[PnP] Shield Hits

[Paul L. Ming]

Hiya.

   I wrote my own rules for 2-handed weaponers (revised a bit to not 
include polearms, since it got put up on the P&P site anyway). They 
basicallly give the two-hander a chance to knock down/back or otherwise 
"out of position" when the attacker gets a Severe or Deadly hit.

   That said, even without these rules, the P&P system does handle it 
ok, IMHO. First, two-handed weapons tend to go before other melee 
weapons (as show on Table 2.3: Attack Priority Table) other than those 
with "reach" (polearms, spears, staff)...but those with light swords, 
scimitars, hammers, maces, etc....go after the guy with the big weapon.

   One option I've played with for simplicity, it using the WSB as a 
multiplier to SB. In other words, if someone with SB +3 uses a Great 
Sword (WSB +2), they actually do +6 damage (2 x 3). Another one was to 
double the SB of a user when using two hands...after all , if you have 
SB +3 and use a club, you get +3, but if you use both hands...you still 
get +3, normally. With the doubleing, you are basically getting your SB 
for each 'hand'...so if you had SB+3, it counts as +6 when using a 
weapon that can take advantage of using two hands (e.g., Great Swrod). 
In that case, a Great Sword would do +8 damage on a normal hit (2 + (3 x 
2)).

   Anyway, that's my 2¢ on the matter. :)

Paul L. Ming

> At 10:49 PM 4/30/2013, Julian Draven wrote:
>> Shields are so critical in melee combat to avoid damage from shield 
>> hits, that it seems patently stupid to ever choose a two-handed 
>> weapon or dual weapons.
>>
>> Were rules ever written to make the non-shield combatant more in line?
>>
>> Take, Conan, for example.  Clearly not a shield user, but in P&P he 
>> would have a serious survival handicap.