Vikings and their toys..

[Jaif]

How does your description of a broadaxe differ from the in-game description of the halberd, minus the pointy top?

I also don't agree that a pole with an axe head (any kind) should have an ATN of 6.  In-game, that's reserved for the short staff, quarterstaff, and spear, and I think that's the defining feature of those weapons versus other forms of polearms.

-Jeff

[kviksverd]

Fair enough :)

I'll go over some of my thinking behind it...

I envision it being in the Axe and Mass Weapon category, rather than the pole arm category--so the ATN isn't entirely out of the realm of possibility.

My original thought was to treat it as a 2H Hand Axe with damage increased to ST+3c, but then I thought, "Why would anyone choose it over the Pole Axe with its lower DTN and armor piercing capabilities?".  Of course, you could simply make it inferior, especially since the Pole Axe wasn't a contemporary of it in early periods--but I wanted there to be some reason to choose one over the other if they do exist side by side in a campaign.

Compared to the Halberd, it would tend to be a bit shorter and with a lighter head, thereby making it a more wieldy weapon.  I can see it being less useful in a defensive role however, so perhaps the DTN could be raised to 9.  The only problem there, is that I don't see the 2H Hand Axe being a better defensive weapon--but I could concede the point for balance if it's neccessary.

All in all, it's certainly open to a lot of interpretation--much of which is highly subjective.

My prefered version would be the one I presented, but if it proved to be unbalanced, I might go with the following...

DANISH BROADAXE

[*] 2H, long[*] ATN:  6[*] DTN:  9[*] Damage:  ST+3c[*] Notes:  as for Hand Axe[/list:u][/b]

[Lance D. Allen]

Hello Kviks,

In truth, TRoS isn't concerned with balance. If a weapon is inferior, give it inferior stats. If it's equal, then give it equal stats. If it's superior... You get the message, I'm sure.

Fact is though.. You're giving it an ATN of 6, which puts it on par with most swords for speed and ease of use in the attack. I think the objections to the stats were based on the reality of it. It doesn't seem very feasible that a large axe is going to have the ease and speed of a sword. Even if it did, it would be necessarily much lighter, which would kill it's mass, and therefore much of it's damaging capability. Fact is though.. With my recent experience with a poleaxe, it and many other such mass weapons do not have anything resembling the balance of a good sword. They are very much tip-heavy. Nothing like this could even compare with a sword in ease of use, and the primary virtues it would have would be sheer mass and damaging capability.

[kviksverd]

Hey Wolfen,

I guess my response to that would be that quickness and ease of use are only a couple of the things that go in to ATN.  The Mace, for example, has an ATN of 6, but it's hardly a finesse weapon.

Part of the sword's handiness is reflected by its generally superior DTN--it's responsive and relatively easy to get in to position to defend.  It's also versatile, and easy to carry.

As I see a lot of the mass weapons, their ATNs are pretty good, there's not a lot of finesse involved, but it's pretty simple to swing one, and they're hard to brush aside with anything but a solid defensive maneuver.  However, they are not responsive, and are therefore difficult to get in to position to defend.

Anyway, that's how I envision things working, and I'm trying to come up with stats that reflect these perceptions--as I said, it's all very subjective and open to individual interpretation.

Thanks all for the feedback!