Falchions: is there a point in using them?

[Stripe]

^Just Dan, Stone Dog asked if the sword he pictured was a large falchion. I asserted it was not.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by DanHoward

Just Dan is fine :) GURPS defines any tip-heavy sword as a falchion. I just picked the first one I saw with a spike but it doesn't even vaguely resemble a falcata. In any case the length is irrelevant to the fact that a falchion can and has been made with a spiked tip. But I have no idea how useful it might be in battle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcata
http://1501bc.com/page/solingen/04300048.jpg
http://wa2.www.artehistoria.jcyl.es/...0c21c27bf56823
http://www.abacoarte.com/796-1125-la...rian-sword.jpg

To add another link:

This is the so-called Conyers Falchion....

http://www.lookandlearn.com/blog/646...ops-of-durham/

It's famous and has ended up in a lot of books as _the_ archetype of the medieval falchion. It specifically is also a ceremonial-only sword but there other similar blades that may have seen actual use.

The various falcatas and khopises shown are also "falchions" in Gurps terms. Note that they and the Conyers blade are probably not exemplars of dual use "tool/weapons".

[Ed the Coastie]

Originally Posted by jabarto

Like I said above, you could always just take a sword and say it's a falchion.

Yup...just like AD&D (1st Edition) where both sabres and cutlasses were considered identical to scimitars. *winces*

It all boils down to what you as the GM find comfortable. If you want to say "falchions are simply broadswords with a different name," then fine. Likewise, you can simply decree that "all sports cars / 9mm pistols / main battle tanks / single-engine propeller aircraft have the same stats" and that would be perfectly acceptable. Most similar items are close enough in function that you can readily do this.

However, GURPS allows the option of differentiating. That differentiation is the default and is, in my opinion, part of the beauty of the system. And because it does so, we are not required to reinvent the wheel every time a GM wants to differentiate between a falchion and just another broadsword.

*shrugs* Of course, that is just my opinion on it.