Tourneys and jousting

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by DanHoward

The helmet, chest, and left arm/shoulder would be DR 10 or more. The rest of the upper body would be DR 6-7. Legs could be anything from DR 1 up to DR 6.

Thanks.

There isn't any way to make DR 1 plate, is there?

[DanHoward]

Some knights jousted with no armour at all on their legs.

Edit: afterwards he doesn't have to waste time undressing before he can do the medieval mambo with his lady ;)

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by DanHoward

Some knights jousted with no armour at all on their legs.

Edit: afterwards he doesn't have to waste time undressing before he can do the medieval mambo with his lady ;)

Ah, right.

Well, that might appeal to my player. Since an unhorsed knight loses both his mount and his armour to his opponent, he wants to joust in cheaper gear than he'd normally wear.

This is another reason why some people can't afford the best specialised jousting armour. Losing it all if he's unhorsed tends to put a damper on that. Far better to lose an old set of field armour that he's replaced with a lighter set than to lose a custom-made harness with DR 12+ and all that implies for cost.

[joelbf]

Originally Posted by Icelander

I'd like to get more opinions on whether the joust uses Lance skill or Lance Sport.

I was also wondering about the melee. The last one still mounted wins, so the object is to unhorse the others, but broken bones and concussions are expected. The knights use blunted swords, axes and maces without spikes; but it's still not a safe sport. Would this rely on Combat or Combat Sport skills?

An idea I'm toying with is to let the combat sport skills have better knockback. I think it could be fun if the best knight in war wasn't necessarily the best knight in torney. It might even be plausible if you view the combat sport skills as unhorsing skills more or less.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by DanHoward

The helmet, chest, and left arm/shoulder would be DR 10 or more. The rest of the upper body would be DR 6-7. Legs could be anything from DR 1 up to DR 6.

Can the left arm move with DR 12? Is the whole arm really that high? And didn't it happen at least occasionally that the comparatively unprotected lance arm was hit instead of the shield arm?

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Boobis

An idea I'm toying with is to let the combat sport skills have better knockback. I think it could be fun if the best knight in war wasn't necessarily the best knight in torney. It might even be plausible if you view the combat sport skills as unhorsing skills more or less.

That's one view, yes.

I agree about the best tourney knights not necessarily being the best knights in warfare. That's dramatically interesting.

On the other hand, I don't want to give PCs a -3 penalty on everything they do unless I can justify it. And I have a hard time justifying a penalty on combat skills in tourneys, as it is defintely full contact and it's not like there are complex rules for what kind of attacks are allowed and disallowed.

[The Colonel]

Perhaps the 'lance breaks' effect could be a damage limiter - you hit hard enough and it shatters, like a medieval equivalent of the pressure sensor in the end of a fencing sword to detect whether your hit was good or not.
Just pick a damage level to shatter it at and maybe a small element of uncertainty.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by The Colonel

Perhaps the 'lance breaks' effect could be a damage limiter - you hit hard enough and it shatters, like a medieval equivalent of the pressure sensor in the end of a fencing sword to detect whether your hit was good or not.
Just pick a damage level to shatter it at and maybe a small element of uncertainty.

RAW is that it shatters at 15 points of damage. I'm considering how to add that small element of uncertainty. Well, that and whether it ought to be a small element.

It's not as if all the lances are identical or there's some quality control agency out there testing them. They break, yes, but it shouldn't be all that easy to predict.

[joelbf]

Originally Posted by Icelander

On the other hand, I don't want to give PCs a -3 penalty on everything they do unless I can justify it. And I have a hard time justifying a penalty on combat skills in tourneys, as it is defintely full contact and it's not like there are complex rules for what kind of attacks are allowed and disallowed.

Well you can let them use either skill without penalty but slightly reducing damage but upping knockback for the users of combat sports. Might not be worth the effort thoug.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Boobis

Well you can let them use either skill without penalty but slightly reducing damage but upping knockback for the users of combat sports. Might not be worth the effort thoug.

In principle, I'm in favour of this method.

How would you stat it out? Can you give me a suggested write-up?