Highlander: OOC

[Celedor]

I'm suspecting spear in close quarters is a problem, one handed axe no.
 
Likely I'd go in axe in right hand, knife in left, not so much to use the knife, but just to have it handy in case the axe gets stuck in someone or breaks. . .
 
Which raises this rules question.
 
Is having the knife out, in left hand, better than having it at his belt?
 
Is using a 1 handed weapon like an axe two handed any benefit?

[CroakerDogBoy]

Stone axe has a short haft, so no real room to use two hands on it. Now you get benefits with a long hafted weapon like a spear, using it two handed vs one handed. (Longer reach, more damage).

He could come in with the axe in his right hand, and the knife in his left. An axe has to be readied for one turn after it is used. So he cannot parry with the axe, however he could parry with the knife and strike with the axe. In an All Out Attack he could actually strike with both, of course with a penalty due to offhand etc.

[Celedor]

What's the penalty for off hand, and is that one ready between each attack, in which case he might be better off just using the knife.

[CroakerDogBoy]

I put the stats for your weapons on Sankara's character thread. I'll do armor as we get to it.

Off hand penalty is -4. Obviously he will do more damage with an axe, but the knife is faster.

[Celedor]

OK, and what's the time loss in terms of letting a weapon go and swapping hands, vs letting a weapon go and drawing one from your belt?

[CroakerDogBoy]

Without fast draw skill, it's one round to drop the weapon and pull the other weapon. With Fast Draw it's drop, pull and attack all in the same round. Then if it needs to be readied that's one more round.

If you have it in hand, it's simply one round to drop, switch and attack.

[epohfossol]

mind giving me the recipe for headman pudding? It's sounds tasty...... 

[CroakerDogBoy]

I think it's more of a seasonal dish.

[Celedor]

On 3d6 checks in GURPS, isn't a 3 a critical success, or are reaction checks backwards?

[CroakerDogBoy]

Oddly enough, reaction checks are backwards. They don't really have a critical failure, but all the reaction modifiers, like voice is +2, serve to drive the number up. Perhaps that was a stupid thing in their design.

[Celedor]

Weird, I'd have thought it was like they folded charisma/presence into INT or some such, so it was INT+2 check kinda thing. . .I'd just assumed that with few stats they were overusing the stats remaining the way they usually do, like they did with Willpower and magical endurence.

[CroakerDogBoy]

That might be something they corrected with fourth ed. Once you realize the way it is though it's not that difficult to keep track of. There is a long list of modifiers the page before the table. (204 and 205 in the basic rules.)

[Celedor]

I looked it up last night, the variation is that reaction rolls are backward, but influence rolls are forward. . .i.e. if Sankara had been using public speaking or the like, then it would have worked out differently.

[CroakerDogBoy]

Ah, that makes sense.

[Celedor]

I'm assuming that there is no "Law" as we know it, just custom, and feudists who kill enemies in their sleep in feuding cultures are generally respected as cunning and vicious, not hated for sneak murder, since in a feud culture you best arm yourself or kill your enemies first, sneak murder is only when you do it outside cause for blood feud. . .and I also assume I don't need to post a list of names in the town square to declare a feud, if you rape a man's wife while he's off hunting, it's expected that when he gets back he'll kill you if you don't kill him first. . . .I'm not arguing here, just trying to be sure I'm clear on how this culture works. . .


Essentially, as I see it Sanj is talking out of his 'arse' because if I killed his brother he thinks he can't take me, and he's gone from being a half decent spear warrior from a family with seven warriors in it, one of whom was the headman, to being all alone without any backup either in a martial or social status sense.


Not asking you to confirm that's what Sanj is thinking, just that I'm not way off base in thinking that's what's going on.

[CroakerDogBoy]

 

That would be his understanding.

[Celedor]

I think the close combat rules re: weapons are for crap.


I'll offer a couple of examples:


You have a baseball bat, I come up and grab you around the waist while your arms are up over your head. . . .you can still half arsed whack me in the back and back of legs with full swings of the bat, if you spread your hands out on the bat a bit, you could hammer me with it using a stabbing motion. . . .the same would apply for a sword, I think running up and grabbing someone with a sword around the chest would be begging to be stabbed or slashed in the back.


You have a police nightstick, I come in and grab at you close up. . .you can knob me with the long end, hit me on the back, punch with the short end, or just put the stick against me, and using both hands throw me around or pry me off of you with it. (I watched a cop "shave" a crazy guy off of him by holding both ends of his knightstick and ramming him down his body to the floor with the part between his hands.)


You have a staff or spear, I get sick of being tooled around with the ends and charge in on you. . . .you have a choice of rotating and using your body as the pin of a lever to thrash me with the ends, or merely bashing me with the part between your hands.


These rules kind of make sense if the starting default assumption is that to get to this point, one attacker needs to grapple the weapon arm(s) of the other attacker, or grapple their weapon. . .in all of the above examples if I grabbed onto the bat/stick/staff and controlled it, or grappled your arms and controlled them, then the rest of those rules might make some sense. . .but the list of weapons you render "useless" by grappling close is almost non existent. . .perhaps a 24' pike?


Even with modern arms, if you grab a rifleman, he'll merely club you with the gun if he can't get a shot on you..


You have a staff, I run inside and grab at you

[CroakerDogBoy]

So, to your way of thinking any weapon can be used in Close Combat as long as the attacker is not grabbing the weapon.

I would go with that, but I do think there would be some hindrance depending on how awkward the weapon is.

For instance had you been using your spear one handed, then it would for all intents and purposes be an awkward club. Two handed it is a less awkward club.

Probably doing crush damage like a club. I'd say in this instance the spear would give a -2. What do you think?

[CroakerDogBoy]

I had some of the same reservations about it. That's why I wanted you to read them and we are having this conversation. Now it is merely deciding what we can live with.

[Celedor]

I think in this instance we can assume he has one hand on the spear to control it, and is pressed in against me to prevent me from just rotating the shaft to break him loose, but these rules make sense.


I could see some sort of logic to a bonus or penalty situation here. . . .like if a spear-man is at +2 vs a guy with a knife at casual melee range, I'd have no problem reversing that to the knife being a +2 when in close.


Or conversely, if you said the knife attacker is at -2 when dealing with a sword/spear due to the reach disparity, I'd have no problem saying that reverses to a -2 for the long weapon person if the knife guy gets in close due to the awkwardness issues.


Are there any such bonuses or penalties on the flip side of reach?