Narf the Mouse

...I'm not sure whether to like that or strangle you, and I don't know where you live, so...

...So, Nyarlathotep, or Yog-Sothoth?

I appreciate that this thread might not be for you, or may contain more details than you want in your campaign. I acknowledged in my first post that truth. Is there any particular reason, then, to post that this type of gaming, or the type of gaming you perceive it as, or the type of thread you perceive it as, is not for you? If you truly feel that learning about histoical accuracy in medieval combat will not help your campaign, what, exactly, are you doing here? I do not go on threads about the joys of narrative play, and extol on how narrative play is, ultimately, not for me and not interesting. That would be rather pointless, would it not? Likewise, this is not the new jokes thread, and while a certain amount of levity is welcome, this thread has barely even started its first topic before it has experienced its first major derail. I started this thread with the idea that those interested in discussing historical medieval combat, and its application to fantasy, could do so. Before the second page, this entire thread has been taken off-topic. @Markdoc: I apologize; I will try to get back to you with a suitable post. In the mean-time, I'm rather too riled up to come up with a good post.

You're contradicting yourself in the second and third highlighted area. Namely, in stating the ferocity of the Swiss pikemen often causing others to run, which logically means that others were less ferocous, and more likely to run Further, in the first highlighted area, all your correction states is that pikemen blocks would have included people with swords and halberds (the average halberd being much shorter than the average pike), whose job was to "cut into the enemy formation". Now, it is impossible to "cut into the enemy formation" from the back ranks with a shorter weapon. So presumably, they'd be in the front ranks once close combat ensued.

Edit: This entire post is rambling train-of-thought. Apologies if not comprehensible; I can try to explain anything that isn't. @Markdoc: This paragraph, I think, may be a key factor: Close combat with a pike does not seem practical. It seems like altogether too long of a weapon to use in close combat. OTOH, I'd likely have a sword, axe, or mace, which would do better in close combat. Meanwhile, the soldiers in the second rank would not generally be in danger from pikes, as aiming at the enemy's front ranks would be easier than aiming at the second rank. You're right in that ancient battles could have, by modern sensibilities, horrendous casualties. Where I think you may not be accurate is the willingness to win a battle through horrendous casaulties, when other options existed. Underlining for emphasis. And when it comes down to marching straight at an enemy carrying only a sharp, pointy stick for defence, when the enemy is pointing a sharp, pointy stick at me, well, if I were a medieval person, I might view that as a splendid thing to do. But once the enemy is past the end of my pike, my options are to either pull the pike in, and try to fight like it's some sort of oversized quarterstaff, or pull out my side-arm, and have a weapon that suits that range better. Which is, arguably, still a pike fight, as the guys behind me are still in splendid position to stab at the guys in front of me with pikes. Myself, I'm probably using something that doesn't put the point of my weapon a few feet past my immediate enemy, if I hold it towards that enemy. One method is awkward, and likely to get me killed against the enemy's close-range weapon. The other involves pulling out my own close-range weapon. You're right in that pikemen likely did attack each other directly. But the front rank would not be fighting as pikemen, for the same reason that you pulled out your dagger when grappling ensued. Or I could be wrong.

Melee Weapon Masses The average medieval melee weapon massed around 1 to 2 kg. Heavier examples existed, around 7 kg or more, but were strictly parade weapons. Very large greatswords could reach about 3.5 kg, but most did not exeed 2.7 kg. Medieval soldiers were not supermen. Arguably the heaviest medieval weapon, a medieval pike, could reach 6 kg, but was strictly a two-handed weapon, and was almost never used in actual melee combat; rather, to fend off cavalry. In the rare case of pike facing pike, one side or the other would break and run first. In re-enactment testing, two blocks of pikes will kill each other about as fast as they make contact - A situation acceptable to no soldiers in history. Armour Mass Historical analysis and testing of armour used in actual battle (as opposed to parade) reveals that the mass of a soldier's armour has remained steady throughout history: Around 16 kg, and rarely reaching 23 kg. Even most modern armour falls within this range. Quite simply, heavier armour weighs the soldier down too much to be practical. If armour heavier than 16 kg is to be worn, it is typically on a pack animal, and donned just before battle. The heavy armour worn for jousting is strictly sports armour, and intended to be worn for, and specialized for, no more than the time it took you to knock your opponent off his horse (or vice-versa). Jousting was simply a medieval sport, and specialized equipment was used by professional players, much like any professional sport. Sources: The Association for Rennaisance Martial Arts. Wikipedia. Scholagladatoria (Historical European Martial Arts instructor) on Youtube. Skallagrim (Historical European Martial Arts practitioner) on Youtube. LindyBeige (Retired Archeologist and re-enactor) on Youtube. Various webpages, too numerous to mention or remember.

