The Burning Wheel Staff Weapon Stats

[SirEktar]

A slight aside:

I can't seem to find the weapon stats for a Staff - any suggestions?

I was thinking Pow:2 Add:2, Slow, VA:1

[well-dressed gentleman]

MAYBE:

Primitive Gear....power..add.....wspeed....VA
Staff (1,2,3)............2........2........Slow........-

1 two-handed
2 may great strike
3 extended 3 pace striking distance


This would trade the speed of a club for some extended reach,
creating a unique primitive / poor quality weapon.



OR:

Primitive Gear....power..add....wspeed....VA
Staff (1,2,3)............1........2........Fast........-

1 two-handed
2 may great strike
3 extended 3 pace striking distance


This would trade the power of a spear for some extended reach,
creating a different primitive / poor quality weapon.

[luke]

The staff is a really interesting weapon.

You can totally make it a simple Pow 2, Add 2, VA -, Slow Weapon with Great Strike capability and extended Striking distance.

But I make them a little more versatile: As a thrusting weapon use Pow 1, Add 2, VA -, Fast; as a smashing weapon Pow 2, Add 2, VA -, Slow.

That means that you can Strike consecutively with the Power 1 side, or go from thrust to swing to thrust (Pow 1 to 2 to 1), or stick with Power 2 and go Strike, Counterstrike, Strike, Avoid type scripts.

Also, if any of you have read Musashi, you know that a staff can also be thrown like a spear! Thunk! Use the Thrown Rock DOF at Power 2.

-L

[Pheel]

What about adding Specific Training to a weapon to reflect a certain style. This would work like limited martial arts rules. So, in the case of staff, say you have stats pow2/add2/VA-/slow. But once you pay 2 point for training, the weapon speed increases to fast. Now the user has expanded his repetoire from bashing to spinning, attacking with fast flurries. Also, a staff held in both hands in really hard to get inside...

This rule mod could work with all sorts of weapons. For example, for users of the infamous dopplehander, 2 point traning could open up "half-swording," choking up on the blade and using it as a piercing weapon at close range. It would take one action to shift the grip, but after that, the sword would have a different set of stats -- it wouldn't do as much damage, but it's VA would increase (thrusting through armor instead of cutting), and it should always be available to block (being held more like a staff than sword).

A character without the additional training could still kick traditional ass, but the training would give an edge to characters who really want a signature weapon.

Thoughts, questions, flames?

[LordSmerf]

Screw Training Skills...

Write up some Martial Arts style Moves for weapon skills like ...

Staff Ability - Flashing Hands Ob 3
A Staff becomes a Fast speed weapon for you.

Thomas

[luke]

guys,
while I think the general ideas you are going after are cool, what we are talking about is pretty mundane. I think being able to thrust and smack with a staff falls well within the purview of the skill.

If you want to put in some REAL special moves, then we can talk. Anybody seen Once Upon a Time in China Parts 1 and 2?

-L

[LordSmerf]

Very well then...

Extending the Hand - Ob 2
If you preceed a Lunge attack with a Set-Lunge action you forgo the standard +1 Ob penalty.

Relinquishing the Grasp - Ob 4
You may now use your Staff skill to throw your staff.
Point Blank: 2
Lob: x1
Throw: x2
Hurl: x4
Use standard stats for a Staff
Use rock DoF.
(NOTE: This is a spinning throw - the staff flips end-for-end on it's way to the target, not an in-line throw.)

The Phantom Hand - Ob 6
When throwing your staff you may add +2 Ob to throw it in such a way that it bounces back into your hand. If you successfully hit your target, regardless of whether damage is dealt, you get the staff back at the end of this volley.

How does that sound?

Thomas

[luke]

cool.

How about

Willow Branch Bends in the Storm Wind
Ob 5

The martial artist has such command of his weapon that he may bend it into unlikely contortions. Using a post or wall corner as a fulcrum, he may Strike around corners without penalty. Also, after performing a Great Strike, he may use the reverse momentum of the weapon to Strike an adjacent target within 1 pace. No action need be expended.

Lastly, using the staff as a spring, he may FoRK his Staff skill into Speed when leaping.

-L

[LordSmerf]

Nice, i especially like the FoRK for jumps... Oh, and the rebounding strike...

Thomas

[Tom B]

I've seen very few game systems that can accurately model a staff. At one time, I was pretty good with a staff. Not as a martial arts style, but just using a big stick.

You can make very quick striking attacks while continuously parrying, you can shift your grip and make slower but more powerful strikes, and you can feint and strike almost simultaneously. You can also slip in thrusting attacks and make sweep attacks. These are not different skills practiced while using a staff...they're all part of the single 'staff' skill, because they're not used individually, but part of a continuously moving and shifting pattern of attack and defense.

Most weapon stats treat a staff as just a big stick...but in the hands of anyone who knows how to use it, it rapidly becomes much more.

I've just starting reading the BW rules, though. It'll be awhile before I can intelligently discuss weapon stats.

Tom B.

[Kublai]

A few more special moves seem in order, methinks.

How about a Sweeping Strike that works exactly as the Sweep Kick described in Tae Poong Do?

Maybe a Stike & Block move that mimics the Shield training benefits or two-weapon training. Basically, the staff would always get a blocking die or something.

[Manicrack]

I love the idea of using the staff to strike and block at te same time. This reminds me of the hiltstrike rule for the big heavy weapons. when you strike with both ends, one after another, you're able to strike faster. Then maybe when you don't, the power raises from 1 to 2 for as long as you are a slowpoke.

-Crack