Quote:
Originally Posted by Captain Joy
E.g. Basic Set, p. 273 says a Shortsword does thr imp damage. Low Tech, p. 69 sats a Shortsword does thr+1 imp damage. Basic Set also assigns the Shortsword to TL 2, Low Tech to TL 1. The stats for the Shortsword are otherwise identical.
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Don't go overboard on making Low Tech more realistic in it's weapon damage. Melee weapon is usually determined on an arbitrary and gamist basis.
For example, that Thr+1 Shortsword does more damage than the one in Basic because one of the authors thought it deserved to as a matter of game balance as compared to the Thr Broadsword with it's +2 Imp..
As a counter-example, if an Estoc does +2 Imp then a Thr Broadsword probably shouldn't. The Estoc has a narrower but stronger point. The +2 Imp Broadsword probably only ended up that way because of some perceived fine point from long ago about the relative balance of Thr v. Swing with Broadswords at c. ST11-13.
In answer to your other question, yes there were sharp, hilted weapons within the Shortsword Skill's range of length and weight during the historical TL1 period. The original authors may have been thinking of the historical roman Gladius as the archetypal "shortsword" and it is TL2
The effect of range of physical characteristics on game stats should be remembered. A TL1 bronze Mycenaean thrusting sword wasn't that robust a weapon and may have done only Thr Imp and weighed only 2lbs (w/scabbard as High Tech wants to tell us). However, the very robust TL2 Gladius could merit the +1 but it weighs slightly over 2.5 lbs without a scabbard.
<shrug> Most Gurps melee weapon skill categories are incredibly broad and the exact stats of particular weapons they cover should be taken only as typical of that range and not definitive. there simply isn't even an exact nomenclature for historical weapons and exact stats can only be atched to a specific example.