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Old 09-26-2019, 02:23 AM   #61
Tomsdad
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Brighton
Default Re: [Low-Tech] Padded Cloth and Layered Armour penalty

Quote:
Originally Posted by Anthony View Post
My experience is that the legs are not especially hard to hit, but unless your opponent is really sticking his front leg out, you need more reach to hit them, so in a cascading wait situation (which is actually very very common) you lose out timing-wise to someone with an equal length weapon.
I wonder what the best (and easiest) way to show this in the system would be. A further penalty to hit, a bonus to defend against. I agree cascading hits are common in RL and you could adjust them for this, it's just they're not that common in GURPS (well IME)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Polydamas View Post
GURPS hit location penalties and random hit tables have to include both projectiles, thrusts with hand weapons, and swings with hand weapons. By definition, they can't cover all three accurately. Nor can they cover things like the ability to strike to the leg with a knife, a one-handed sword, and a quarterstaff (generally speaking, its easier and safer with the longer weapon).

That very good point about it needing to cover missile attacks as well. Thinking about this maybe a way to do this si add some more mods in the expanded posture rules in MA, to show that weapon with certain reaches are better able to hit legs on a standing target than others. (they seem to be more based aounr unarmed attacks combining with postures and locations)

Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyndaran View Post
It seems that when you're getting that detailed, it becomes a literal matter of inches. For that, arm length seems just as important assuming equal length weapons. That's really getting fiddly.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anthony View Post
I took fencing in college. I was not particularly good at it (*maybe* I had a point in it), but in epee, if your opponent stuck his front leg out and didn't keep it mobile, it was by no means hard to attack the thigh or the foot (attacking the lower leg is not easy, it tends to be at a very bad angle).

Epee's an interesting one because it's the only one that allows leg hits to count.

Long ago I did foil (and a bit of sabre), and you were able to have as you say you leg extended quite far out relative to your torso, and it didn't matter.

I have little experience of Epee I wonder is there is much difference in the general fighting posture


Quote:
Originally Posted by Anthony View Post
The general drawbacks are that the legs are more mobile than the body,

Yep, which I guess is what we're trying to define in GURPS terms, so maybe a bonus to defence or retreat.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Anthony View Post
and they just aren't as desirable a target (which GURPS models by giving a x1 wounding modifier for impaling attacks).
Not sure about that though, the HP/2 cripple threshold makes them pretty desirable. A crippled leg is IMO pretty much a fight-ender even if it's just in terms of what happens next. Given Cut is still x1.5 injury on legs, generally comes off Sw and if legs are generally speaking less well armoured.


So a ST/HP10 chap swinging a Sw+1 broadsword at another ST/HP10 chap's unarmoured leg, even if injury he can inflict is capped at 6hp, he will cripple the leg two thirds of the time

However this is going to depend on how much you and I see Imp and Cut attacks in our melee combat!
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Last edited by Tomsdad; 09-26-2019 at 04:41 AM.
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