01-13-2018, 09:47 PM | #11 | |
Join Date: Jan 2018
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Re: Fantasy Trip Pole Weapons and Charges
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By the way, reducing damage on the pole weapons seems fine to me. I always felt that the 2 hex jab behind 2 Swords was a horrible thing to attack, just like the charging pike axeman. Lastly, players can face the same things they create for their characters. What do they do then? |
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01-13-2018, 11:07 PM | #12 |
Join Date: Jan 2018
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Re: Fantasy Trip Pole Weapons and Charges
Pole weapons and charges were always a bit of heartburn for GM when we started.
The response was to charge and defend. Not a charge attack, therefore not +2 DX and no double damage. Some made the case that shifting one hex and attacking wasn't a charge attack either. (meh... but it was his game.) The next response was archers targeted the lightly armored pole weapons user for the threat they presented. More armor reduced the range and mobility. Then there was the insult, your pole weapon doesn't fit in the dungeon. We eventually dropped the double damage on a charge altogether. The two hex jab with 2 other swordsmen in front was nasty as could be and people cooperating was just as effective as charges. Plus philosophically, when players cooperate I think the game is better. It amounts to one paragraph in Advanced Mêlée and easy enough to just drop. The genre is Swords and Sorcery not Pole Weapons and Sha-Ken. Plus it seemed more playable. You don't have to fix it if its not there. |
01-14-2018, 03:14 AM | #13 | |
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Alsea, OR
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Re: Fantasy Trip Pole Weapons and Charges
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Functionally, there are only a double-handful of useful bits that define types
These can be simplified further into the following with only a mild loss of fidelit:
A few things that people sometimes think of as polearms really aren't. The Javelin and throwing spear are not really polearms. Throwing spears and javelins are usually much lighter, and are at best a desperation weapon in close order melee. A parry is likely to destroy them. The Pilum (plural: pilae) is also not a polearm - it's intended use is to weight the opponent's shield... stab it through the shield, then drop it; the long head bends, and it adds a couple pounds at a longer moment arm position, so it makes it hard to use the shield. (If you stick it into the ribcage, it has even more annoying effects.) |
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01-16-2018, 01:58 PM | #14 | |
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Arizona
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Re: Fantasy Trip Pole Weapons and Charges
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And something like a Pilum, specifically designed for the head to break off in the enemy, or his shield, in order to hamper his movement and defense (and prevent the enemy from using it by throwing it back at you!) would obviously be completely unsuitable for a charge attack -- the energy of the charge would be wasted when the neck of the pilum bent and snapped (as it was designed to do). Heck, you can't even use the pilum the way the Zulus did the Assegai, to parry and stab; at least not reliably. Which raises the question about whether or not something such as a "short spear" (Assegai) should be a category of weapon... The real question becomes how to make the rule simple, and the simplest way is to state that javelins may NOT be used in a pole-weapon charge attack, but that spears can. (Arguably, "short spears" wouldn't work well in a charge either -- they are a man-to-man weapon, not a pole weapon.) |
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01-16-2018, 03:57 PM | #15 |
Join Date: Dec 2017
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Re: Fantasy Trip Pole Weapons and Charges
Here's a question for the hive mind: The rules stipulate that a javelin can't be used to 'jab', but then the combat example in Advanced Melee includes an instance where one of the characters does just that. What do you do?
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01-16-2018, 05:25 PM | #16 | |
Doctor of GURPS Ballistics
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Lakeville, MN
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Re: Fantasy Trip Pole Weapons and Charges
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01-16-2018, 08:57 PM | #17 | |
Join Date: Dec 2017
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Re: Fantasy Trip Pole Weapons and Charges
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01-17-2018, 03:04 PM | #18 |
Join Date: Jul 2010
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Re: Fantasy Trip Pole Weapons and Charges
I like the rules as written, because with the Two Weapons talent, and a strength of 26, you can wield a pike-ax in one hand, a great-sword in the other hand, then charge with one, and sweeping blow with the other, all in the same turn. :-)
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01-17-2018, 05:01 PM | #19 | |
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Arizona
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Re: Fantasy Trip Pole Weapons and Charges
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I haven't gone through the rules to verify that this is true, but I have a sneaking suspicion it IS. Which just goes back to a "law" that Redmond Simonsen (the father of modern wargame graphics) laid down over 40 years ago at the original SPI -- "Don't just playtest the logical moves; playtest the oddball ones too," because you might just find that one of your rules makes it possible to do something that's actually impossible! |
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01-17-2018, 07:26 PM | #20 |
Join Date: Jan 2018
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Re: Fantasy Trip Pole Weapons and Charges
I played pole weapons this way and worked pretty well:
1) Double only the actual damage after any reduction for armor or magic. example: Ononko the Barbarian charges Zug the Viking with his spear. He hits and roll 6 points of damage. Zug's leather stops 2 hits, so the damage actually taken is 4 points. The charge double these 4 points for a net total of 8 hits taken by the target. 2) Who uses Halberd or Pike Ax need space to manouvre. Any figure (friendly or enemy does no matter) occupying a rear or side hex when the Halberd or Axe is used, subtracts 1DX from the Adj DX of the Pole Weapon user. More figures add the penalty. 3) No DX bonus for being charged while using a polearm 4) any polearm making 8 or more hit points is stuck in the enemy's body. The user can free the weapon istantly making a 3D/ST. If fails the weapon stay stuck until in any following turn the user makes the 3D/ST. Any attempt to remove the weapon, failed or succeded, causes half damage to the victim. The target, if still conscious, each turn MUST try to unstick the weapon, no other action are allowed. These few changes makes less powerful the pole arms leaving untouched their main traits |
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