[DF & MA] Sticks can't be Balanced

[nmoody]

But what is a stick?

Knobbed Club?
Short Staff?
Staff?
Baseball bat?

Basically, anything that is just a piece of wood? But isn't a quarterstaff shod in metal? If not, would one shod in metal be Balanceable?

[aesir23]

Realistically, sure, some sticks are better than others, and nothing's stopping you from putting a weighted pummel on your escrima stick.

For purely play balanced reasons: allowing sticks of high quality allows very cheap weapons to become very effective.

Personally, I'd rule that if you're adding materials and craftsmanship to a stick, it should cost as much as say, for example an Axe or Poleaxe of corresponding size before adding CF modifiers for improved balance.

[Stone Dog]

I'm pretty sure the reason boils down to "Sticks are already as balanced as they are going to get." If you add metal bits onto them they just get heavier.

[Joseph Paul]

Is there a defiition of "balanced"? My wooden waster seems to have a good balance. How is a stick unbalanced?

[Biker Matt]

Originally Posted by nmoody

But what is a stick?

Knobbed Club?
Short Staff?
Staff?
Baseball bat?

Basically, anything that is just a piece of wood? But isn't a quarterstaff shod in metal? If not, would one shod in metal be Balanceable?

A "stick" is not particularly balanced, though it can be. Formal weapons are higher in quality and use the listed statistics. If you happen to find a stick that good (I've had a few), it ends up being a weapon/tool that you'd had the good fortune of not having to pay for.

[CrimsonDawn]

Originally Posted by Joseph Paul

Is there a defiition of "balanced"? My wooden waster seems to have a good balance. How is a stick unbalanced?

The definition of Balanced would be the weapon quality Fine (Balanced) on page 216 of Martial Arts.. but sticks, "batons, clubs, quarterstaffs, wooden stakes etc.", as far as sticks used as weapons, are probably already as balanced as they go.

Just a random stick of the same length as a given "stick" weapon would probably be Cheap (Materials) and Cheap (Balance) example of that weapon. A two-yard stick from the forest (that you might find with a Naturalist, Scrounging or Survival (Woodlands) roll) would probably look in game terms a lot like Quarterstaff that breaks easily and gives -1 to skill.

[Lord Carnifex]

In my experience of practicing Escrima, I've run into better sticks and worse sticks. In fact, I currently own three pairs. My two sets of 'practice' sticks are bamboo over a rattan core. They're bumpy, misshapen, and not particularly straight. My 'weapon' sticks, however, are rattan and a consistent width, shape, and straightness. They feel nicer to play with.

However, the differences between the sets is probably below the granularity of GURPS. At best, I'd suggest the practice sticks have fewer HP, but that neither is good for a bonus or penalty to wield.

[Kromm]

"Stick" means any baton, wooden club, or staff, be it just a length of wood or something with one end sharpened or a shoe added. Such things change weapon type when their balance changes; that's what makes a knobbed club different from other clubs and sticks. Such things also lack guards and pommels to move around for balance. You could accessorize a stick enough to get these benefits, I agree . . . but you'd have to raise the base cost fairly significantly before applying the "balanced" modifier.

If a particular stick suits you, of course, you could always buy Weapon Bond.

[martinl]

Originally Posted by Kromm

If a particular stick suits you, of course, you could always buy Weapon Bond.

I once got halfway through statting up a DF Dryad (Nymph) Barbarian with a tricked out (Balanced+fine+dwarven+1SM) sig gear WB staff (note it was costed as an axe (with dwarven to cut the "U"), and traded cutting damage for staff parry) that was actually her magically hibernating tree that she was toting around and using to vengefully bash the annoying folks who had forced it into magic hibernation in the first place.

Terribly cliche, ofc, but in the DF tradition, and RPing the mixed reaction mods (Transcendent, savage, oph, delusion*) even more so.

* Most people would view "My stick is actually my magical companion without whom I would die" as a delusion, so this is the proper disad....

[blacksmith]

Originally Posted by martinl

I once got halfway through statting up a DF Dryad (Nymph) Barbarian with a tricked out (Balanced+fine+dwarven+1SM) sig gear WB staff (note it was costed as an axe (with dwarven to cut the "U"), and traded cutting damage for staff parry) that was actually her magically hibernating tree that she was toting around and using to vengefully bash the annoying folks who had forced it into magic hibernation in the first place.

That should be a mace, not give you staff parry. You can't play with modifiers in GURPS that way. As a mace it would all work though.