Shield vs Sword

[Shiningbrow]

11 hours ago, Atgxtg said:

IMO it's more complicated that that. A big heavy weapon like a poleaxe or maul might just smash through a lighter shield without it protecting much. And besides if your argument was true, then why not apply it to armor as well? I think varying protection based upon materials makes sense. Realistically for a given thickness, some material will protect more than others. 

I think the problem is that the protection ratings are tied to the size and coverage of the of the shield and shouldn't be. A small metal buckler should probably stop more damage that a big wicker tower shield. The size and coverage should instead affect the chances of blocking with the shield as opposed to the amount protected. A inch thick piece of oak is going to protect against a weapon about the same if it is 1 foot across or three.

Same with weapons against shields... Axes would be much better at decimating a wooden shield than a sword or spear - although maybe a stab through wicker's gaps is easier with a pointy bit.

[Mugen]

18 hours ago, Atgxtg said:

.And besides if your argument was true, then why not apply it to armor as well?

The way I see it, an armor protects you from a blow in a way that is very different from the way a parry does. An armor is a passive protection, whereas a weapon is an active one.

Basicall, a parry is an attempt to intercept, block or deflect a blow so that it doesn't hit your body. The geometry of the tool you're using, and how it helps you use your strength to counter your opponent's is very important. What type of material it's made of will determine how long the item will stay in shape before it breaks or its shape is altered to such an extent it can't be used as a weapon.

On the other hand, a piece of armor is here to reduce the impact of a blow that already hit you, by dispersing kinetic energy and sometimes changing the nature of a wound (for instance, when a sword can't make a cut and instead just leaves a bruise).

Small shields are also quite different from other weapons, as they're basically just additional layers of armor over your forearm.

Which doesn't mean I think the kinetic energy of a parried attack magically disappears after a parry, or that an armor's geometry is not important for making it more effective.

Edited February 9, 2020 by Mugen

[Shiningbrow]

21 minutes ago, Mugen said:

<snip>

Hårnmaster.... Different damage types, and different armour values for those armour types!

[Atgxtg]

6 hours ago, Mugen said:

The way I see it, an armor protects you from a blow in a way that is very different from the way a parry does. An armor is a passive protection, whereas a weapon is an active one.

Basicall, a parry is an attempt to intercept, block or deflect a blow so that it doesn't hit your body.

Not quite a parry is an attempt to  to deflect the attack, it isn't really the same as a block, which is just sticking something in the path to intercept the attack. The thing with shields is that they are used more to block than to parry, which is the opposite of most weapons.  So shields really do work more like armor. 

Block should be easier than parrying but much harder on the parrying weapon -not that any form of BRP really incorporates that.

 

 

 

6 hours ago, Mugen said:

On the other hand, a piece of armor is here to reduce the impact of a blow that already hit you, by dispersing kinetic energy and sometimes changing the nature of a wound (for instance, when a sword can't make a cut and instead just leaves a bruise).

Small shields are also quite different from other weapons, as they're basically just additional layers of armor over your forearm.

 

Pretty much all shields work like small shields. Larger shields mostly just cover a larger area and help to cover the target sometimes causing him to attack an area that doesn't have a body part behind it. Yes someone with a shield can attempt to parry, shield bask, catch a weapon with the edge, etc. but generally the shield is optimized for blocking. 

If I were to redo BRP combat, I'd probably differentiate between parries and blocks, with blocks being easier but resulting in more damage to the blocking weapon, and give shields a bonus to block based upon size. So shields would be easier to use but probably soak a little less damage, and get chewed up while doing do.

 

6 hours ago, Mugen said:

Which doesn't mean I think the kinetic energy of a parried attack magically disappears after a parry, or that an armor's geometry is not important for making it more effective.

No but it does mean that a successfully parried attack will redirect the attack to a line where it won't hit the opponent. 

[Atgxtg]

13 hours ago, Shiningbrow said:

Same with weapons against shields... Axes would be much better at decimating a wooden shield than a sword or spear - although maybe a stab through wicker's gaps is easier with a pointy bit.

Yup. What I could see is doing something like giving shields an AP rating or an AP and HP rating. Axes would bypass half of the AP rating, while spears would only do one point to the shield if it penetrated. Or some such. But then I'd also give shields a bonus to block with. Probably by just making a shield block easy difficulty.