Jab’s Builds! (Miss Piggy! The Swedish Chef! Sweetums! Gonzo!)

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Jabroniville
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Sword

Post by Jabroniville »

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STANDARD SWORD (3 ep)
Place/Time of Origin:
3rd Millennium, B.C.
Type of Damage: Piercing, Slashing
Typical Make: Hard steel with a metal handle; flat, two-edged blade
Manner of Use: Wielded with one hand to stab vital organs or slice arteries
Variants on Design: Varying lengths, widths & hilt designs.
Famous Wielders: Norse Raiders, Pirates' Cutlasses

Stats: Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Improved Critical) -- (3 Equipment Points)
Maximum Damage: 7

Positives & Negatives:
+ A Hero's Weapon: People often take a sword-wielding hero more seriously, and it's known for being the best overall melee weapon possible, all other things being equal.

- Expensive and usually illegal to just carry around.

-Your regular "Boring" sword, this is the one mass-produced, non-pretty, and usually given to whatever raiders you needed. This is hardly a standard infantry weapon- those are nearly always polearms, especially once real tactics were developed. It was a common sidearm, however (Spartan Hoplites would carry a short two-foot sword when the spear phalanx failed them or they needed to get in closer). I dislike the M&M concept that ALL swords should be +3 to damage, since many Swords were in fact little bigger than large Knives. You won't find as many heroes with them compared to their larger relatives, though- they're just not that impressive. I figure Mulan and her fellow soldiers in Mulan were using these- they're not nearly as large as a Longsword.
Jabroniville
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Re: Jab's Builds! ( Terminus! Terror! THUNDRA!!!! Polearms & Blades!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Ken wrote: Fri Jul 06, 2018 7:58 pm
Jabroniville wrote: Fri Jul 06, 2018 7:40 am LOL- funny news out of Africa: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/w ... 587c0d6553
The title in the link sounds pretty funny, in a black humour kind of way. I can't pull up the article, though.
That's annoying- looks like they took it down. Basically, a number of poachers (they're still not sure how many) went a-rhino huntin', and walked right into a large pride of lions. "They didn't last long" says the reserve's top guy. All they found were pieces.
Jabroniville
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Longswords

Post by Jabroniville »

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LONGSWORD (6 ep)
Place/Time of Origin:
Europe, 1350s
Type of Damage: Piercing, Slashing
Typical Make: Hard steel with a wooden or metal handle, flat, two-edged blade
Manner of Use: Wielded with one or two hands to stab vital organs or slice arteries
Variants on Design: Varying lengths, widths & hilt designs, Bastard Swords (slightly mid-length hilt, allowing for only part of the second hand to hold it).
Famous Wielders: King Arthur, most any English knight, Dirk the Daring (Dragon's Lair), Female Captain Britain, The Black Knight (The Ebony Blade), Jedi Knights (laser version)

Stats: Strength-Damage +3 (Feats: Improved Critical) (Extras: Penetrating 2) (6 Equipment Points)
Maximum Damage: 8

Positives & Negatives:
+ A Hero's Weapon: People often take a sword-wielding hero more seriously, and it's known for being the best overall melee weapon possible, all other things being equal.

- Expensive and usually illegal to just carry around.
- Should be used two-handed. Power Attack may be limited if used single-handedly.

-A standard Longsword is THE weapon for those of Knightly virtue, and are probably the most common ones used by rich men in Medieval-style campaigns. Modifications exist for basically every culture on Earth (most using identical stats to the longsword- since there's just not that much statistical variation in weapons available for a superhero-type RPG), and variations of the sword are near-universally recognized as the gentlemanly, glorious symbols, much more than the simple spear or axe. I've given the statted up Longsword here 2 ranks of Penetrating to make it slightly better than your typical minor Sword as it appears in the main book, though that one is valid for your typical poor Gothic or Norse invaders. THIS is a weapon of finer upgringing.

