McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft

weapon advice--writers or not...

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Paynesgrey:
A slight deflection, maybe, if owning mad super skills rubbed with luck.  A scimitiar has lots of Lopping Power, with all the mass out there towards the end.  Acts as one hell of a "force multiplier."  Same reason a ghurka knife can lop heads that a longer sword of the same weight couldn't.

Knight_Wanderer:

--- Quote from: gravesbane on August 11, 2009, 02:28:23 AM ---The way I understand how a parry works you are just redirecting the blade not blocking the blow outright. When I took fencing lessons years ago my instructor said you use the six inches or so closest to the guard of your blade for defence. To illustrate this he had each use a modified blade, which was only six inches, to practice parries. I can't recall his name, but he claimed to have trained several sucessful Olympic fencers.

--- End quote ---

Eh . . . sorry if I sound like a jerk, but I don't buy it.  I fenced collegiate, national championships, and then taught collegiate . . . the last 6" of the blade are no doubt the strongest, but actually training to parry with that 6" is foolish.

jtaylor:
When you have a smaller weapon like a knife fighting a long weapon like a scimitar, footwork is far more important than bladework. If you are using the knife, and are staying out at a range of 2-4 feet where the scimitar wielder can make a solid strike you would be a fool to try to parry it on the swing. The key is to rapidly close into in-fighting range where you can trip up your opponent, and keep them from effectively using their weapon while you have room to use your smaller one. You can do this by circling your opponent so they have to turn before they can strike, or by staying far back so they have to rush to strike, and then close quickly to get inside of their range when they make their move.
You need to be constantly aware of where the opponent's blade is and not be there when it is about to hit you.

You CAN redirect a large blade with a smaller one, but it is very difficult, and you have to be strong, fast, and precise to do it. On the other hand, nothing gives you motivation like a 2 and half feet of sharp steel coming at you very fast.  :P

meg_evonne:
great input.  Yes, it's the larger, normally two handed, scimitar that I'm using.  Although I still hold out hope that Gravesbane is correct, I realized that the character with the small knife is not a trained fighter and a novice.  Further as I worked the scene, it's more like a continuous barrage of attacks and the likelihood of success - even with the first being lucky--it just isn't going to work.  The ghoul is slower, but only marginally so vs a character who's magic has increased her speed and agility AND the ghoul's other hand is in use, so the two handed weapon would be wielded by one hand only.

Adding up those elements--I still came down on the side that this character isn't going to save herself with fancy footwork and a sudden athletic ability to fight.

Instead, I fell back on an idea that this knife that possesses an ancient history of magic use might have a mystical imprint that is actually larger than its physical attributes.  I ended up with the character testing that out successfully before entering the battle with the ghoul.  Hopefully, it doesn't come out as contrived and a miracle rescue at the point of need.  Headaches.  The knife is billed as able to cut through magic and time.  It isn't meant to be used offensively, and only in dire circumstances as a defensive weapon.

Thank you all for an intelligent discussion of these two weapons. If what I've done doesn't work, then I'll be back here reading your comments again.

Once more--thank you!

jtaylor:
One question on the knife: Since you are specifying that the knife is designed for defense, does it have a basket hilt or an oversize guard? If so that changes things.  A basket hilt is almost a small shield, and you can punch block another hand weapon with one rather easily without using the blade at all.

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