Weapons and Defense

[Fidoric]

Let's consider this point: some weapons are better when it comes to defense than others. For example, it's easier to block attack with a sword than with a flail but harder than with a shield.
Novus uses different stats for defense and armor rating, as I think it should be.
WOuld you think it possible and/or useful to add another weapon stat to reflect the above statement. This could take the form of a defense modifier, as it is currently done with shields. For example, a broadsword could be +0 DEF, a main-gauche +1 and a flail -2. In a general way, the more maneuverable the weapon, the easier it is to parry incoming blows. But the way it is wielded (1- or 2- handed, both hands at the same extremity or not...) also has a influnce. Many factors have to be taken itnot account but they all may be sumarized in a single Defense adjustment.  That way, you give smaller weapons an interest and allow the creation of strong offensive / defensive combination. A flail-wielding warrior may be fearsome and able to deal heavy damage with each blow, he will also have difficulties when it comes to parry. On the other hand, another fighter with short sword and shield will deliver lighter strikes but in return, he will be far harder to reach.

Besides, could it be possible to consider shields as every other weapons, just better designed to block attacks (big Defense bonus) than to strike, but able to do both nonetheless ? As I see it, the main difference between a shield and a club is the way it is held or attached to the arm. Maybe all use of a shield in combination with another weapon should be considered a two-weapon combo style, with shield training allowing it to be used in TWC without taking the weapon specialty talent with the main weapon, just to reflect the specific way shields are wielded.

BTW, when you use a shield in TWC, do you consider it to be a weapon and so gain an additional rank-3 to DEF or not. As I see it, if you don't make it that way, a fighter with 11 ranks in TWC will use an off-hand dagger to greater benefit (11-3 = +8 to defense or +6 if you add an off-hand penalty) than a shield (4+1 = +5 to defense with a large shield and shield training) to block attacks.

I would be glad to have inputs on this.
Fidoric

[imported_Rasyr]

Regarding Shields and TWC -- I suggest you read the last paragraph of the Two Weapon Combo style description on page 32. Shields are discussed there. As the secondary "weapon", the shield does not require a skill to be learned. Don't forget that with TWC, a character does NOT have to attack with his secondary weapon, he can simply use it defensively (i.e. skill ranks in TWC + Shield's DEF mod).

If a character wanted to have a shield bash skill, he could simply learn it as a unique weapon skill (since it doesn't actually fall into the given weapon skills -- and yes, this means that ANY unique or unusual weapon could also be learned in this manner, and yes, that was part of the design

[Fidoric]

(i.e. skill ranks in TWC + Shield's DEF mod

That's what I was thinking. Thanks for the precision.

If you look at the description of the Main Gauche on page 26, it already does something like this, giving a +3 to DEF is not used to attack

I used imaginary values in my post just to illustrate my idea. In fact, including this FD Mod doesn't need to be systematic. Some more weapons than the main-gauche could have negative (morningstar for example) or positive mods.
Additionnaly, some weapons may be harder to parry than others (rapier, morningstar...), but I understand this is beyond the scope of core rules (or even optional rules  ).

[imported_Rasyr]

Fighting Defensively is not "parrying" or "blocking" an incoming attack.

Getting into too much detail can often be a problem. Now, I don't mind adding a sentence or two to a couple of weapons, and thus leaving the vast majority with a 0 DFMod. That could be easily added (without having to make a major change to a table - shudder)


But the "harder to parry" type of thing, that would definitely have to be an option, and thus not included in the core rules.

[Fidoric]

Another weapon parameter I was thinking about was in COnan RPG IIRC. It is a weapon penetration capability, making for example warhammers good at smacking through plate armors without raising their damage rating insanely.
I suggest some weapons (warhammers, war mattocks, battle axes...) are given a penetration capability allowing them to just ignore some of the target armor rating. For example, a war mattock could have a penetration value of 3 (arbitrary number) and thus, it would ignore 3 points of armor rating. That would be useful against an armored target but would not simply give a higher damage value to this weapon. That way, a warhammer could be a weapon of choice against an armored target while not necessarily more dangerous than a broadsword against an unarmored one.

Best regards,
Fidoric

PS : Fighters rule !