Tourneys and jousting - Page 15

Icelander · 07-18-2009, 01:31 PM

I´ll be bringing the activities of knights increasingly to the fore in my fantasy campaign, as one of my players was knighted for valour and now has the income to buy land and maintain a stable of horses.

One of the things knights do in my quasi-medieval fantasy setting is compete in tourneys. That demands that I'm clear on the rules for them.

First of all, the joust is different from battle in many ways, with some targets being out of bounds, with a list between the contestants to prevent accidental collissions and with the object being to knock the opponent off his horse, not render him unable to fight. These all argue for the required skill to be Lance Sport and not Lance.

On the other hand, the joust is full contact. People die in it with rather more frequency than pro boxers die in their sport (which uses Boxing skill, not Boxing Sport). Broken bones are reckoned to be pretty normal and nearly everyone suffers gruesome bruises and concussions. And Lance is a pretty narrow skill, one which is restricted pretty much exclusively for riding at someone and couching a lance. Whether the objective is to kill or to knock someone off his horse, the usage of the weapon difffers little. These all argue for using the Lance skill.

Then there's the shield. According to normal GURPS rules, it's impossible to suffer knockback from a blow that hits your shield. According to period records and what videos I've seen of reenactors, plenty of people were knocked from their horse by a solid hit to their shield. I think I'll solve that by letting blows that are Blocked by a margin of success of 3 or less count normally for knockback, as they inflict damage on the shield.

I also dislike the assumption that tourney lances automatically break at 15 points of damage. That's simple, but given that lances sometimes didn't break when they ought, I think it's too simple and too safe.

What about I roll a HT roll for the lance whenever damage is 12 or more with a -1 penalty for every two points of damage over 12? With tourney lances having HT 10 unless someone is feeling vindictive? And the lance does as much damage as was needed to ensure that the roll failed, i.e. if the damage roll was 17 and the lance broke on a roll of 10, final damage would be 14. If the roll had been 9, final damage would be 14 and if the roll had been 11+, only 12 points of damage would be done.

Does anyone have further thoughts on how to model jousts and tourneys in general?

07-18-2009, 01:31 PM	#1
Icelander Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Iceland*	Tourneys and jousting I´ll be bringing the activities of knights increasingly to the fore in my fantasy campaign, as one of my players was knighted for valour and now has the income to buy land and maintain a stable of horses. One of the things knights do in my quasi-medieval fantasy setting is compete in tourneys. That demands that I'm clear on the rules for them. First of all, the joust is different from battle in many ways, with some targets being out of bounds, with a list between the contestants to prevent accidental collissions and with the object being to knock the opponent off his horse, not render him unable to fight. These all argue for the required skill to be Lance Sport and not Lance. On the other hand, the joust is full contact. People die in it with rather more frequency than pro boxers die in their sport (which uses Boxing skill, not Boxing Sport). Broken bones are reckoned to be pretty normal and nearly everyone suffers gruesome bruises and concussions. And Lance is a pretty narrow skill, one which is restricted pretty much exclusively for riding at someone and couching a lance. Whether the objective is to kill or to knock someone off his horse, the usage of the weapon difffers little. These all argue for using the Lance skill. Then there's the shield. According to normal GURPS rules, it's impossible to suffer knockback from a blow that hits your shield. According to period records and what videos I've seen of reenactors, plenty of people were knocked from their horse by a solid hit to their shield. I think I'll solve that by letting blows that are Blocked by a margin of success of 3 or less count normally for knockback, as they inflict damage on the shield. I also dislike the assumption that tourney lances automatically break at 15 points of damage. That's simple, but given that lances sometimes didn't break when they ought, I think it's too simple and too safe. What about I roll a HT roll for the lance whenever damage is 12 or more with a -1 penalty for every two points of damage over 12? With tourney lances having HT 10 unless someone is feeling vindictive? And the lance does as much damage as was needed to ensure that the roll failed, i.e. if the damage roll was 17 and the lance broke on a roll of 10, final damage would be 14. If the roll had been 9, final damage would be 14 and if the roll had been 11+, only 12 points of damage would be done. Does anyone have further thoughts on how to model jousts and tourneys in general? __________________ Za uspiekh nashevo beznadiozhnovo diela!