10-23-2017, 10:37 AM | #41 |
Hero of Democracy
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: far from the ocean
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Re: Are swords worth it?
I find that my players use lots and lots of swords. The primary reason is because its an efficient use of points.
Damage is only one component of a fight in gurps. You've also got to worry about hitting your opponent and not being hit. I tend to look at those numbers far more than raw damage numbers. Axes, Polearms, maces, and more exotic weapons are generally unbalanced. If you have a one-handed unbalanced weapon, that means you're pouring points into both axe and shield. you are a master of neither, spending eight points to do what a sword does with four. Sword parries get the full bonus of shield, so you can stick one or two points on it, carry the board around, and parry at +2 with your sword all the time. Polearms and other two handed unbalanced weapons require a defense other than a shield. That either means huge amounts of armor, a large pile of HP, a dedicated "Kill them first" mentality, or a high dodge score (and dodge is the most expensive defense). and probably multiple of the above. This is quite doable, but it requires fully committing to the tactic, and its not for everybody or every campaign. Contrast this with the warrior who just sinks most of his combat points into that one weapon. Combat makes better use of high skills than the rest of gurps, and if you can hit skill 20 you enter this sweet spot where you become very hard to hit, able to soak a lot of weird penalties, and unpredictable. These uber warriors usually use a sword, because it lets them just keep sinking points into it without sacrificing defense or offense. Spears are balanced, and there are some polearms that you can pretend are spears up until you need huge amounts of damage (they are balanced when thrusting). Spears may or may not use a shield, and can parry freely. So they are a good alternative to swords from a point expenditure and "Tag" perspective. The first problem with spears is the damage. They get nice bonuses, but those bonuses are to thrusting damage, not swinging damage. They generally do less damage than swords, but more injury if you have an unarmored foe. But when armor shows up, the spear starts to look less appealing. Its about even before unliving and homogeneous show up. If you're in a fight that features those (undead, constructs, and so forth), spears become garbage. Which is a real shame. The second problem with spears is that they're big and bulky. When you're walking about and get into trouble you're more likely to have a sword handy than a spear. With pole-arms weight starts to become an issue. And finally, yes, shortswords are purely suboptimal without house rules to make them awesome again. use Broadswords. This is why my players and characters rely by and large on swords.
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10-23-2017, 10:40 AM | #42 | |
Join Date: Jul 2012
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Re: Are swords worth it?
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10-23-2017, 10:43 AM | #43 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
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Re: Are swords worth it?
At the least, be sure to use the weapon stats from Low-Tech or from DFRPG, which boost thrust damage for shortswords (and boost a few other too-weak weapons as well). It's a welcome improvement.
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10-23-2017, 10:58 AM | #44 | |
Hero of Democracy
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: far from the ocean
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Re: Are swords worth it?
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The problem with this historically effective tactic is that Gurps doesn't let you do it. The range on anything with the word "sword" in its never C. I usually house-rule in all short-swords having range C, or at least argue for the ability to buy it.
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Be helpful, not pedantic Worlds Beyond Earth -- my blog Check out the PbP forum! If you don't see a game you'd like, ask me about making one! |
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10-23-2017, 11:11 AM | #45 |
Dog of Lysdexics
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Melbourne FL, Formerly Wellington NZ
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Re: Are swords worth it?
Yes there are a lot of weapons in the same price range as sword that do more damage, but they are battlefield weapons, that are inconvenient to carry when your goal is anything other the pitch battle.
The sword on the other hand once you're use to it wasn't that much of a bother the carry when you're going about your daily lives, but be armed if soundlessly necessary, and that was their main prevalence it also why they mad good secondary weapon on the battle field. |
10-23-2017, 11:22 AM | #46 | |
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Portland, Oregon
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Re: Are swords worth it?
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10-23-2017, 12:27 PM | #47 | ||
Wielder of Smart Pants
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ventura CA
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Re: Are swords worth it?
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Last edited by sir_pudding; 10-23-2017 at 12:31 PM. |
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10-23-2017, 12:49 PM | #48 | ||
Join Date: Apr 2005
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Re: Are swords worth it?
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And that's still assuming you value the worth of a weapon entirely on this single metric, which I think is a gross oversimplification that disregards the strengths of both weapons. In fact, it would recommend against either of them in favor other weapons. Quote:
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10-23-2017, 12:53 PM | #49 | |
Wielder of Smart Pants
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ventura CA
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Re: Are swords worth it?
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ETA: To the OP, If you want to encourage swords, I wouldn't change the stats, just make sure that the kinds of situations that encouraged sword carries in real life are happening occasionally in your game. Have threats occur in civilian contexts where a polearm or spear is out of place, and have close quarters combat happen sometimes too (not just what GURPS calls Close Combat; fights at Reach 1 or more can still be in environments too restrictive for Reach 2+ weapons, and for shields; don't be afraid to point out that the ceiling is too low for the spear and the tables too close for the shield -there's vaguely implied but otherwise solid rules support for treating any situation with a crowded hex as Close Combat for a defender there). Last edited by sir_pudding; 10-23-2017 at 01:00 PM. |
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10-23-2017, 01:08 PM | #50 | |
Join Date: Jul 2012
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Re: Are swords worth it?
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And also have people grab at spears, or chop at them. Any time you have a spear ready at Reach 2, someone can stand 3-yards away and attack your spear. |
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comparisons, cost, melee weapons |
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