Martial Arts: Polearm/Quarterstaff/Weapon Adaptation

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by Toptomcat

That might tell us that making a Combination Weapon out of a staff and a spearhead while still wielding the blasted thing with Staff rather than Spear would be unreasonable- but it doesn't help us answer the broader point of whether the parry bonus for staffs is inherent in the statline of the weapon or the description of the skill, and what effect Form Mastery is supposed to have. The rules text is sufficiently ambiguous that it's difficult to discern the intent.

"This skill makes good use of the staff’s extensive parrying surface when defending, giving +2 to your Parry score."
A (reasonable) combination weapon built with a staff has a no less extensive parrying surface than a staff.

Also, I was being slightly sarcastic with my reference to the combination weapons because I wanted to point out that sharp cutoff points tend to produce results that are, at best, weird.

Anyway, when I PMed Kromm back in the day about various Staff-related things, he said that answers should be evident from the rules. The rules say the skill gives a parry bonus, that Weapon Adaptation lets one enjoy the benefits of a specific skill, and Kromm said it's possible to wield a staff with a bill hook with the Staff skill.