Note: Hardly the clumsy, weak weapon that Japanophiles would have you believe (note: anti-Japanophiles often also disregard the Katana unfairly), the sword is every bit as capable as cutting crap to pieces as the fabled Katana, it's just less pretty and more cheaply made, so is a tad clunkier-looking. Even the heaviest blades only weighed about 4.5 pounds, and it was much more common for swords to be lighter (so jokey stuff like people barely being able to lift a sword are just that- jokes. However, it can still be difficult to swing them efficiently if you're not trained). Still, it's only six bloody pounds.
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Batgirl III
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Re: Jab's Builds! ( Terminus! Terror! THUNDRA!!!! Polearms & Blades!)

Post by Batgirl III »

I’m a 5’7”, 150-ish lbs. woman, I've been learning to fight with the German Zweihänder longsword, mostly following the Hans Talhoffer methods but incorporating a bit of montante, codex germanicus monacensis 558, and even a bit of kenjitsu to "fill in the gaps." It's very rare to find historical zweihänder that weigh much in excess of 2-2.5 kg (4.4-5.5 lbs.), which to put it in perspective is a fair bit less than the weight of a loaded M4A1 carbine at 3.4 kg (7.5 lbs). So not very heavy at all and most of the time, you didn't actually see soldiers carrying their zweihänder. When on the march, they were kept in a wagon or strapped to the side of a mule/horse. You got them out when battle was imminent, you didn't walk around with them casually.

Historically, a zweihänder would have been around 2-2.1 meters (78-84") in length and used by some of the biggest, burliest mercenaries and soldiers of the day... who still would have only been about 1.8 meters (6') tall. It is not the weight of these greatswords that makes them tricky to use, it is their length. But the techniques involved are all about using momentum, inertia, leverage, and body mechanics to overcome that...

(I still prefer my sabre or my axe and shield for one on one combat, but when it comes to massed ranks, damn does it feel gangster to be out in front of the army smacking the enemy pikemen around.)
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Re: Jab's Builds! ( Terminus! Terror! THUNDRA!!!! Polearms & Blades!)

Post by catsi563 »

Most of the big girls and boys AKA claymores flamberges Zwiehanders etc theur main problem was needing room to swing that much steel hard to do in a scrum, and that despite the weight it was a tiring effort. Still they were good for taking off legs and dropping horseback riders
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Re: Jab's Builds! ( Terminus! Terror! THUNDRA!!!! Polearms & Blades!)

Post by MacynSnow »

Intresting law about medivel weaponnry(at least in Kentucky):As long as you publically show you have it(your not trying to hide it in anyway),you CAN walk around with an Arming Sword,Poleaxe,etc.....So who wants to move to Rednecknerd Country? :D
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Re: Jab's Builds! ( Terminus! Terror! THUNDRA!!!! Polearms & Blades!)

Post by Batgirl III »

catsi563 wrote: Fri Jul 06, 2018 9:32 pm Most of the big girls and boys AKA claymores flamberges Zwiehanders etc theur main problem was needing room to swing that much steel hard to do in a scrum, and that despite the weight it was a tiring effort. Still they were good for taking off legs and dropping horseback riders
It's actually quite possible to use a greeatsword in narrow confines; Here's an excellent demostration of doing so with a Godinho's methods for the montante (the specifically Spanish and Portuguese branch of the greatsword family tree). The key is to transition from using the sword as a slashing weapon into using it as a thrusting weapon... This is not the optimal use of these swords, but getting 18" of sharpened steel through your sternum is going to kill you even if the thrust was sub-optimal.

This is one of the great strengths of swords: versatility.
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Re: Jab's Builds! ( Terminus! Terror! THUNDRA!!!! Polearms & Blades!)

