Melee Weapon (DX/Varies) is not one skill, but an entire collection of skills which fall into broad categories on the basis of overall balance and function.
Defaults: DX-4 if Easy, DX-5 if Average, or DX-6 if Hard.
Parry defense is (skill/2) + 3, rounded down.
Fencing Weapons[]
Fencing weapons are agile blades that benefit from fancy footwork. They have half the usual penalty for multiple parries (-2 instead of -4)[1] and gain improved parries when retreating (+3 instead of +1)[2]. As such, these are excellent weapons for agile melee-fighters, like swashbucklers! They have a downside, however, and will get a penalty equal to one's encumbrance level (-3 for Heavy, for instance).
DX/Average
Default: to one another at -3 and other sword skills
- Main-Gauche: Jitte/Sai-4 or Knife-4. -- The Main-Gauche is essentially a knife used for parrying in the off hand.
- Rapier: Broadsword-4. See Style Perk
- Saber: Broadsword-4 (for cavalry sabers) or Shortsword-4.
- Smallsword: Shortsword-4
For more details, see Fencing Weapons!
Flails[]
DX/Hard
Default: to one another at -3 with other
- Flail: Axe/Mace-4
- Two Handed Flail: Kusari-4 or Two-Handed Axe/Mace-4.
Axe/Mace[]
DX/Average
Default: to one another at -3 with different defaults to other weapons
- Axe/Mace: Flail-4
- Two-Handed Axe/Mace: Polearm-4 or Two-Handed Flail-4.
Pole Weapons[]
Weapons mounted on poles. They tend to have good reach, and have the very useful benefit of performing a stop thrust, very useful against larger, clumsier enemies.
DX/Average
- Polearm: Spear-4, Staff-4, or Two-Handed Axe/Mace-4.
- Spear: Polearm-4 or Staff-2. Kromm discusses benefits in Wait Maneuver clarification
- Staff: Polearm-4 or Spear-2.
Swords[]
DX/Average (except where noted)
- Broadsword: Force Sword-4, Rapier-4, Saber-4, Shortsword-2, or Two-Handed Sword-4[3]
- Includes Katana
- Force Sword: any sword skill at -3[4]
- Jitte/Sai: Force Sword-4, Main-Gauche-4, or Shortsword-3 -- These are "catching" weapons built to bind enemy blades!
- Knife (DX/Easy): Force Sword-3, Main-Gauche-3, or Shortsword-3.
- Shortsword: Broadsword-2, Force Sword-4, Jitte/Sai-3, Knife-4, Saber-4, Smallsword-4, or Tonfa-3.
- Two-Handed Sword: Broadsword-4 or Force Sword-4.
Force Swords[]
Some unique notes:
- B272 with a note on B274 describes them as doing burning damage rather than the usual impaling or cutting
- Ultratech 166 clarifies this is Tight-Beam, making them able to target eyes unlike normal burning damage
- they also presumably can't do hitting with the flat for blunt damage, though the non-energy hilt may be usable for Pummeling at close range
- Fast-Draw seems to cover both removing the hilt from one's torso AND igniting it, and doesn't seem to reward already having it in hand prior to igniting it
- B274 mentions "Extra energy cells cost $100, weigh 0.5 lb., and last 300 seconds."
- UT166 uses the shorthand "C/300 seconds." to represent that
- this also adds the Force Blade and Force Glaive and Variable Force Sword
- Blades specialize in close combat, where the Force Blade traditionally could not parry.
- Long Weapons in Close Combat allows this, with -4 per yard of longest reach, which is -2 for a reach 1 weapon:
- Blades specialize in close combat, where the Force Blade traditionally could not parry.
- this also adds the Force Blade and Force Glaive and Variable Force Sword
- UT166 uses the shorthand "C/300 seconds." to represent that
Whips[]
Default: to one another at -3
- Force Whip (DX/Average)
- Kusari (DX/Hard): Two-Handed Flail-4.
- Monowire Whip (DX/Hard)
- Whip (DX/Average): Any ordinary whip
Other Weapons[]
Hand weapons that defy easy classification.
- Tonfa (DX/Average): Shortsword-3
Quotes[]
Kromm[]
2009 http://forums.sjgames.com/showpost.php?p=755088&postcount=8
- I believe that the confusion here stems from the fact that "melee weapon" as a term of art is frequently taken to encompass natural weaponry.
- This is why punches, kicks, teeth, and strikers appear on the Melee Weapon Table (p. B271), and why Melee Attacks (p. B369) states, "You can make a melee attack using any ready melee weapon (including a natural weapon such as a kick, bite, or punch) . . .".
- That is the sense intended here, anyway.
- We're using "weapon" in the way that unarmed strikers often speak of knees, elbows, fists, and feet as "weapons."
GURPS Video[]
- GURPS Weapons (Playlist)
References[]
- โ Basic Set, p.576
- โ Basic Set, p.377
- โ Sean Punch has commented on Broadsword in the following posts to the SJG GURPS Forums:
- โ 2004 discussion Probably most well known in fiction via Star Wars lightsabres, but it also appears in a variety of other genres, such as Kingdom Hearts II; analysis of improper jedi techniques, focus on Rey