Re: (TFT) Spellcasting, Fatigue, Wounds and Arrows

["Charles Gadda" <cgadda@earthlink.net>]

BTW - thanks for pruning my earlier response - I forgot (apologies to the
folks that go non-linear over that sort of thing)
----- Original Message -----
From: Cas and Lisa (also Silvia, Max & Viveka) Liber
<casliber@ozemail.com.au>
> I take (2) to be subjective -lets imagine the target being a human torso,
> namely a ribcage or armour over a softer more vulnerable underneath. A
> thrusting weapon is either gong to hit rib, breastplate or whatever, doing
> minimal damage, or 'thrust' successfully, doing grievous damage to organs
> underneath (heart,lungs etc, great vessels etc.) - it would seem to me
that
> a -1 to 9 with a high chance of zip damage AND a chance of grievous damage
> to be more reflective than 1d6 , and a 'slash' which will do a predictable
> damage proportional to the amount of force behind it - it doesn't pierce
or
> penetrate but a mixture of slash/cut & bludgeon

I disagree here only because I would consider that "grevious damage" like
you describe is a function of getting a double or triple damage hit. And I
think the last part of the statement is precisely reversed, though I admit
that is more subjective (i.e. I consider it unlikely a rapier would do zip
damage - it either hit or missed, and if it hit it will leave at least a
couple inch deep hole in you, but I could see a superficial grazing shot
from a shearing sword that doesn't do a whole lot) But this is hard to
judge, IMHO. If naught else I fall back to point (1) and use the different
scale just to emphasise the different nature of the rapier (or estoc, as I
prefer to call it, to get away from the Renaissance connotations of the
regular name)

> A good peicing shot with a rapier can do with finess what a slashing
weapon
> will do with a lot more brute strength required

Have to disagree a bit here - true, more force is used in a shearing blow
than a thrust, but it does not require herculean ST to pull it off. Any
decently trained swordsman of purely average physique could lop someone in
half (or nearly enough as to make no difference). And using a broadsword, or
indeed any kind of sword, requires finesse - this is not the sole province
of the rapier. Each sword type has a unique style associated with it. Some
are arguably better than others, but *all* require a great deal of speed and
skill to pull off. The notion that only rapiers (and katanas) require grace
and skill, and all else is mere unschooled hacking by overmuscled dimbulbs
is quite wrong. For instance, there were actually "fechtbuchs" that taught
how to fight two handed sword on rapier.

How many of you saw the PBS series "Warrior Challenge"? One episode had two
equestrian types (one a police horseman, the other a polo player) trained as
15th century knights. An interesting part was the training and subsequent
duel using "war swords". These were about 4' long, give or take, and usually
weighed around 3-3.5 lbs. They were designed for two handed use. An
interesting observation, often lost amid all of the veneration of mystical
katanas and the like, was that *every* part of the war sword had an
offensive element - even the hilt! One technique shown on the show was
grabbing the blade and swinging the hilt around at your enemy like a war
hammer. When I first saw it illustrated in Talhoffer, I thought "geez that
looks silly and useless!" but when I saw it demonstrated on the show I was
astounded (as in "my jaw dropped to the floor, bounced up, and smacked my
upper jaw" kind of surprise) to see just how swift and fluid the move was,
and had to conclude that "yep, that'll leave a mark..." All from a weapon
widely regarded as a slow and clumsy hacking sword by the uninitiated. Very
interesting to observe the reality.

Highly recommend the entire series, if only to see the viking trip entering
the threshold of an Anglo Saxon house during a raid, and falling flat on his
face... or the Roman legionaire drawing his sword in consort with his
comrades in the line, only to fumble it and drop it on the ground.... VERY
FUNNY!

> ...however, having said all this it would appear that this is the
rationale
> behind the FENCING talent in the game, which also makes the idea of an
> equivalent to FENCING for Axe/Hammer/Mace idiosyncratic.

This is spot on. A couple of additional points:
1. FENCING should apply to two handed type swords as well - its a different
style than rapier, but every bit as graceful and skilled.
2. Maces (and probably morning stars) should not require *any* talent to
use, since they are nothing more than elaborate clubs. If I don't need a
talent for club, I should not need one with a mace, either. Note that axes
and hammers require a bit more skill because you do have to aim the cutting
edge, back spike, or impact surface a mite more precisely. But a mace
doesn't matter - just smack the bejesus out of them!
=====
Post to the entire list by writing to tft@brainiac.com.
Unsubscribe by mailing to majordomo@brainiac.com with the message body
"unsubscribe tft"