Post by M4C8 »

I know it's not 'real life' but of all the varied weapons featured in the episodes of Forged In Fire I've seen, the winning Templar Sword seemed to do the most damage to the ballistics gel dummy, even the judges looked surprised.
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Jabroniville
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Huge Swords

Post by Jabroniville »

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BIG-ASS SWORD (8 ep)
Place/Time of Origin:
Scotland & Germany, 16th Century
Type of Damage: Piercing, Slashing
Typical Make: Hard steel with a wooden or metal handle
Manner of Use: Wielded with two hands to stab vital organs or slice arteries
Typical Wielders: Knights, elite swordsmen of wealthy background
Variants on Design: Varying lengths, widths & hilt designs.
Famous Wielders: Cloud Strife (FF VII), William Wallace, German Knights, Scotsmen (Claymores)

Stats: Strength-Damage +3 (Feats: Improved Critical) (Extras: Penetrating 4) -- (8 points)
Maximum Damage: 9

Positives & Negatives:
+ A Hero's Weapon: People often take a sword-wielding hero more seriously, and it's known for being the best overall melee weapon possible, all other things being equal.
+ Just plain intimidating. People would be taken aback by someone with such a large weapon, or assume he's compensating for something.
+ Longer reach than other swords. Not much of an in-game effect, but it's notable.
+ Specialized: Does more damage to polearm-type weapons when attempting a Weapon Smash maneuver.
 
- Expensive and usually illegal to just carry around.
- Relatively hard to carry around, and VERY hard to use while on horseback.
- Should be used two-handed. Power Attack may be limited if used single-handedly.

-Huge swords are pretty common- Broadsword is a more colloquial expression, but apparently inaccurate and a more generic term for... well, broad swords. Different types are varied across multiple countries. Greatswords were invented to deal with those annoying pikes; these monstrosities were used to break the pikes, and then nail the guys USING them. Surely a manly, awesome weapon. Much clunkier than a usual sword, it was used by a highly-armored elite troop, so it didn't matter so much; not alot was going to hurt him once it inevitably hit. Its Penetrating Ranks mean it's going to knock the living crap out of anyone wearing anything other than Full-Plate Armor as well. You could argue the Strength-Damage could be up to +4, as well.
Last edited by Jabroniville on Sat Jul 07, 2018 6:46 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Jab's Builds! ( Terminus! Terror! THUNDRA!!!! Polearms & Blades!)

Post by Batgirl III »

M4C8 wrote: Fri Jul 06, 2018 10:48 pm I know it's not 'real life' but of all the varied weapons featured in the episodes of Forged In Fire I've seen, the winning Templar Sword seemed to do the most damage to the ballistics gel dummy, even the judges looked surprised.
Most television shows about medieval weapons and warfare - Mail Call, Deadliest Warrior, Forged in Fire, et. al. -- suffer from the same problems: fanboy-ism for certain weapons, repeating "urban myths" as factual, consulting with experts that don't actually have expertise, and so on and so forth. Forged in Fire is better than most, by sheer virtue of having actual bladesmiths making their blades from proper materials... But all too often their demonstrations are designed to look flashy on television and are not really proper demonstrations.
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Re: Broadswords

Post by Batgirl III »

Jabroniville wrote: Fri Jul 06, 2018 10:57 pm -Broadswords (a more colloquial expression- different types are varied across multiple countries) were invented to deal with those annoying pikes; these monstrosities were used to break the pikes, and then nail the guys USING them. Surely a manly, awesome weapon. Much clunkier than a usual sword, it was used by a highly-armored elite troop, so it didn't matter so much; not alot was going to hurt him once it inevitably hit. Its Penetrating Ranks mean it's going to knock the living crap out of anyone wearing anything other than Full-Plate Armor as well. You could argue the Strength-Damage could be up to +4, as well.
What you're describing here are greatswords, not broadswords.

Here's a simple, but still pretty through, video breakdown on sword typology.

