Rules Update: Two-Handed Weapons, and skills that benefit them (+ List Updates)

The following weapons have been modified:

* Pole Arms do 4 damage, regardless of the end used to strike.
* Bastard weapons and Spears do 2 damage with one hand, and 5 Damage when wielded with two hands.

The following skills have been modified:

Disarm/Retain (Periodic)
This skill allows a character to disarm an opponent’s weapon, or to retain her weapon when struck by an opponent’s Disarm. To disarm an opponent, you must strike the opponent’s weapon that you wish to disarm.  If the weapon is wielded in one hand, the opponent must drop the weapon and cannot pick it up for five seconds. Weapons that are wielded with two hands may not be disarmed with this skill. To use this skill to retain your weapon when struck by an opponent’s Disarm, simply call Retain in response to the attack and continue to wield your weapon. You can use this skill to disarm or retain - not both - once per period.

Rank I: Hone Weapon
This ability allows a smith to work a weapon to provide it with a temporary combat bonus, at a cost of two thirds the CP and one third the time required to make an armament of the same type. A weapon that is treated with this ability adds one to its base damage for the duration of the current period, or two if it is held as a two-handed weapon. This ability cannot be used on an armament that has been ritually enchanted.

Rank II: Reinforce Armament
This ability allows a smith to protect an armament from an attack that would break or destroy it, at a cost of one third the CP and time required to make an armament of the same type. Reinforce Armament can be used up to three times on a single armament at one time, and each use will protect the armament from one such attack, or two attacks in the case of a 2HE, 2HB, or Pole Arm weapon. This ability cannot be used on an armament that has been ritually enchanted.

Strength +1 (Continuous)
With this damage augmenting skill, a character is stronger than a normal person, and can add one to her normal weapon damage, or two to her normal weapon damage if she is wielding a 2HE, 2HB, or Pole-arm weapon.  See the Combat section for full details on how much a character may carry / lift.

The skill Strength +1 has been added to the Dragoon and Warrior list, at a cost of 15 build.

The skills 2 HE/B and Pole-Arm, have been removed from the Ronin List and the Cavalier list.

The skills Small Weapon (1 Build) and Florentine (2 Build) has been added to the Ronin list.

The Pre-Requisites for several Dragoon and Warrior skills have been edited to reflect the following:

- Critical Attack: None

- Blind Fighting: WP +1
- Disarm/Retain: WP +1
- Parry: WP +1

- Puncture Armor: Strength +1
- Cleave: Strength +1
- Stunning Blow: Strength +1
- Break Limb: Strength +1
- Trip: Strength +1
- Resilience: Strength +1

- Incap: WP +2 or Strength +1
- Spirit of the Dragon: WP +2 or Strength +1

For the next 3 events anyone with the Warrior, Dragoon and Ronin lists may re-write their cards is getting a free 1 time ever respend to fit in with these changes. Note that I must approve the changes for this free respend and it must circulate around these lists. Also I will be allowing a grace period for those 3 months to naturally earn the pre-reqs.

In example, Erdrick is a warrior who does not have Strength + 1 but has many stunning blows. I can opt to take the free respend, or naturally over the next 3 months learn the strength + 1 to fill out my pre-reqs. After the 3 month period anyone without the proper pre-reqs will loose the appropriate skills.

Isn't it two days early for an April's Fools Joke? Because this is just silly.

This may become an opinion debate.

As someone who has relied on strength profs for years as my main character, I can say this balances the downside of going with strength of weapon profs. I have been told to my face "If you don't like it, go weapon prof." Why? Because I chose an inferior proficiency because it fit the character?

This liberates those that want to roleplay and be active in combat from having to choose one or the other. A large weapon is slower; and in any game that strive for balance, the slower the animation time, the more the damage. That's the trade off for not being fast.

These changes gives one some arguement for going with strength when before, weapon prof was the be all. As it stands, there are more skill advantages for weapon profs later on. Calling weapon prof useless, in my experience of half a decade of strength prof useage and honest opinion, is just silly.

No this is not an April Fools joke. Two handed weapons in general have been at a severe disadvantage due to the nature of boffer combat. You can argue that you don't agree, but most people would disagree with that argument. This change improves their damage ratio, and gives benefits to the weapons that make them slightly more viable in a boffer combat gaming atmosphere. It also changes the dynamic of fighter classes to make more sense in that they choose one of two paths... the Weapon Prof path or the Strength path, and that choice is a result of which weapon type they choose to fight with.

The only way that this debatable negatively effects 1 handed weapons, is the pre-reqs, in that if you want access to certain skills, you will need to purchase a single +1 strength, just as strength based fighters will need to purchase a single weapon prof to have access to the others. Aside from that, all changes are a solid increase in power for two handed weapons, which helps to level the playing field in larp combat between these two fighting styles.

A ton of work went into this change and this topic has been already discussed at great length between all the RM and officers. If you wish to chat about it it here than fine, but please keep it civil.

Nice, like the strength change, might only be a +1 damage but makes me feel a little better, seems like every time I fight using a 2HS anyone with Florentine or a shield and sword I get (Censored), and being a berserker, thats all I can use.