Melee Weapon (skills)

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) and gain improved parries when retreating (+3 instead of +1). 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.
  • how to hold the quarterstaff

Swords

DX/Average (except where noted)

• Broadsword: Force Sword-4, Rapier-4, Saber-4, Shortsword-2, or Two-Handed Sword-4
  • Includes Katana
• Force Sword: any sword skill at -3
• 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:

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)