One of the more frustrating parts about the study of historical martial arts and warfare is that the contemporary names for most swords, in their heyday, was just "sword." As a man left to go to battle, he'd say to his son "Hand me my sword." Not "hand me my Type XIIa Sword." Most of the names we now give to sword designs were assigned retroactively, sometimes centuries afterward. Alexander the Great didn't think he was using a "short sword," because he'd never seen a "long sword," so for him it was just a sword; Balian of Ibelin didn't think of his weapon as a "broad sword," because in his day all swords were essentially that width, so it was just a sword... and so on and so forth.
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Jabroniville
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Re: Jab's Builds! ( Terminus! Terror! THUNDRA!!!! Polearms & Blades!)

Post by Jabroniville »

Broadsword, apparently, has deprecated as a term. I was using it more as a catch-all for "big sword". is great sword a better one, then?
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Re: Jab's Builds! ( Terminus! Terror! THUNDRA!!!! Polearms & Blades!)

Post by Batgirl III »

Broadsword is used to refer to the width of the blade; it comes into popular use in the era of smallswords, rapiers, and other slender blades as a back-formation to talk about the arming swords of the knightly era and from there spread to the war swords used by soldiers of the era. The basket-hilted claymore of the Highlands, the English backsword of the Elizabethan Era, and so forth.

A greatsword is a two-handed sword that is too big to even consider one-handed use. The zweihander, montante, and the like. Compare and contrast that with a longsword which was meant for two-handed use primarily, but could also work single handed if needed... or the hand-and-a-half or bastard sword which was intended as a one-handed weapon but could accommodate two. The difference is incredibly minor.

Dungeons and Dragons kinda screwed this up for everybody, as for many many years they had longswords as single-handed weapons (these should have been arming swords), bastard swords as the switch hitters, and then greatswords. 5e fixed the longsword/bastardsword problem, but then botched it by not having an arming sword.
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Re: Jab's Builds! ( Terminus! Terror! THUNDRA!!!! Polearms & Blades!)

Post by catsi563 »

Conan to me is the epitome of the Broadsword user, specifically the Movie version but several times in RE Howards novels he is depicted using a sword whose blade is a full hand in span to brutal effect.

but the movie version is the classic broadsword as we know it. the blade is long as a standard sword but its width is a full 2-3 inches across creating a broad blade.
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Jabroniville
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Rapiers

Post by Jabroniville »

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RAPIER (7 ep)
Place/Time of Origin:
Europe, 16th Century
Type of Damage: Piercing for the most part (Sabres are Slashing)
Typical Make: Hard steel with a metal hilt, ornately designed in a protective manner to cover the hand.
Manner of Use: Wielded with one hand to deftly dodge, parry and stab at vital organs
Typical Wielders: Elite swordsmen, gentlemen, duelists, competitive sportsmen
Variants on Design: Varying lengths, widths & hilt designs. Sabres have a slicing edge.
Famous Wielders: The Three Musketeers, Inigo Montoya & Westley, Zorro

Stats: Strength-Damage +2 (Feats: Improved Critical) (Extras: Penetrating 4) -- (7 points)
Maximum Damage: 9

Positives & Negatives:
+ A Hero's Weapon: People often take a sword-wielding hero more seriously, and it's known for being the best overall melee weapon possible, all other things being equal.
+ BITCHING style. Lady-killers naturally gravitate towards them.
+ One of the few swords that can easily be used with another weapon, since they're pretty light and easy to use. Guns & bucklers (little hand-held shields to deflect blows- probably a rank of Enhanced Parry) are common.
 
- Expensive and usually illegal to just carry around.
- Fragile: Can be easily-damaged if used to parry larger weapons.

-Rapiers (among them Epees- popular amongst Crossword Puzzle Makers because of all the "E"s and being a short word; I consider Sabres more of a Short Sword since they can slash, too) are the REAL gentleman's weapon, less effective in true warfare, but much better for city police and swashbuckling handsome, debonaire types. They just look so damn COOL. Far less powerful or durable than regular war-swords, they can find the sweet spot much easier (that's why such a relatively-light weapon has plenty of Penetrating ranks), I could consider giving them an extra rank of Improved Critical.
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