McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
weapon advice--writers or not...
thausgt:
--- Quote from: meg_evonne on August 12, 2009, 04:05:44 AM ---But I fear you lost me on the "pivot point of the blade's swing" - wouldn't the pivot point be the person's wrist or elbow? Or do I need to go more 3d here rather than the simple thrust. The pivot point would shift to a section of the blade if the wrist or elbow is thrusting forward, but also spinning it somewhat? Can't seem to picture that. I admit my fighting skills are based from fencing classes in college----years ago.
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May I suggest this site:
http://www.thearma.org/
... assuming that the ghoul in question is using Western European sword techniques. On the other hand, this might be a good starting point for other 'traditional' techniques, such as those that Saladin's forces used against the Crusaders.
I can't address your original question (parry a scimitar with a not-quite-Bowie knife) with any authority. All I can calculate is that, with magical boosting of speed and stamina, the character MIGHT be able to do a borderline-cinematic move. The image in my head borrows several frames from Neo's first bullet-dodge and assumes that the ghoul's strike is a nearly-horizontal cut more like a baseball swing, aimed at your character's waist. The character presents the flat of her knife to make contact with the ghoul's strike and guides it slightly upward, while she does the best limbo move in her life to get the ghoul's target under the plane of the strike.
The practical upshot is that she's not 'parrying the strike' so much as she is dropping under it. It's borderline-cinematic because a non-magically-augmented fighter might not be able to move fast enough to drop under a full-speed sword strike, and an all-out attack with a sword marks the ghoul as something other than a trained fighter, as well. I can only invoke the "Rule of Cool" to justify the suggestion at all.
Leonsagara:
Going off what jtaylor said, it would also depend on how close your character is to the ghoul. If she can get inside his range, she has a much better chance of parrying since the ghoul wouldn't be able to swing the sword fully if he swings it down at her. The ghoul's intelligence level can be a factor here. If it has the intelligence of the average ghoul, it might not realize that a sword is not the best weapon to use when someone with a smaller weapon is within the range of your sword.
belial.1980:
Since you've mentioned the blade was magic I had another thought. What if the blade's magical properties in the invisible realm/4th dimension/spirit world are incongruous with its physical qualities? I think you stated it's a defensive weapon, so maybe the wielder can defend with it as if they were using a bigger, more robust weapon.
I imagine the ghoul striking at her and she cringes and reflexively throws up the knife to parry. With a normal weapon, no way. But sparks fly as the blades collide and she's just as surprised as the ghoul to find out that she was able to block the strike. As the battle continues she may (or may not) notice that the knife casts an eerie shadow of a large sword that's easily a match for the scimitar. Just a random image that came to me all of a sudden.
meg_evonne:
--- Quote from: belial.1980 on August 14, 2009, 01:07:22 AM ---Since you've mentioned the blade was magic I had another thought. What if the blade's magical properties in the invisible realm/4th dimension/spirit world are incongruous with its physical qualities? I think you stated it's a defensive weapon, so maybe the wielder can defend with it as if they were using a bigger, more robust weapon.
I imagine the ghoul striking at her and she cringes and reflexively throws up the knife to parry. With a normal weapon, no way. But sparks fly as the blades collide and she's just as surprised as the ghoul to find out that she was able to block the strike. As the battle continues she may (or may not) notice that the knife casts an eerie shadow of a large sword that's easily a match for the scimitar. Just a random image that came to me all of a sudden.
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For the moment, that is what I decided to do. (See one of my earlier posts.) I made the magical 'imprint' or size or power cover a larger area than the the physical knife itself. I introduced it earlier in the book with a test so it blended in with the action.
Shecky:
--- Quote from: meg_evonne on August 14, 2009, 06:17:36 PM ---For the moment, that is what I decided to do. (See one of my earlier posts.) I made the magical 'imprint' or size or power cover a larger area than the the physical knife itself. I introduced it earlier in the book with a test so it blended in with the action.
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Hmm. Sort of a modified reverse of the Sun Blade:
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicWeapons.htm#sunBlade
I say "modified" because the bastard-sword-sized weapon feels and handles like a short sword, whereas your dagger DOESN'T seem to feel or handle like a short sword but magically occupies the same space; it wouldn't make sense to have something dagger-sized feel as heavy and have the same inertia as a short sword. Is that about right?
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