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08-27-2007, 02:24 PM | #1 |
Join Date: Aug 2007
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What does main-gauche buy me?
I'm coming back to GURPS after not having played in probably 7 or 8 years. I'm constructing a character, and would like to have some interesting fencing abilities, so I looked into getting Sabre and Main-Gauche, along with Knife for when I don't have the sabre on hand. However, after taking a look at the combat rules, I'm kind of confused about how Main-Gauche would actually help me without also buying double weapon attack and off-hand ability. As far as I can recall (I don't have the book in front of me right now), Main-Gauche eliminates the penalty for parrying with an off-handed weapon, and that's about it. If I just spent the points on my main weapon skill instead, I could be better at parrying with my main weapon than the off-hand weapon, so the main-gauche skill would be useless. Am I missing something? As I said, I don't have the books in front of me right now, so I could very well have just missed something critical.
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08-27-2007, 02:31 PM | #2 | |
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Join Date: Feb 2005
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Re: What does main-gauche buy me?
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08-27-2007, 02:35 PM | #3 | |
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Re: What does main-gauche buy me?
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08-27-2007, 02:38 PM | #4 | |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Stuttgart, Germany
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Re: What does main-gauche buy me?
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08-27-2007, 02:38 PM | #5 | |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Canada
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Re: What does main-gauche buy me?
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08-27-2007, 07:58 PM | #6 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
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Re: What does main-gauche buy me?
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08-27-2007, 02:34 PM | #7 | |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Stuttgart, Germany
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Re: What does main-gauche buy me?
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Having an additional parry with the off-hand allows you to parry another attack at full skill, so if your opponent(s) attacks you twice, you get two full skill parries. If you're attacked 4 times, then you can parry twice with each hand and only take the penalty for the second parry on each hand instead of taking a second, third and fourth parry penalty. *And, if you full out lunge (MA option) and give up your parry with your main weapon, you still get to parry with your Main-Gauche. |
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08-27-2007, 02:39 PM | #8 |
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Iceland*
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Re: What does main-gauche buy me?
GURPS Martial Arts is very likely to alter the parameters this answers is based on and I recommend that you get it before building a fencer. It's chock full of options for fighting, treats fencing in some detail and allows your to build precisely the fighting style you want.
What then Main-Gauche skill gives you is the ability to use it in the off-hand without penalties and to use a Knife-sized weapon with a penalty to Parry. With Main-Gauche, you shouldn't need the Knife skill. But what Main-Gauche mostly gives you is Knife skill with a French accent. ;)
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08-27-2007, 02:58 PM | #9 | ||
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Re: What does main-gauche buy me?
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08-27-2007, 03:06 PM | #10 |
GURPS Line Editor
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Montréal, Québec
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Re: What does main-gauche buy me?
Don't forget that Main-Gauche qualifies as a fencing skill, which gives the twin benefits of allowing +3 rather than +1 when you retreat whilst parrying, and halving the penalty for multiple parries with the same weapon. Add that to the ability to ignore the -4 to DX/-2 to Parry with the off hand, and the further ability to ignore the usual -1 when parrying with a knife, and the main-gauche is an exceedingly potent defensive weapon. Moreover, when doing anything short of an All-Out Attack that commits your main weapon in such a way that it can't parry, the main-gauche retains all of these benefits. Thus, you can do nutty things like flying lunges and sword tosses with your rapier, and still parry like mad.
Offensively, Main-Gauche isn't any more potent than Knife. It requires Off-Hand Weapon Training to be really effective, and Dual-Weapon Attack to be even more effective . . . just like Knife. And while it's handy in close combat, it's no more handy than Knife. But that's as it should be. Generally, the main-gauche is compared to the buckler, cloak, and other parrying weapons. It's only rarely considered a useful part of offense. If what you want is lots of offense, do what some real rapierists did and carry two rapiers instead. Just be careful in close combat. Also, be rich . . . a rapier isn't cheap like a main-gauche is.
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