This thread has been created because there is a lot of misinformation out there, and because it is easier to introduce plausible fantastic elements if you know what plausible realistic elements are. Of course, this thread is not for every campaign, or every GM. If your current campaign ignores plausibility ("Drive me closer, I want to hit their tank with my sword!"), or you have no intention of paying any attention to plausibility ("You know, I never studied law."), this thread is of little to no use. However, most campaigns and GMs want their stories to have at least a semblance of "this could reasonably happen in a world with elves, dragons, and wizards", so for those GMs, this thread will attempt to address "realistic" medieval combat, and medieval arms and armour. The medieval time period was chosen as being the most common and popular, thus the largest area to address. Insofar as "realism" may apply to a world with elves, dragons, and wizards. So, without further ado:

It seems there's a few key points: 1) Players hate having the GM virtually "run their characters". 2) Capture should be because of player actions, either because the players agree that an "escape scenario" would be fun, or the PCs were "legally" overwhelmed and captured. 3) By "legally", I mean, if a horde of ninja come out of the trees and capture the PCs, there should be a reasonable reason for a horde of ninja to be there, a reasonable chance for the players to realize they're Entering Ninja Horde Territory, a reasonable reason for the ninja to want to capture the PCs, the PCs should be captured through game mechanics, not the GM saying they're captured, and the reasonable expectation that the PCs will soon be able to take action, either to facillitate their escape or enact useful plans inside the prison. 4) Players should have some opportunity to turn the tables on their captor(s). 5) Players want to know that their GM will provide this. 6) Players do not want this to be a frequent occurance; at the least, it's cliche, at the worst, it's bad GM'ing. That about sum it up?

Classic DC comics, AFAICT, isn't about power levels, or stats, or specific powers. It's about mythology. It's about a god-like alien who's more human than most humans, who fell in love with a story-teller. It's about a woman made of clay, with a heart of gold and fists of steel, and her greatest weapon the truth. It's about a stranger in a strange land, who can understand anyone perfectly...But never really fit in. It's about a flying wizard with a magic ring, who can overcome anything...Except fear, and the frailty of his magic lamp. It's about a man so fast he can out-run time itself...And lose himself so thoroughly that he has to slow down from time to time. It's about an ordinary man who trained and learned and fought and built till he could stand with near-gods.

Here: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=cinemasins Something tells me that you guys will, as well, find those videos quite fun.

Uh...Why are you assuming the GM didn't consult the player? Nothing in that part of the video precludes him having asked the player if that was ok.

Why did Waldo cross the road?

Why not just give bows Reduced Penetration?

That would help with identifying, but not perceiving.

...So he's a reformed horror movie monster?

Hmm...I might buy a few. For me, of course.

...I think the GM needs to go over how much Enhanced Senses he bought. He might be over the limit...

Battlecat is hanging off of He-Man, who is hanging off of Peter Pan, as they fly over the sea to rescue Thundarr the Barbarian. He-Man calls up "Anything I should do?" Peter Pen yells back down...

That's actually a foundational problem in getting computers to understand English...And a good way of explaining why it's a hard problem.

Hmm...Probably should have checked the date on the page.

Ok, so there's one of two formats I could see here. It looks like either a webcomic, or an illustrated book. I'm going to give what I hope will be concrit for both cases. If it's a webcomic: 1) Too much text. Your art should tell most of the story, or you should consider the advice under "If it's an illustrated book". If it's an illustrated book: 1) A lot of the art clearly fits under "things someone would tap into a book", complete with "actual" tape. That's good. 2) Unfortunately, a few pictures seem to pop out of the "book" or overlap both pages in a way that knocks me out of suspension of disbelief. 3) Sadly, I find the main font you are using hard to read. Other than that, it looks pretty good.

Sure, but the rules need a GM to keep them balaned, and mention this explicitly, a lot. If you don't provided needed balance decisions, and the players don't restrain themselves, well, things will be unbalanced.

Ok, in order; first, if the character buys a gadget pool through the base, then I would rule that they can only use that gadget pool inside the base. Second, if the characters' base is actually a fraction of the "size" they bought, I would rule that the actual size of the base is the size of the actual base. Both of those feel "Cheaty" to me, so I would rule against them on those basis.

Plus, you don't get thrown out of your secret base when supervillains invade every other story arc.

I actually do regular searches on Hero System on other boards, blogs, etc.. Mostly boards and blogs, because there isn't much etc.. CC and FHC are more popular than 6e1 and 6e2 by that sampling. I don't measure the popularity here, becuase this forum is self-selected towards people who like massive tomes. I read the entirety of 6e1 and 6e2; that doesn't think I mean I'm indicative of most gamers on the internet. Edit: As well, the official word in the official threads for FHC and CC, over and over again, was "These are the 6e rulebooks now." If that's changed, I haven't seen an announcement on it. If it has, I apologize.