10-09-2018, 12:41 AM | #1 |
Join Date: Nov 2016
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Mordhau & Half-Swording 2018
As you might know, there is a technique called Mordhau. You pick the sword by the blade and hit with the pummel or guard; the cool thing here, is that you can avoid hurting yourself even if you have such grip.
So, let’s imagine I find a sword but I only know how to wield an axe. Can I use the Mordhau grip to fight using the sword as an axe? And if the sword is short, can I use it as a hatchet? (Via axe wielding skill). Then you have the half-swording which is another technique to target chinks in armor (so to say). Do you know of a book or reference in GURPS pointing to some sort of benefit from this grip? I also found this thread, but are there any news? - Hide |
10-09-2018, 01:37 AM | #2 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Wellington, NZ
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Re: Mordhau & Half-Swording 2018
Much of this is covered in Martial Arts, as reverse grip and a variation of the defensive grip.
As for using an sword like an axe like this, there's not normally a default to any sword skill from any axe skill, but if you thought there should be for this use I doubt a default at -4 (that seems to be the standard weapon to not-very-close-weapon default) will break anything much.
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Rupert Boleyn "A pessimist is an optimist with a sense of history." |
10-09-2018, 01:39 AM | #3 |
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Iceland*
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Re: Mordhau & Half-Swording 2018
Concur with Rupert's note on Martial Arts, but would be more lenient with using a sword in an axe grip. I'd just call it an improvised Axe/Mace weapon and give a -2 to hit (-4 if unfamiliar with the Mordhau).
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Za uspiekh nashevo beznadiozhnovo diela! Last edited by Icelander; 10-09-2018 at 01:48 AM. |
10-09-2018, 03:30 AM | #4 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Wellington, NZ
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Re: Mordhau & Half-Swording 2018
Calling it an improvised knobbed club or the like works too, yeah. I say 'club', because the hilt and crossguard will be the impact point in general, and so crushing, not cutting, damage would be more correct.
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Rupert Boleyn "A pessimist is an optimist with a sense of history." |
10-09-2018, 06:35 PM | #5 |
Join Date: Jun 2013
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Re: Mordhau & Half-Swording 2018
I could have sworn mordhau showed up (albeit not by that name) in Martial Arts and/or Low Tech, but looking through those I can't find it at all. I'd agree that improvised knobbed club seems appropriate, but the Parry 0 seems a bit off - an improvised small round mace, perhaps? That's for a ~3 lb broadsword - a bastard sword (~5 lb) or greatsword (~7 lb) would be an improvised round mace instead. The guards of the hilt stick out enough you could probably justify being able to target the eyes for purposes of blinding rather than as a shortcut to the brain (Guts in the Berserk manga did this once when he was younger, in a moderately-recent flashback). In a properly-cinematic setting, a warrior who is rather fond of mordhau might modify the handguards into small axe heads to get cutting damage (Mist in the Knights manga used mordhau as something of an ultimate technique, and his father's sword looked to have had this very modification done).
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GURPS Overhaul |
10-09-2018, 06:58 PM | #6 |
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: L.I., NY
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Re: Mordhau & Half-Swording 2018
"Murder stroke" is mentioned in Martial Arts, in the text on page 16 about medieval European fighting, but I don't think it's referred to in any technique descriptions/mechanics.
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10-09-2018, 10:04 PM | #7 |
Join Date: Sep 2008
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Re: Mordhau & Half-Swording 2018
I thought Mordhau was more about imbalancing, tripping and ultimately grounding your opponent in harness more than direct damage. Does MA discuss using hooky weapons to ground opponents?
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10-10-2018, 05:37 AM | #8 | |
Join Date: Jun 2013
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Re: Mordhau & Half-Swording 2018
Quote:
(Turns out it does indeed show up in Martial Arts, at least in the "murder stroke" mentioned above by Mr_Sandman and in Longsword Fighting, so I wasn't crazy, just lacking in my search-fu)
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GURPS Overhaul |
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10-10-2018, 08:49 AM | #9 |
Join Date: Dec 2012
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Re: Mordhau & Half-Swording 2018
As I understand it, the ruling last time this came up is use the sword's swing damage but change it to crushing. Of course, the way standard rules for DR and cutting work, this is not much of an advantage in the era this attack was used (against plate armor, especially the helm). It really works best with a house rule that gives cutting attacks (or at least balanced cutting attacks) a fractional armor divisor so that crushing attacks actually have an advantage over cutting versus rigid armor. Alternately, you could simply give it an additional +1 or +2 to damage and make it in line with a 2 handed mace.
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10-10-2018, 07:46 PM | #10 |
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: earth....I think.
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Re: Mordhau & Half-Swording 2018
Hitting someone in the head with the pommel or cross guards while they are wearing a full plate helmet does cause damage, at a minimal it stuns them a lot and may cause nausea. One of my instructors does Harnischfechten and owns a suit and that was one of the first things he tried out, we hit him in the head with a feder, noting, hit him harder, meh. Tap him with the pommel, wtf.
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half-swording, mordhau |
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