Katana reaches, swing vx thrust

[zarnick]

Hi, on the last session, one of my players wanted to buy a Katana, so he bought it, and when putting down the stats, we've noticed something that didn't quite made much sense(or at least, none of us could find it). Why swinging with a Katana have a reach of 1,2 when trhusthing with it, have the reach 1?
Shouldn't all of both stat's be 1,2?

Thanks for clarifying thath.

[PK]

I can't speak for the katana itself (I am not an expert on it), but several weapons in GURPS have different reaches in different modes. The reason is generally that a given form of attack is only practical at a certain range. Look through the weapons tables for other examples.

[Ragabash Moon]

Hmm.. I do see where that can make you go "Huh?"... Took me a minute to thing about it but, if you are slashing at someone, you can hit them with any point along the blade... However, if you are stabbing someone that is at reach of 2... well, the tip will just nick them... you need to be at range 1 and put the sword INSIDE their body...

Does that make the reach difference make sense?

[zarnick]

Originally Posted by Ragabash Moon

Hmm.. I do see where that can make you go "Huh?"... Took me a minute to thing about it but, if you are slashing at someone, you can hit them with any point along the blade... However, if you are stabbing someone that is at reach of 2... well, the tip will just nick them... you need to be at range 1 and put the sword INSIDE their body...

Does that make the reach difference make sense?

Thanks, that's what I tought initially, but they were so anger at this point, that I had to sayd, "ok ok, so trhust is reach 2 also....geeeee..." and they were happy, and since it was way over past midnight, I tought "whatever...". And now I have something to say to them :D

Thanks a lot for you guys.


BTW: Jokes should just be funny in itself, if you can't make them funny by itself, then do something with your face, be a clow, if EVEN then you can't make them laugh, consider changing jobs.hehe

[Blood Legend]

Originally Posted by zarnick

Thanks, that's what I tought initially, but they were so anger at this point, that I had to sayd, "ok ok, so trhust is reach 2 also....geeeee..." and they were happy, and since it was way over past midnight, I tought "whatever...". And now I have something to say to them :D

Thanks a lot for you guys.


BTW: Jokes should just be funny in itself, if you can't make them funny by itself, then do something with your face, be a clow, if EVEN then you can't make them laugh, consider changing jobs.hehe

Ah but my jokes ARE funny in itself...they're also funny in itself > in itself > in itself > in itself. You dont need to be terribly smart to get one of my jokes, you'll just be laughing giggling or smiling at a lower set of complexities that I'd purposefully crafted in so that everyone could enjoy it and easily ignore anything beyond it while maintaining that I really love complexities. It could be a laugh riot just having my friends try and repeat me word for word.

Any of my friends reading this thread are propably nodding their heads thinking I do that a lot in my ten minute long "conversation about nothing."

---

As for something relevant. The Katana would simply be a light poke at a farther distance because of its curve making it shorter laterally. (or whatever word I'm looking for.) While a two-handed sword would be to long to get a decent draw to stab somebody in the 1' range.

---

Edit: My long post had to be edited because my edits where breaking how much memory I'm allowed per post...O_O hardcore man...

[Mark Caliber]

I think HeroPenguin said it best . . . but

from another Katana vs Broadsword thread (on another forum) the arguements were hashed out in great detail and from THAT, I've come to the conclusion that (for game purposes) Katana's and Bastard Swords are effectively identical.

Both have functionally similar lenths (Blade and handles) and are both the same weight.

Realistically Katana's are actually designed for cavalry and Bastard swords for footmen, (based on the curvature of the blade) but otherwise they are eirily similar.

[benz72]

I do not use a katana either (preferring bastard sword) but if we compare the wikipedia entries for the two weapons
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katana
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastard_sword
we find 4 salient differences:
1) bastard swords are (typically) about 10% longer (~110 cm vs ~100 cm)
2) ratio of blade length to grip length is higher for the bastard sword
3) curvature in the katana blade ~10 degrees shortens reach to cos10*(bladelength) = 98% (this is negligable at our scale)
4) single edge vs. double edge

Note that the bastard sword description on pg 207 (3rd ed) gives the thrusting range as 2 (only)

Both of these weapons clearly ride the edge of the 1,2 range. With a slightly shorter blade and a lower blade/grip ratio I can easily justify katana thrusts having less range than longsword thrusts. That being said, those thrusts will be much more stable and have a quicker recovery.
If it were my game I would allow a katana to thrust to reach 2, but would declare that if a fighter did so his weapon would become unready (as it is out of position). For fairness one might also state that a bastard sword used to thrust to reach 2 becomes unready (perhaps only if you miss, since this is more in line with it's design) but allow a reach 1 thrust at a penalty (perhaps -2) to attack.

Just my unsolicited $0.02

[GoblynByte]

Originally Posted by zarnick

Hi, on the last session, one of my players wanted to buy a Katana, so he bought it, and when putting down the stats, we've noticed something that didn't quite made much sense(or at least, none of us could find it). Why swinging with a Katana have a reach of 1,2 when trhusthing with it, have the reach 1?
Shouldn't all of both stat's be 1,2?

Thanks for clarifying thath.

Ah! Another Katana thread! Quick! Hit it with a stick! Kill it, kill it! Before it gets too big! Ahhhh!!!

(Please understand I'm just jesting...please continue the conversation...just felt like being a goof-ball for a second). ;)

[Blood Legend]

o_O I never like seeing Katana threads...I've only ever seen two in my life but I can still FEEL the history in the Katananess..

Can some higher-level nerd explain me the intricate doomness that the word 'katana' (ow!) brings to a thread? What IS the katana debate? Why does it cause turmoil o_O

[Anders]

Originally Posted by Blood Legend

Can some higher-level nerd explain me the intricate doomness that the word 'katana' (ow!) brings to a thread? What IS the katana debate? Why does it cause turmoil o_O

As far as I understand, Katanas are either the best swords ever made - or rather average swords made from crappy ore. Since both sides of the dispute tends to get rather... emotional about their viewpoints, Katana threads tend to go up in flames sooner than you can say "folded 19 000 times".