The Sword Gauntlet. What do you think?

[Eryss Waldu]

Hey Everyone!

I’ve been experimenting with the idea of creating a secondary character to play and have run into a question concerning weapon and unarmed combat skills. Actually the question revolves more around whether a specific weapon would use a weapon skill or not. It seems like a no brainer when I put it that way but bare with me, lol.

The Sword Gauntlet is described as a metal gauntlet onto which a honed longsword blade is carefully attached. Essentially the question is would a Sword Gauntlet rely on its own weapon skill for use or could it be used in conjunction with an unarmed combat skill. The reason I ask, primarily, is because a Gauntlet or Studded Gauntlet is technically the equivalent of having a glove worn over your fist, albeit one made out of steel. Regardless it’s a safe bet to say you could use your Brawling, Boxing or Unarmed Combat skill when using one of these Gauntlets because it’s all motions of the hand and arm you could if you weren’t wearing a gauntlet at all. IE: A Punch is still a punch even if it’s amplified by a gauntlet, etc.

Does the same apply for a Sword Gauntlet, or say a Knife Gauntlet, which for the most part I’d think would rely on the same basic moves and blocks that a person could perform unarmed? Yes a Sword Gauntlet has a sword blade on it, which is the most obvious difference as compared to a regular gauntlet, but being as though it is attached to your arm and not held like a regular sword its motions would still rely on the basic mechanics of the arm wouldn’t they? If you punch then the blade is thrust ahead, if you swing your arm then you can slash with it and if you use your arm to block the sword basically acts as an extension of your arm in that case.

The way I see it is that the sword blade would technically become an extension of the arm of whomever was using that type of Gauntlet. Taking that point of view into consideration I’d be inclined to say that the weapon would use a brawl, unarmed combat or boxing skill to determine its effectiveness. This is just my opinion though and I wanted to know what the thoughts of others were on the subject.

So, please feel free to respond with your insight and tell me your thoughts! Thank you!

[Kit Rowan]

It's not the same at all, considering your range suddenly changes. The moves that would be effective alter drastically; suddenly slashes are possible, suddenly blunt quick blows with the first are not possible . . . And it's entirely unlike anything you would do with a normal sword since it's mounted on your hand. It would have its own weapon skill.

[Eryss Waldu]

Good point. I had been thinking the same thing when I wrote the question actually. Let me expand on that though.

Would the same apply to a Knife Gauntlet? Now I personnaly have several swords, I wouldn't actually want to try using the blade of one if it was attached to a gauntlet. The description for a Sword Gauntlet specifically says a Longswards blade which on average can be anywhere around thirty-six inches in length at most.

Knife Gauntlets would be different though. In this case we're talking about a total of Nine inches or less for the blade I'd imagine which is a far cry less then a long swords blade. I think you could probably incorporate that into a brawling or unarmed combat style.

Once again though, thoughts?

[Rage]

Hi there! You raise an interesting point but the way the game is designed, if you want to be able to use a weapon, you have to invest points in it. If you want to be able to fight without using a weapons, you take one of the unarmed disciplines. However, if you have both the skill in the weapon and a martial art skill such as Unarmed Combat, you may do things such as follow up an attack using the weapon with, say, a kick, a punch or an elbow to the face, and vice versa. I hope this settles the issue.

[Eryss Waldu]

Thank you for the response! It does help quite a bit and it makes sense to me. Thanks again!