07-21-2014, 06:07 PM | #41 | |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: Has anyone done any Melee Weapon Talents?
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07-21-2014, 07:44 PM | #42 | |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Charlotte, North Caroline, United States of America, Earth?
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Re: Has anyone done any Melee Weapon Talents?
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For the equivilent of being DX +6(Skill 16) in one weapon you can be DX +1(Skill 15) in your primary weapon, and default to 9 for the rest of weapons. A few points in those other weapon skills, and you are suddenly very proficient in a wider range of weapons than if you just spent all those points on 1 skill. Disarms happen. Weapons break. Weapons get lost or damaged. You get attacked when your primary weapon isn't socially acceptable. Different weapons have different effectivenesses against different opponents. A sword is awesome, but at ST 12 against mail you arn't going to cripple arms or legs with cutting attacks, and your thrust needs to target the vitals to really be a reliable fight stopper. A mace used by the same man will cripple an arm or leg or major wound the torso through the armor. But against an unarmored or lightly armored man, the cutting damage of a sword is much better. Both weapons are of minimal use to you if your opponent is more distant from you and you can't close for a variety of reasons(difficult ground from piles of corpses, mud, tangled undergrowth, rocky scree, rubble are other reasons), or if your opponent is elevated. Then there's the fantastic stuff, like golems, animated statues, undead and other various things. Being able to have a good back up that doesn't make you a liability is essential. I always hated when we needed to be able to set up a crossbow ambush, or use polearms or spears to defend a narrow corridor, and there's that idiot with his rapier, and that's all he knows how to do. Bleh.
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07-21-2014, 08:08 PM | #43 |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Here .
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Re: Has anyone done any Melee Weapon Talents?
To get back on topic :
A leveled advantage I made for a game world I'm working on does something along those lines only it's balanced against other world specific stuff however it might suit a Conan game . It is a modification of Combat Reflexes called Modified Combat Reflexes {:)} that goes thus : 5 points buys Level 0 which gives Combat Reflexes minus the +1 active defences bonus . 15 points {5+10} buys Level 1 which adds +1 to all weapons skills including shields and unarmed/natural , +1 Strength for determining damage {including bows and crossbows} , Strength Requirements {including overcoming Unready weapon condition} and +1 H.P. . 25 points {5+10+10} buys Level 3 which adds +1 to active defences {just like RAW Combat Reflexes} . Each extra level is 10 points and adds offensive then defensive in turn ; in My setting it maxes out at 5 levels . If that doesn't suit the perhaps something like this ... Natural Warrior : Level 1 [15 points] All critical failures must be verified {re-roll Vs skill and if not a critical failure is merely a normal miss} and +1 to all weapons skills including shields and unarmed/natural , +1 Strength for determining damage {including bows and crossbows} , Strength Requirements {including overcoming Unready weapon condition} and +1 H.P. . Level 2 [25 points] Luck usable once per combat on roll directly related to combat {includes DX rolls to keep footing/balance and H.T. rolls Vs unconsciousness and death} during combat . Each extra level add another +1 offence then Luck in turn and costs 10 xp . Modify costs and set maximum level to suit ? As written , Conan could easily have 5 or 6 levels of this {Howard didn't mind going over the top with His favourite Cimmerian} .
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07-21-2014, 08:24 PM | #44 | |||
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: Has anyone done any Melee Weapon Talents?
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Yes, secondary weapon types have their uses, but those uses are almost always niche uses, of quite low value. It might be more balanced to allow Alternate Attacks for different weapon skills, but that's a bigger rules deviation than melee weapon talent, and more abusable. |
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07-21-2014, 09:28 PM | #45 | |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Charlotte, North Caroline, United States of America, Earth?
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Re: Has anyone done any Melee Weapon Talents?
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I'm having a hard time understanding what sort of low-tech or fantasy game revolves around always being able to have a sword.
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07-21-2014, 09:34 PM | #46 | |||
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: Has anyone done any Melee Weapon Talents?
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If secondary weapon skills were sensibly priced this wouldn't be a problem. Say, all of them default to one another at a maximum of -4. However, given the way GURPS works, hyper-specializing in one weapon is the way to go. |
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07-22-2014, 03:40 AM | #47 |
Join Date: Mar 2006
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Re: Has anyone done any Melee Weapon Talents?
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Last edited by namada; 09-21-2014 at 12:10 AM. |
07-22-2014, 10:43 AM | #48 | ||
Join Date: Jun 2013
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Re: Has anyone done any Melee Weapon Talents?
Having additional weapon skills won't help you there unless you've either got a backup weapon or scrounge up a weapon from a downed foe. In the first case, it's often as easy to carry a backup weapon that uses your primary skill (or a skill with a decent default from it) as it is to carry a backup that uses a different one. For the latter, you're typically not that unlikely to find a sword-class weapon to pick up unless the GM is specifically avoiding giving you such.
More likely for the low-skill generalist than the high-skill specialist. Skill 20 is a lot harder to disarm than skill 14. The exception is if you've had all your weapons taken away... in which case you're falling back on scrounged weapons (see above) or unarmed skills (which should be considered separately from weapon skills, and where it's always a good idea to have some degree of competence). This calls for ranged combat skill - which, like unarmed, every character should invest in. That or a shield, which even specialists (unless they are two-handed specialists, in which case their armor should protect them) should have at least some skill in the use of. Quote:
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Last edited by Varyon; 07-22-2014 at 10:50 AM. |
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07-22-2014, 10:56 AM | #49 | |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
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Re: Has anyone done any Melee Weapon Talents?
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07-22-2014, 02:07 PM | #50 | |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Charlotte, North Caroline, United States of America, Earth?
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Re: Has anyone done any Melee Weapon Talents?
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