The King's Musketeer & His Rapier

[well-dressed gentleman]

Quelle Dommage ! The French are out of fashion because somebody decided they're all wusses. Well here's some guys who aren't afraid to jump into no-holds-barred chandelier-swinging bistro-smashing villain-disemboweling melee at the tiniest of provocations. They've got esprit de corps! They've got joie de vivre ! And they've got that certain je ne sais quois that makes damsels swoon. The Musketeer is a lifepath in the Professional Soldier subsetting.

Musketeer 6 years, 12 resources, +1P & leads to Villager, City Dweller, Noble Court, Outcast
Skills: 9 pts: Firearms, Sword, Brawling, Two-fisted fighting training, Etiquette, Conspicuous, Drinking, Gambling, Wenching & Scheming cleric-wise
Traits: 2 pts: Sworn Homage, All-for-one-and-one-for-all, Hatted, Happy-go-lucky, Quick-witted, Passionate & Colorful

Requires Kid, Duelist, Page, Freebooter, any Guard or any Professional Soldier LP (may not have Military Order).
Fulfills the prerequisites for the Knight, Captain, Captain of the Guard, Freebooter & Whoremonger LPs.

http://www.toledosword.com/im/PC2204TS_s.jpg

And what kind of gentleman walks the streets without one of these? I'm guessing they're distinct from the superior quality sword, since rapiers aren't the greatest armor piercing weapons. Anyway:

Rapier Power 2, WSpeed fast, ADD 1, VA 0 & Strike Distance long. May not be used to great strike.
The rapier is a superior quality weapon available in the mid 16th century. A gentleman's weapon, it's perfect for nobles, pirates & (of course) musketeers. Works great with Thor Olav's cloak weapon. The rapier is deadly against unarmored targets because of its deep piercing wounds, simulated by the low ADD of 1. I'm open to making this power 3 if anyone has strong opinions about it.

http://www.animationusa.com/picts/wdpict/seri02/2_Three-Musketeers.jpg

[luke]

In my world, Rapiers have Add 2 but May Great Strike. Ze thrussst!

-L

[well-dressed gentleman]

Hmm. How about...
Rapier Power 3, WSpeed fast, ADD 2, VA 0 & Strike Distance long. May be used to great strike?

[Kublai]

With those stats, rapiers are like magic long swords! :shock:

I think the Power 2, Add 2, Fast, VA 0, with Great Strike works best. It should fit the gap between a dagger and sword.

[well-dressed gentleman]

Thanks Kublai,

My reasoning here: Superior quality sword + Fast speed - 1 VA = Rapier (also superior quality)

Does Fast speed overcompensate for the lesser VA? I don't know.

But I've read (for what it's worth) that rapiers were at least as deadly as the medieval broadsword / longsword, because the smaller cross-section makes it easier for the rapier to pierce deeply into a target. Too bad there's no way to test it. And there's already a weapon with the stats you suggest - the club. Why should anyone in the real or game worlds pay 20 resource points for a rapier when they can get an identical basic weapon for free?

[well-dressed gentleman]

Or maybe the club and thwacking staff should be slower? Just a thought...

[Thor]

I think Well-Dressed Gentleman is on the ball with his description of the rapier.

It is my understanding that the rapier was a deadlier weapon than the so-called broad sword, as it was designed for thrusting, a relatively late addition to the repertoire of sword strikes. Thrusts are incredibly quick, and far more likely to be deadly than the cuts dealt by other swords, which had a tendency to be shallow.

I would be hesitant to make it an Add 1 weapon though. Making it Fast is more than enough, I think.

My suggestion:
Pow +2, WSP Fast, Add 2, VA 0, Longer (even though it's about the same length as a broadsword, if not slightly longer, you fight with the tip rather than the blade).

[stormsweeper]

I don't think they particularly need to be SQ, either, unles syou are playing in some weird history mix - rapiers were the swords of choice for just about everyone using a sword - sabers of the various types are descended from them. If you were going to keep them SQ, I'd certainly allow a buckler o be included in the cost, and a book on technique (there were tons of these).

[passengerpigeon]

I don't think they particularly need to be SQ, either, unles syou are playing in some weird history mix - rapiers were the swords of choice for just about everyone using a sword - sabers of the various types are descended from them. If you were going to keep them SQ, I'd certainly allow a buckler o be included in the cost, and a book on technique (there were tons of these).

This depends on when you're fighting. For the Age of Musketeers? Certainly, everybody's got a rapier. Late medieval? Rapiers are at least unusual, and using one effectively requires training wholly separate from the training you'd get as a soldier. I think the fine rp cost is justified in that case.

I also agree that bumping rapiers a range category is the best way to simulate them -- primacy of the point and all. (To say nothing of the arms race for having the longer sword; at one point, it was illegal in England to have a rapier longer than 6 feet!)

(Also, as far as I know, sabers are descended from backswords -- they're the swords you equip cavalry with when armor goes out of fashion and you no longer need huge hunks of curved metal, but can make do with little hunks.)

--p

[luke]

Hmm. How about...
Rapier Power 3, WSpeed fast, ADD 2, VA 0 & Strike Distance long. May be used to great strike?

i'd be ok with this, actually.

-L

[Ozark Tim]

A while ago I read a bit on how rapiers grew so thin that there were recorded instances of people being stabbed in the heart and taking days to die, and one instance of a man being stabbed through the heart and not dying at all.

Not that this particularly contributes to the discussion...

[well-dressed gentleman]

Here's a question for anyone who cares. Suppose I go with the majority and make rapiers power 2. The common sense stats would be Rapier = Sword -1 power +Fast speed.

So the superior rapier has VA 1. The standard rapier has VA 0. The poor rapier has no great strike (just like the poor sword).
Should I still make the rapier a longer weapon or back off and just keep it long? Or is this whole scheme misguided?

In other words, the rapier weapons could look like
Poor Rapier Power 2 ADD 2 Speed fast VA 0 Reach long OR longer
May not great strike
Standard Rapier Power 2 ADD 2 Speed fast VA 0 Reach long OR longer
May great strike
Expensive Rapier Power 2 ADD 2 Speed fast VA 1 Reach long OR longer
May great strike

I don't like making rapiers = clubs but maybe the problem is with clubs and staves being too fast.

[sirjaguar]

Since lunging was a key maneuver when fencing, how about leaving the rapier "long," but giving +1D when strking from lunging distance?