Serrated Sword

Dexion · 08-13-2018, 03:58 PM

Hello.

I looking for rules for serrated Swords/knives. I search in Low-tech and LT2 but I found nothing. Normaly they are used for easy cutting throught cloth/leather/wood/flesh but are bad against metal armor. And they are nice to look, scary and harder to make. Any idea?
Thanks

Maz · 08-13-2018, 04:08 PM

Serrates are good for two things: Looking ominous and sawing stuff, like wood. They offer no battle benefits. You do not deal more damage with them, nor do the enemy "bleed more" in any way that impacts a battle.

This at least is what I have read and been told through many years on these boards and other. I am no expert. What historical weapon are you thinking of?

Dexion · 08-13-2018, 04:16 PM

I think about curved sword/knife and tulwar of India where this type of blade were common.

Railstar · 08-13-2018, 04:55 PM

If nice to look at and harder to make are the main things, I would go for Ornate - just scary instead of shiny.

AlexanderHowl · 08-13-2018, 05:23 PM

The problem with serrations is that they are quite ineffective against armor, though they can cut through flesh quite well, and they break very easily. I would allow a serrated blade to increase its wound multiplier by +0.5 at the cost of giving it Armor Divisor (0.5) and that it breaks as if its quality was one level lower.

Refplace · 08-13-2018, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

The problem with serrations is that they are quite ineffective against armor, though they can cut through flesh quite well, and they break very easily. I would allow a serrated blade to increase its wound multiplier by +0.5 at the cost of giving it Armor Divisor (0.5) and that it breaks as if its quality was one level lower.

I can get along with this and I'll raise you a chance of getting stuck like a pike.
Deep cut blades would possibly go deeper with 1 or 2 deeper instead of a longer line.

DouglasCole · 08-13-2018, 05:50 PM

Serrated edges. Turning a sword-on-sword bind into a novel and interesting experience since forever.

Refplace · 08-13-2018, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DouglasCole

Serrated edges. Turning a sword-on-sword bind into a novel and interesting experience since forever.

LOL yet another disadvantage

DanHoward · 08-13-2018, 05:59 PM

A laceration from a serrated edge is likely slower to heal than a cut from a straight edge. I might consider giving -1 to First Aid and daily healing rolls.

Anaraxes · 08-13-2018, 07:07 PM

Serrated edges don't seem very popular on kitchen knives. Bread knives, yes. And I favor my bread knife for tomatoes. But fillet knives and boning knives aren't usually serrated, nor the generic chef's knife for slicing and chopping. I'm not convinced serrations would be any better at cutting flesh than a straight edge.

(Now, on cheap knives, like the famous Ginsu as-seen-on-TV, you'll more often find serrations. You can get any style of knife with serrations, but they seem to have only become popular on the bread knives. Really hard things like crusty bread, or really squishy things like tomatoes, but not all the stuff in between, like meat.)

For a practical point, it's also tedious to sharpen a serrated knife, running rods in each serration to sharpen all the little curves without just wearing off the points. Much easier and faster to slide down the length of a straight edge. Increase that to sword length instead of an 8-10" knife, and you'd get a big maintenance burden. So maybe the straight edges are just because the serrations aren't worth the effort to maintain.

08-13-2018, 03:58 PM	#1
Dexion Join Date: Dec 2012	Serrated Sword Hello. I looking for rules for serrated Swords/knives. I search in Low-tech and LT2 but I found nothing. Normaly they are used for easy cutting throught cloth/leather/wood/flesh but are bad against metal armor. And they are nice to look, scary and harder to make. Any idea? Thanks

08-13-2018, 04:08 PM	#2
Maz Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Denmark	Re: Serrated Sword Serrates are good for two things: Looking ominous and sawing stuff, like wood. They offer no battle benefits. You do not deal more damage with them, nor do the enemy "bleed more" in any way that impacts a battle. This at least is what I have read and been told through many years on these boards and other. I am no expert. What historical weapon are you thinking of?

08-13-2018, 04:16 PM	#3
Dexion Join Date: Dec 2012	Re: Serrated Sword I think about curved sword/knife and tulwar of India where this type of blade were common.

08-13-2018, 04:55 PM	#4
Railstar Join Date: Jul 2012	Re: Serrated Sword If nice to look at and harder to make are the main things, I would go for Ornate - just scary instead of shiny.

08-13-2018, 05:23 PM	#5
AlexanderHowl Join Date: Feb 2016	Re: Serrated Sword The problem with serrations is that they are quite ineffective against armor, though they can cut through flesh quite well, and they break very easily. I would allow a serrated blade to increase its wound multiplier by +0.5 at the cost of giving it Armor Divisor (0.5) and that it breaks as if its quality was one level lower.

08-13-2018, 05:50 PM	#7
DouglasCole Doctor of *GURPS* Ballistics Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Lakeville, MN	Re: Serrated Sword Serrated edges. Turning a sword-on-sword bind into a novel and interesting experience since forever. __________________ My blog:Gaming Ballistic, LLC My Store: Gaming Ballistic on Shopify My Patreon: Gaming Ballistic on Patreon

08-13-2018, 05:59 PM	#9
DanHoward Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Maitland, NSW, Australia	Re: Serrated Sword A laceration from a serrated edge is likely slower to heal than a cut from a straight edge. I might consider giving -1 to First Aid and daily healing rolls. __________________ Compact Castles gives the gamer an instant portfolio of genuine, real-world castle floorplans to use in any historical, low-tech, or fantasy game setting.

08-13-2018, 07:07 PM	#10
Anaraxes Join Date: Sep 2007	Re: Serrated Sword Serrated edges don't seem very popular on kitchen knives. Bread knives, yes. And I favor my bread knife for tomatoes. But fillet knives and boning knives aren't usually serrated, nor the generic chef's knife for slicing and chopping. I'm not convinced serrations would be any better at cutting flesh than a straight edge. (Now, on cheap knives, like the famous Ginsu as-seen-on-TV, you'll more often find serrations. You can get any style of knife with serrations, but they seem to have only become popular on the bread knives. Really hard things like crusty bread, or really squishy things like tomatoes, but not all the stuff in between, like meat.) For a practical point, it's also tedious to sharpen a serrated knife, running rods in each serration to sharpen all the little curves without just wearing off the points. Much easier and faster to slide down the length of a straight edge. Increase that to sword length instead of an 8-10" knife, and you'd get a big maintenance burden. So maybe the straight edges are just because the serrations aren't worth the effort to maintain.