ST 20, swing at ST 18.

Shortsword: At 2 lb, Reach 1, and balanced, the Shortsword has MinCP 3 (thr) or 4 (sw). This works out to MinST 5 or 7, MaxST 30 or 24.

Broadsword: At 3 lb, Reach 1, and balanced, the Broadsword has MinCP 4 or 5. MinST 7 or 9, MaxST 40 or 30.

Bastard sword, 1h: At 5 lb, Reach 2, and balanced*, the Bastard sword has MinCP 5 or 6. MinST 9 or 11, MaxST 50 or 36.

Bastard sword, 1.5h: As above, but held with both hands. This changes MinCP to 8 or 10. As two hands are involved, that means MinST 8 or 10, MaxST 40 or 30.

Greatsword, 1h: At 7 lb, Reach 2, and balanced*, the Greatsword has MinCP 6 or 7. MinST 11 or 13, MaxST 60 or 42.

Greatsword, 1.5h: As above, but held with both hands. MinCP/MinST 10 or 12, MaxST 50 or 36.

Greatsword, 2h: At the GM's option, a Greatsword or similar held in Defensive Grip has enough space between the hands (one on the ricasso) to count as properly two-handed. MinCP/MinST 9 or 11, MaxST 45 or 33.

Edged Rapier: At 3 lb, Reach 2, and balanced, the Edged Rapier has MinCP 4 or 5. MinST 7 or 9, MaxST 40 or 30.

Axe, 1h: At 4 lb, Reach 1, and unbalanced, the Axe has MinCP 6 (no thrusting option). MinST 11, MaxST 36.

Axe, 1.5h: As above, but held with both hands. MinCP/MinST 9, MaxST 27.

Dueling Halberd: At 10 lb, Reach 2, and unbalanced, the Dueling Halberd has MinCP/MinST 10 or 13, MaxST 50 or 39.

Halberd: At 12 lb, Reach 3, and unbalanced, the Halberd has MinCP/MinST 13 or 18, MaxST 65 or 54.

*These are optionally Parry U due to being so long yet used in only 1 hand, but that's a GM call - a decent rule of thumb may be that weapons at least the character's linear dimension in length are Parry U if used in one hand, even if balanced; 1.5h might become Parry U at 1.5xlinear dimension, 2h at 2xlinear dimension. The weapons themselves are balanced for purposes of this system.