Best weapon?

Hairfoot · August 22, 2009, 03:48:13 AM

Quote from: lastspartacus;322683This may belong in a thread of its own, but as a side question, what game system has the most in depth representation of different weapons?

Rolemaster and the Thousand and One Arabian Tables.

lastspartacus · August 22, 2009, 03:52:41 AM

I ask because it occurred to me that I do not remember seeing anything in weapon functionality besides amount of damage and small bonuses like reach weapons, and figured surely someone had thought to try a more complex system.

I didn't find anything on the arabian tables, is it rolemaster, game from the early 80's? Worth a look?

Hairfoot · August 22, 2009, 04:14:46 AM

Quote from: lastspartacus;322688I didn't find anything on the arabian tables, is it rolemaster, game from the early 80's? Worth a look?

That was feeble sarcasm on my part. Rolemaster has an extensive system of tables and percentiles which rate individual weapons against armour types and tries to account for things like the tin-opener qualities of polearms and the cushioning effects of some armours against blunt weapons.

Complicated and time consuming, but verisimilitudinous.

lastspartacus · August 22, 2009, 04:25:17 AM

that sounds very interesting! But I should learn from my own mistakes and realize that overcomplication leads to failure and frustration...hey that rhymed.

If only there were some middle ground!

edit: there free tables of that anywhere.

Hairfoot · August 22, 2009, 04:38:43 AM

Quote from: lastspartacus;322693edit: there free tables of that anywhere.

Not that I know of. Not legal, anyway.

Kord's Boon · August 22, 2009, 08:55:31 AM

Quote from: Imp;322630Flaming sword. Provided you could turn it on and off. You said fantasy adventurer!

Good thinking, it's a big 'Fuck You' to thermodynamics, which makes it fantastic for all kinds of things. I recall using a flaming sword one of my characters found as a heating element for our stronghold's water supply.

Didn't really do much more with it, figured a self-pumping regenerative Rankine cycle might cause rocks to fall.

Dagger and hands axe otherwise, need to shave with something.

Danger · August 22, 2009, 10:20:45 AM

Shovel.

You can beat people with it, you can chop 'em up too if you do it right (and have enough time; you'd be best just to beat them to death first) and in the end, you can bury the evidence with it.

Fun times.

Aos · August 22, 2009, 10:24:17 AM

T&A.

lastspartacus · August 22, 2009, 12:51:10 PM

That guy in Mystery Men based his entire super hero career on shovel wielding, after all.

Xenon · August 22, 2009, 08:55:05 PM

right now, im leaning towards a warhammer myself. you have a hammer, a pick, and a thrusting point. maybe get an extending handle (magic or otherwise) to double as a bec de corbin. and using a polearm one handed is a question of strength- if your strong enough you can one-hand a lot of things.

the truth of the matter is, the best weapon depends on how you need to use it. you have to consider the reach, as well as what your using it against. a sword is useless in some situations, like fighting skeletons. the sword is great for fighting people with swords.

now if we are going with magic weapons? why not artifact weapons. Mjolnir, Excalibur, Greyswandir, or the like. the kind of weapon that is the stuff of legend.

Fifth Element · August 22, 2009, 11:38:52 PM

Glaive-guisarme-voulge, obviously. It's at least three weapons rolled into one! If not more!

Abaddon · August 22, 2009, 11:40:16 PM

The best weapon is wit

flyingmice · August 23, 2009, 01:35:31 AM

Quote from: Hairfoot;322593Enough gaming industry esoteria. What's the best weapon for a fantasy adventurer to carry?

I'm going with the hand axe or battle axe. It's a weapon, a tool for chopping, a hammer, a wedge, a lever, a stick to poke things with, and it's durable and resistant to breakage.

A shoulder-launched thermonuclear missile.

-clash

Kyle Aaron · August 23, 2009, 02:03:39 AM

Much may be said for the humble seax,

the short blade of the Saxons and Vikings, which might be but three inches long, or as much as thirty, a full short-sword. Effective in its time when only rich men owned metal armour, cheap enough for even poor men to own, durable enough to be handed from father to son.

Its equal is the staff,

which even the poorest and humblest might own and master. While no defence against well-armed and armoured men, it was sufficient against common bandits and drunken friends, and unlike blades could be carried everywhere, even in the presence of nobles. Even today when the tiniest nail file is prohibited from aircraft, a man may take a solid cane with him.

lastspartacus · August 23, 2009, 02:08:26 AM

I find the staff to be superior to the sword. There is a writing of Robin Hood I read, where before dueling Little John, Robin asks to cut down a staff to use, as he is disadvantaged with merely a sword.