The Tournament lance that wouldn't break in GURPS 4e

hal · 11-19-2009, 11:36 PM

Whimsical thread title to be sure, but it gets the point across I think.

The parameters of this "thought experiment" in applying the rules as written are:

A) Jousting tournament rules are such that each broken lance against an opponent during a run, counts as 1 point. The jouster with the most points wins the jousting match against the apponent.

B) In the event that a jouster is unhorsed without also unhorsing his own opponent, the joust is won by the one who was not unhorsed. If both are unhorsed, both receive 3 points. See A.

C) In the event of a tie score after three runs, contestants will be required to fight afoot with melee weapons to determine the winner of the current joust contest.

D) All knights will be wearing PLATE armor, not that silly mail armor used in the 10th through 13th centuries.

E) Only HEAVY warhorses will be used, not the light warhorses described as cavalry horses in GURPS CAMPAIGN. Heavy Warhorses are standard warhorses with a basic speed of 7, and a ST of 24.

Now, equip your knight with full plate armor from head to toe. Give him a medium shield. Give him a sword, and lance, along with a small knife in case he needs to cut himself free from tangled stirrups if the horse goes down badly. Let us not forget the great helm or even a barrel helm.

Ok, we're not done yet with this thought experiment. Did you remember to include the weight of the horseshoes, the bridle, stirrups, and war saddle?

OK, we're just about done here. If you want to include barding for the horse, feel free, but I'd recommend that you not, for you see...

The poor warhorse already has taken enough weight with the rider's own weight (assuming a ST 12 average weight of 180 lbs rider), his armor, his weapons, and his shield, not to mention the equestrian gear - that it's max speed is heavily encumbered at 5 hexes per turn. Per the GURPS rules, lance damage is equal to speed of horse x ST of horse all divided by 100. This works out to 24 x 5 or 120/100 or 1.2 dice of damage. Fractional damage of less than .25 is treated as 1d6-3. So - at a speed of 5, the warhorse delivers 2d6-3 damage. Add +3 damage for the lance itself, and we're up to a total of 2d6 damage. The max damage roll for such a lance will be 12 points of damage, which is less than the 15 required to break the lance.

Kinda funny how that works out, no?

11-19-2009, 11:36 PM	#1
hal Join Date: Aug 2004	The Tournament lance that wouldn't break in GURPS 4e Whimsical thread title to be sure, but it gets the point across I think. The parameters of this "thought experiment" in applying the rules as written are: A) Jousting tournament rules are such that each broken lance against an opponent during a run, counts as 1 point. The jouster with the most points wins the jousting match against the apponent. B) In the event that a jouster is unhorsed without also unhorsing his own opponent, the joust is won by the one who was not unhorsed. If both are unhorsed, both receive 3 points. See A. C) In the event of a tie score after three runs, contestants will be required to fight afoot with melee weapons to determine the winner of the current joust contest. D) All knights will be wearing PLATE armor, not that silly mail armor used in the 10th through 13th centuries. E) Only HEAVY warhorses will be used, not the light warhorses described as cavalry horses in GURPS CAMPAIGN. Heavy Warhorses are standard warhorses with a basic speed of 7, and a ST of 24. Now, equip your knight with full plate armor from head to toe. Give him a medium shield. Give him a sword, and lance, along with a small knife in case he needs to cut himself free from tangled stirrups if the horse goes down badly. Let us not forget the great helm or even a barrel helm. Ok, we're not done yet with this thought experiment. Did you remember to include the weight of the horseshoes, the bridle, stirrups, and war saddle? OK, we're just about done here. If you want to include barding for the horse, feel free, but I'd recommend that you not, for you see... The poor warhorse already has taken enough weight with the rider's own weight (assuming a ST 12 average weight of 180 lbs rider), his armor, his weapons, and his shield, not to mention the equestrian gear - that it's max speed is heavily encumbered at 5 hexes per turn. Per the GURPS rules, lance damage is equal to speed of horse x ST of horse all divided by 100. This works out to 24 x 5 or 120/100 or 1.2 dice of damage. Fractional damage of less than .25 is treated as 1d6-3. So - at a speed of 5, the warhorse delivers 2d6-3 damage. Add +3 damage for the lance itself, and we're up to a total of 2d6 damage. The max damage roll for such a lance will be 12 points of damage, which is less than the 15 required to break the lance. Kinda funny how that works out, no?