[MA] [House Rules] A New Approach to Dual Weapons and Sword and Shield.

[aesir23]

So, as I've mentioned in another thread, I've been studying historical sword fighting for the last half-year.

Among the styles I've been studying have been a significant amount of Rapier and Dagger (Main-Gauche) and Sword and Buckler.

And I've notice that the draw-backs and benefits of dual-weapons or sword and shield are different than those assumed by GURPS. I'll lay out those differences here, and I'll propose new house rules to fix this discrepancy in my next post.

GURPS Benefits:
1. Two un-penalized parries (or a parry and a block) in a single turn.
2. Dual Weapon Attacks (attacking with both weapons at once).
3. Cross Parries.

GURPS Drawbacks.
1. You have to learn two weapon skills.
2. Your off-hand weapon is penalized without a quirk.

Real Life Benefits:
1. Counterattacks (double time) and Ripostes (single time) are easier and more effective when you can parry with one weapon and attack with another.
2. Beats are much more effective because you can attack simultaneously.
3. You can perform hard to defend against attacks that would be too risky without a parrying weapon. (Let's call them Committed (Determined) Deceptive Attacks).

Real Life Drawbacks:
1. While training in one or both weapons singly is a helpful foundation, using two weapons simultaneously is a separate and more difficult skill.