Cutting Damage and Skill

[Polydamas]

GURPS tends to assume that bigger heavier weapons do more cutting damage. A Broadsword does 3 points more cutting damage than a Large Knife.

Real swords can work a bit differently: a 10" cleaver can inflict terrible wounds like a 36" sword, but at closer measure, and swords without much sectional density are often harder to cut with. A good fighter can inflict terrible cuts with something like a spadroon or a Han jian, but a mediocre fighter may find the blade turning in his hand or vibrating too much. Also, a fighter who is too unskilled or lazy to sharpen his weapon properly may find it underperforming: this might be a Quirk, because someone can be skilled at fighting but never learn how to sharpen a blade.

I wonder if there would be a way of modelling the influence of skill on cutting damage in GURPS? Some swords could have a note attached that they have a penalty to sw cut damage unless the wielder has at least DX+2 in the appropriate Melee Weapon skill.

[Plane]

Originally Posted by Polydamas

a fighter who is too unskilled or lazy to sharpen his weapon properly may find it underperforming: this might be a Quirk, because someone can be skilled at fighting but never learn how to sharpen a blade.

Would be neat to have some kinda rule on how cutting dice gradually morph into crushing dice (a mix of the two halfway) as blades dull from use.

If this were "swords as characters" then maybe you lost character points and the 7/level cut had to be downgraded to 5/lev

[Polydamas]

Originally Posted by Plane

Would be neat to have some kinda rule on how cutting dice gradually morph into crushing dice (a mix of the two halfway) as blades dull from use.

If this were "swords as characters" then maybe you lost character points and the 7/level cut had to be downgraded to 5/lev

The Harsh Realism rules for cuts in GURPS Low Tech could help, since a really sharp sword often does better against thick clothing or layered cloth armour.

OTOH, GURPS does not try hard to represent the difference in reach between a Shortsword and a Broadsword (except for some rarely used optional rules in GURPS Martial Arts). In a duel, being able to strike from a foot further away can be a big advantage. So the damage bonus sort of makes up for that, even though in real life, a short sword with high sectional density can be easier to cut with than a long whippy blade.

[Lovewyrm]

I would guess that the intention behind it is leverage, and not mass.
Since a lighter weapon can be swung faster, even if you're strong enough to swing a giant slab of iron, you'll still swing a lighter thing faster.

But a broadsword/longsword simply has more velocity or kinetic energy or whatever at the tip due to its length, than a knife.
The fact that it's also more metal overall is probably just a natural side effect.

[Varyon]

"The Broken Blade" (Pyramid #3/87) has some options in it for blades becoming dull with use; IIRC, this reduces the Wounding Modifier for cutting, eventually down to x1 (matching crushing). Having some weapons have a minimum skill - or even a required penalty (negatable with a Perk) - or be treated as one level less sharp might be an option.

Note if you're going that route, swords aren't the only case where something like this might come into play. Realistically, it's easier to land a proper blow with a mace than an axe, and I think easier to land a proper blow with a round mace than a flanged one, so you may want to do something similar with those weapons.

[Polydamas]

Originally Posted by Lovewyrm

I would guess that the intention behind it is leverage, and not mass.

And that sounds plausible in theory, but empirically the people who spend a lot of time cutting up targets find that its incorrect. Many swords and knives are flexible, and longer swords and knives usually have less of the mass out at the striking end. This may be one of the cases where Evil Stevie's experience with SCA stick fighting led him astray.

Something like a kukri is easy to cut with, while a spadroon or jian with the same amount of steel in the blade is harder. (Actually, GURPS Low Tech assigns the same sw cut damage to a Sabre and a Kukri ... humh).

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Polydamas

GURPS tends to assume that bigger heavier weapons do more cutting damage. A Broadsword does 3 points more cutting damage than a Large Knife.

Real swords can work a bit differently: a 10" cleaver can inflict terrible wounds like a 36" sword, but at closer measure, and swords without much sectional density are often harder to cut with.

I think you're confusing weapon use with cooking use.

If you swing a blade, the heavier blade will have higher impact forces; if you try to split wood with a cleaver, it's not going to go well. If you place the blade against the target and attempt to slice, blade weight does not have a major effect. Combat usage is the first, not the second.