Wizard Vows
 

In Dragonlance, the only weapons wizards use are staffs and daggers. And they only wear textile armor, if that. If I turned these into vows, what would they be worth?

Vow: Wizard Weapons Only - The only weapons you use are staffs, daggers, and knifes.

Vow: Wizard Armor Only - The only armor you use is textile armor.

Both of them seem to each be as restrictive as No edged weapons [-10]

Re: Wizard Vows
 

This seems moderately restrictive although those are all excellent weapons for a wizard to be using. Staves are great for defense while daggers and knives are easily concealed, easy to carry, and double as a ranged weapon in emergencies.

Again this seems moderately restrictive although most wizards choose not to wear armor for encumbrance/fatigue and cost reasons.

Both of them together are probably worth -10. As restrictions it's a lot like a weak Discipline of Faith disadvantage (wizard lifestyle).

Depending on your game, most wizards wouldn't be able to afford decent wizardly trappings (books, powerstone, perhaps enchanted items) and still have enough money for a sword and armor - both of which are pretty expensive items. Likewise, wizards tend to run on the puny side with a much lower ST and DX than most fighters so they can't make as good use of such equipment. Further, encumbrance tends to tap your fatigue which is a commodity wizards never have enough so they usually don't load up on gear like a knight would.

Re: Wizard Vows
 

a wizard with 10 ST, he carries:
backpack, 3lbs
blanket, 4lbs
bottle with a quart of water, 3lbs
personal basics, 1lb
bunch of scrolls, 1lb
bunch of potions=2lbs
total=14lbs
Use thaumatology, -25% for mages who stay at no emcumberance, and he have only 6lbs left.
his ST is low, so, no axe/mace, flail or polearm, he also spent his money wotj scrolls and potions, so, no sword, for ranged attacks, he have magic, so, no ranged weapons, shields are heavy, so, no shield this leaves us with 3 options:
knife: light, easy to use, can fast draw
staff: good damage, good defense
spear: good damage
So, even tought spears are good, staves are most of the time better.
two options:
knife:for mages who rarely enter melee combat, but wants a weapon anyway
staff:for mages who enter melee combat sometimes, and a good parry and damage will help.

About armor, well, you can't pass from 20lbs, it will be very hard to use any armor.


Also remember, you want to bring the setting to GURPS, not the system, the reason this system who shall not be named only allow knife and staff for wizards is because both are simple, but not as good as a sword(at least not in that system), in GURPS you don't have these problems.

Re: Wizard Vows
 

The greatest reality clash is between D&D which claims that staves are Simple weapons, and GURPS which claims that they are Hard to use. It's an interesting difference in opinion.

Re: Wizard Vows
 

D&D makes no such claim, all weapons are equally difficult in D&D.

The overt reason for weapon restrictions is "that is what those professions traditionally use." If you push farther it's "game balance."

If you want ridiculous: D&D's idea of "clerical weapons."

Re: Wizard Vows
 

Technically, D&D 3.X classes the staff as a simple weapon*. The categories are Simple, Martial and Exotic.

*http://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/...dExoticWeapons

Re: Wizard Vows
 

Blunt weapons? Wasn't this based on an earlier misconception that Odo, Bishop of Bayeux (and depicted in the eponymous tapestry) used a mace to avoid shedding blood? Used to be somewhat common, and I think EGG mostly included it for flavor, not balance (back in the days when there was really no difference in weapon stats).

If you want really ridiculous reasonings, go to their next-door neighbors, the Druids. Maybe no one knows who they were or what they were doing, but apparently they did it using scimitars.

Re: Wizard Vows
 

D&D has historically had some exceedingly funny ideas about what is (and isn't) a hard weapon to use - for years they disallowed the crossbow for wizards, despite it being probably the most easily used weapon in the set. Spears similarly ... and whoever thought that knife-fighting was for amateurs was probably best staying in a night.
Plus, the adoption of the pulp fantasy idea that bows are either simple to use, or require less strength than melee weapons...

Re: Wizard Vows
 

Although GURPS doesn't call staffs hard to use, either. Staff (p. B208) is a DX/Average skill, not a DX/Hard one, and with its nice Parry bonus is effectively easier-than-Easy on the defense.

Re: Wizard Vows
 

That as well. Although to be fair, I think the blunt-weapon clerics, like ring mail and other wierdnesses had a solid basis in poor quality 19th century scholarship.

Still not as wierd as 'elf' being a job description in basic D&D (or the level cap that meant that the mighty, mystical elves could never be as magically powerful as a human wizard. Which, come to think of it, was dissonant from the alleged Tolkeinian roots anyway).