10-02-2015, 10:56 AM | #11 | |
Join Date: Jun 2006
|
Re: Alternative Skills
Quote:
Let's use Broadsword and Shortsword as an example. Both are DX/A skills, so they start at DX - 1 and default to each other at Skill - 2. So let's build Broadsword up to DX + 3 for 12 points. This makes your Shortsword DEFAULT DX + 1. For 4 points (the difference between DX + 1 and DX + 2 for an Average skill), you just bought yourself Shortsword at DX + 2. |
|
10-02-2015, 11:14 AM | #12 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: The ASS of the world, mainly Valencia, Spain (Europe)
|
Re: Alternative Skills
I don't like the buying skills from default, as it rarely makes sense to use them. That's a big fail in the rules. The reason? once skills are high enough, you need 4 points to raise a skill from default. For those same 4 points, you could have raised the main skill by one point, and also raised the defaulted skill by one point. I do have a house rule here: for a perk (of the appropriate kind), I'll let you raise the defaulted skill as a hard technique. Once it's raised, to max skill, you're assumed to have "merged" the bodies of knowledge, and now you can get defaults from both skills covered by the default.
|
10-02-2015, 12:08 PM | #13 | |
Banned
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: 100 hurricane swamp
|
Re: Alternative Skills
Quote:
|
|
10-02-2015, 01:23 PM | #14 | |
Join Date: Jun 2006
|
Re: Alternative Skills
Quote:
|
|
10-02-2015, 01:37 PM | #15 | |
Night Watchman
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Cambridge, UK
|
Re: Alternative Skills
Quote:
|
|
10-02-2015, 07:14 PM | #16 | |
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
|
Re: Alternative Skills
Quote:
__________________
“When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love ...” Marcus Aurelius |
|
10-03-2015, 09:47 AM | #17 |
Join Date: Oct 2008
|
Re: Alternative Skills
I have always found the melee weapon skills and defaults to be "strange".
You learn to fight with a 1lb baton and suddenly you are an expert stabber and in hitting with the edge with 2lb shortsword(same skill) after few hours of familiarization, but cannot hit anything with a 1lb large knife(-3). You learn to hit with a Small Mace where the orientation of the weapon does not matter and suddenly you can keep the blade oriented just fine on an axe after few hours of familiarization, but cannot learn the slightly different balance of a club at all. As a trained cavalry man with high lance skill you hold you lance in one hand and brace it under the arm or similar and charge.. then your lance breaks and you draw a straight thrusting sword and hold it in one hand and suddenly you are at DX-5 to hit and you cavalry training does not help. That lack of bracing sure hurts a lot.. And the funniest of them all you learn to fight with a large axe and then pick up a Chainsaw and after a few hours you are the best chainsaw killer ever... but in you try to use an axe one handed you miss a lot(-3).. And so on... |
10-03-2015, 10:06 AM | #18 |
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: GMT-5
|
Re: Alternative Skills
I'd just allow an "All Melee Weapons" talent for 10/level and be done with it. It's less of a point crock than Magery. It's cheaper than DX! as it should be. And it's comparable in price to raising a wildcard skill minus the limited, built-in destiny point.
|
10-03-2015, 12:30 PM | #19 | |||||
Banned
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: 100 hurricane swamp
|
Re: Alternative Skills
I also default all weapons within a Reach category at -5.
Quote:
Batons can 'stab', in particular thrusts to the throat and face are taught at the dojo I attended. Solar plexus and kidneys (if from behind) were also highlighted in the teaching. Quote:
I'll have add Clubs to the Axe/Mace (and staffs to the Two-handed Axe/Mace) category in my home chart now that you've mentioned it. :) And Staves on the Polearm list too. Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
|
|||||
10-03-2015, 02:47 PM | #20 | ||
Join Date: Oct 2008
|
Re: Alternative Skills
Quote:
My armed training is with heavier weapons. I have mostly used what Gurps calls thrusting bastard swords and we just called "one and half handers", though some playing around with various other weapons. It is the martial artists that train in stabbing with the baton others do predominantly swings unless they have originally trained with some other weapon. Most people I have seen with batons and the like would likely not: -Hit with the edge always with the swing the of the short sword instead if a baton. -Be equally good at stabbing than someone who has actually trained with a "stab primary" weapon. But they would likely be as good at stabbing with the baton and the large knife. I did not see any difference in wielders skill between a knife and a baton that switched between them. Maybe they have all bought off the penalty though... Quote:
And an overall comment: I do find -3/-4 to be too high penalty between a lot of the weapons. Specially at lower skill levels. A light rapier to an early small sword should not be a -3 transition as it is about the same as rapier to light rapier, the later dress small swords are then again smaller.. A roman Gladius is counted as a shortsword despite some examples being 85cm long and and some arming swords are shorter, but are pointed broadswords.. In general I would lower the penalties a lot after some familiarization. As example the historical transition of 1 Rapier->2 shorter rapier(light rapier)->3 small sword->4 smaller smallsword(dress longsword). Gurps draws a big line between transition steps 2 and 3, but treats the two other transitions as only requiring few hours of familiarization compared to the 4*3*200=2400 hours of training for step 2 to 3. A more proper way would be to either threat all of it as familiarization or make all steps be say -1 similarity and a lot more steps in the transition charts. Note that there are other cases than the ones I listed: Like someone who is somewhat trained in say a broadsword and has a skill at DX+2 grabs a smallsword would not be at DX-5 for thrusts after couple of hours of learning the balance. |
||
Tags |
alternative abilities, skills |
|
|