One-Handed Staff Parry Questions

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by Captain Joy

The 9† ST stat for a Quarterstaff (B273) means a Quarterstaff can be used one-handed with no readiness penalty if the wilder has a ST of 18 (B270).

The ST 9† stat on B273 is for the Naginata, not the Quarterstaff. The corresponding stat for Quarterstaff is ST 7†, which would make your wielder's ST 14 as per B270.

Question #1: Would a Quarterstaff wielded in this way get the +2 Parry bonus? I.e. when you wield a Quarterstaff one-handed, are you still using the Staff skill to wield it, or does the Staff skill require a two-handed grip?

The thrusting damage line for a quarterstaff corresponds to the staff being used for a poke. A poke has the staff held in one hand while the other hand manipulates the staff forward and back, so as per B270, it always requires two hands when used in this mode regardless of ST.

Having seen videos of the quarterstaff being swung in arcs and spun, which would utilize the swing damage line, it is again clear that one hand remains steady as the fulcrum about which the staff is swung and the other hand does the rotating, which again means that as per B270, two hands are required regardless of ST.

I.E., in both instances the Quarterstaff is more like a bow or pump shotgun than not, the damage arises from the manipulation of the rest of the staff as an object moving about the held fulcrum/rest and that always requires the use of two hands regardless of the ST of the wielder.

Question #2: Why does the Naginata (B273) not get a +2 Parry bonus when used with the Staff skill?

Perhaps the better question is, why can you use a Naginata with staff skill at all? Staff skill under Melee Weapon skill B208 states that Staff skill is for "any long, balanced pole without a striking head" and that the +2 to Parry comes from making good use of the staff's extensive parrying surface. The Naginata has a striking head. It is the Japanese version of a glaive and, as a glaive, properly should be classed as a polearm. While the Polearm skill does not mention the Naginata by name, it does specifically mention the glaive as one of the weapons covered by the skill. One can only assume that the way in which the Naginata is used makes greater use of the haft in parrying than would be the case with Western polearms and hence it is allowed the use of the Staff skill to reflect that, but having a striking head, it is ineligible for the +2 Parry that a true staff would get.