Off-handed adjustment

[hcobb]

The gentleman on page 61 could strike with either his bastard sword or his torch at full DX, correct?

There is no weapons talent for torch so he can't apply Two Weapons.

[Skarg]

Laugh!

Well, One-armed Bill is going to be pretty annoyed with the GM for reducing his overall DX by 4 ever since 1980 for losing that arm. Not to mention the new Regeneration spell...

I sort of wish you'd phrase such things more like "Hey, does anyone know where an off-hand penalty is mentioned for attacking with a weapon in your non-dominant hand without the Two Weapons talent?"

I'm pretty sure the intent is there's probably a -4 penalty for using a non-dominant hand without that talent, but I think you're right that it doesn't mention it. My conclusion is that it's an oversight and should be mentioned somewhere, though I don't know that it is outside One-armed Bill.

[Helborn]

Originally Posted by hcobb

The gentleman on page 61 could strike with either his bastard sword or his torch at full DX, correct?

There is no weapons talent for torch so he can't apply Two Weapons.

club /ax/mace

[warhorse11h]

Originally Posted by Skarg

I sort of wish you'd phrase such things more like "Hey, does anyone know where an off-hand penalty is mentioned for attacking with a weapon in your non-dominant hand without the Two Weapons talent?"

I'm pretty sure the intent is there's probably a -4 penalty for using a non-dominant hand without that talent, but I think you're right that it doesn't mention it. My conclusion is that it's an oversight and should be mentioned somewhere, though I don't know that it is outside One-armed Bill.

ITL LE pg 111
Left-Hand Weapons The left-hand dagger, or main-gauche, acts as a shield to parry 1 hit per attack, from non-missile, one-handed weapons only, from your front hexes. If you take an attack option, you can also make a separate dagger attack against the same enemy. It is rolled at -4 DX. A figure with the Two Weapons talent can fight effectively with a regular weapon in each hand. A person who does not have this talent may attempt the same feat, but his DX will be -6 for each attack, and he gets no defensive advantage.

[Skarg]

Originally Posted by warhorse11h

ITL LE pg 111
Left-Hand Weapons The left-hand dagger, or main-gauche, acts as a shield to parry 1 hit per attack, from non-missile, one-handed weapons only, from your front hexes. If you take an attack option, you can also make a separate dagger attack against the same enemy. It is rolled at -4 DX. A figure with the Two Weapons talent can fight effectively with a regular weapon in each hand. A person who does not have this talent may attempt the same feat, but his DX will be -6 for each attack, and he gets no defensive advantage.

Yeah, that's close, but doesn't really answer the case where someone is holding a weapon in their off hand and they want to make one attack with that (e.g. because they have a reason, like it's a torch and their target is soaked in flammable oil, or a green slime or troll or something).

However I think -4 to do that seems like the "right" penalty... though GURPS may be coloring my opinion.

[warhorse11h]

Originally Posted by Skarg

Yeah, that's close, but doesn't really answer the case where someone is holding a weapon in their off hand and they want to make one attack with that (e.g. because they have a reason, like it's a torch and their target is soaked in flammable oil, or a green slime or troll or something).

However I think -4 to do that seems like the "right" penalty... though GURPS may be coloring my opinion.

I think it does answer it, but in an off hand way (sorry). With two weapons talent, you can make one attack at normal DX, the second one would be at -4 DX. If you had a torch in your off hand and choose to only attack with that one, RAW don't differentiate between dominant or off hand. The torch attack would just be a normal attack. Even without the talent you should be able to hold two weapons in your hands, you could just only attack with one or the other each turn. The second weapon would just be for balance, though, because if you used it to parry or attack, then the penalties would kick in.

If you want the differentiate between dominant and off hand use of weapons, that could add a new dimension to the game. I've been left handed my whole life and it does have problems and my understanding is that right handers find us difficult to deal with in sports and other activities. It gives people fits.

[Skarg]

I can see reading it that way, but for the many people who aren't very ambidextrous at all, it's not nearly as easy to do things with their off hand as with their dominant hand. Hence the -4 DX penalty to do so in GURPS. And, it seems to me, why One Armed Bill lost 4 DX when he lost one of his arms (presumably, his dominant one).

[warhorse11h]

Originally Posted by Skarg

I can see reading it that way, but for the many people who aren't very ambidextrous at all, it's not nearly as easy to do things with their off hand as with their dominant hand. Hence the -4 DX penalty to do so in GURPS. And, it seems to me, why One Armed Bill lost 4 DX when he lost one of his arms (presumably, his dominant one).

Sounds good to me.

[warhorse11h]

If one wanted to, one could add the trait of dominant and off hand to the character generation phase. One of the optional traits could be handedness
2-5 left handed, 6-10 right handed and 11-12 ambidextrous. Could cause some tactical adjustments, for example, a right handed fighter with a shield is more vulnerable to a left handed fighter, his shield is out of place, if you will. The left handed fighter would have the same disadvantage, but he will have had more practice dealing with right handers than the other way around. Just a thought. But, I'll let someone else worry about the mechanics of that.