The Forge Archives

I'm am finishing up the second half of my universailly despised article on realism in rpgs, which will be appearing in in swords edge e-zine (http://www.swordsedge.net) in a day or two.  

So far I briefly reviewed my original points about equipment, reach, and the defensive use of weapons, and went on to discuss the following topics:

Hit locations & Injury types

    Injuries types by weapon (including chopping, slashing, piercing
    and crushing weapons)

    Penetration and injuries

    Stunning, shock and knock outs

    Penetration of armor by armor type

Initiative momentum and movemement    

    Who attacks first

    The hit me / hit you dynamic

    Momentum, range, and weapon type

Combat tactics and special training

    Basic combat tactics (defensive versus aggressive fighting, jab
    versus Haymaker, the rope-a-dope, counterattacking, two weapon    
    fighting, and multiple Opponents)

    From the Fechtschules: Half swording, The lunge, Quarterstaffing &    
    Pole arms

    Acrobatics and Swashbuckling

Fatigue and energy

Morale issues in combat (including alchohol, drugs, insanity, and bards)

Plus two sidebars :"Armor Works!" and "The Historical Use of Crossbows"

Is there anything I left out that anyone here would like to see addressed?
If so respond here and /or email me at cugel23@bellsouth.net

Things of interest to me:

1. Blood loss

2. Tradeoffs for using a shield (if any)

3. Called Shots: trade-offs in choice of precision targeting (the neck is, I'd think, more reflexively defended in addition to being smaller than the body--but a hit there's pretty much an instant win ...) My question is "how much harder is it to hit?" and "why doesn't everyone do that ... or do they?"

4. Role (if any) of stance. Trade offs for offensive vs defensive positioning and how those work with weapon types.

-Marco

I request that if you use words or names like "Fechtschules" in the article, that you provide definitions in the text.

- Walt

Quote from: Walt FreitagI request that if you use words or names like "Fechtschules" in the article, that you provide definitions in the text.

- Walt

Thats just the german word for fencing school.  The literal translation is 'fightschool'.

JR

Bod,
any news on the article?
The site seems down everytime.