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Dark Immolation
 
PostPosted: Mon, Jun 01 2015, 1:05 AM 

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Joined: 20 Apr 2008
Location: The downeaster "Alexa"

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Much like the other thread, this is intended as a forum to martial disciplines both in FR and real life. Why does your PC use whatever particular weapon (beyond your build intentions)? Who taught them? What do other warriors from their homeland look and fight like? There's a lot of neat discussion to be had. For instance, one thing that always surprised me was how many people(fellow martial artist friends included) thought unarmed traditions only happened in the more easterly places, while things like the Codex Wallertsein show us knights could be just as versed in judo-flipping people too. I'm no SCA nut though, as a disclaimer, and I find it much more interesting to discuss training and military tactics at their own merit, rather than debating if broadswords are better than katanas, or how many Winged Hussars could take on how many Shinobi. It's my hope that other people will steer away from that too, in the interest of just getting creative ideas out there, rather than smacking them down. I'm sure everyone would much rather hear someones interesting take on an Escrima-based Hin Weaponmaster than how your knight is more knightly that so-and-so's knight.

Anyway, I could do a list here, but there are dozens that come to mind and I'd end up forgetting some. I'm sure everyone can find some on their own or knows them off the top of their head. This is the internet after all. Everyone's a kung fu master with like a dozen katanas. *pushes embarrassingly cheap sword collection from teenage years under bed. Sweats profusely.*

Edit: Somewhat related, the old Monastic and Martial Style thread from PC Stories. viewtopic.php?f=3&t=33065

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You think Magic is your ally... but you merely adopted the Art. He was born in it. Molded by it.
Sometimes, an angel is simply a devil with better intentions.


 
      
Dark Immolation
 
PostPosted: Wed, Jan 17 2018, 3:43 AM 

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Location: The downeaster "Alexa"

It's been forever since I've thought about this topic, but it should get put to use. I was reminded of it when I saw these videos of cinematic/choreographed fencing. I believe these are both of a German swordfighting tradition, but I'm not sure. I don't put huge weight on realism as many know, but I feel like it's a good jumping off point for ideas. Once you already know what is possible, it lets you more easily think about what things could be done with magic, superhuman strength, etc.

Lonsword Duel
Landsknecht Fight

A bit of food for thought, though. Why did your character learn to fight? Why do they fight in the manner they do(melee, ranged)?

Many people think of the how, the when, and from whom. But for many not immediately born into dangerous situations, they might have elected to in order to be an adventurer. For my characters, I'd say necessity is the most common answer. Of my two mains, both had fairly turbulent childhoods(one moreso than the other, being in the Underdark). But later, that knowledge was honed and fostered, when the opportunity presented itself. I think that's mostly because I like the trope of a "spark" of talent being seen by a teacher that is then shaped and disciplined into an actual tool and gift to the student. It lends itself more easily to good storytelling than sort of being born great at something, though there are many races like orcs, goblins, monstrous creatures in general where I'd actually find that more believable for a character.

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You think Magic is your ally... but you merely adopted the Art. He was born in it. Molded by it.
Sometimes, an angel is simply a devil with better intentions.


 
      
Suhjet
 
PostPosted: Thu, Jan 18 2018, 11:47 AM 

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I'm not really sure how to reply to this thread, but I'll try by starting with your food-for-thought.

My character, Melsa, learned to fight out of necessity, much like many others I would assume. However, I'll preface that her childhood was quite mundane and borderline boring up until a significant event in her mid-teens. Otherwise, it would have been likely that she would have been just another farm girl living the peasant life on the outskirts of a town as an NPC. In order to survive, you must learn to fight.
Skipping ahead, her skills in swordplay (as well as the arcane) become honed under the tutelage of Aven Srylle; Melsa becomes an effective duelist (in meta), but otherwise is a shitty magus. After a few years, she becomes more well-rounded in magic and learns to handle a variety of weapons with relative ease. But with that said, she is still a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none in that regard.

To describe her fighting style, I'd say her fencing is reminiscent of Destreza granted her time using a rapier. If I wished to go over-the-top, I'd push for something more like Weiss from RWBY.
Her second most-used weapon is the greatsword, modeled after an impractically large blade at that. I'd use the barbarian ACP if it didn't conflict with cloaks so much. In my mind, she uses it without any true technique. It's a big, sharp, heavy piece of metal and she swings it around sloppily. But make no mistake; if it hits, it hits hard.
Once it comes down to sword & board, though, she'll fight more conservatively, in a way more rooted in reality.
She has magic on top of all of this to augment her combat prowess, but I don't ever expect to see her step into the realm of GREATEST ANIME BATTLE tier combat.

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Melsa

There are horrors beyond life's edge that we do not suspect,
and once in a while, man's evil prying calls them just within our range.


 
      
Richard_Edmund
 
PostPosted: Thu, Jan 18 2018, 16:56 PM 

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Location: Western Australia (+8 GMT)

I have always believed weapon masters practice kenjutsu or kendo, or a variation of these two combat styles. Kenjutsu being your weapon masters skill and deadliness with the blade and kendo being the balance of the weapon masters mind and body, giving them their Ki powers. I'm also fairly certain that the choreography in the Star Wars franchise revolving around lightsaber duels was based off these two forms as well.

Elwyn herself fights very differently depending if she's Monkey Gripping or not. If she's wielding her sword in both hands, she's truly the master of her sword, and it is when her bond is strongest when she's true to the nature of her blade, as it is two-handed. When she's using her shield, her style switches to a variation of HEMA (Or variations thereof), favouring defence over her bond.

As for military traditions, in relation to Faerun, I don't think it's as convoluted as all that. In my mind, PrC classes are rare, that only the most seasoned or experienced of adventurers manage a few levels in them. Your standard army will consist of what a historical army would. Infantry, archers, cavalry, etc, with the odd mage or priest scattered in units or even across an entire army.

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Dark Immolation
 
PostPosted: Sat, Jan 20 2018, 0:29 AM 

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Location: The downeaster "Alexa"

Those are all very interesting answers. And I think you're right about the PrC thing, but I think that goes for most "classes" in general. That's why NPCs, in P&P at least, generally get different, water downed classes than PCs unless they're someone special. "Adventurers" are like 1:1000 or so I think was a previous estimate.

I do like the idea of how military strategy in general might change in a world with magical units. Not just elemental artillery, but people that can literally change the terrain of a battlefield. A sort of magical-minded Sun Tzu's The Art of War was going to be the follow-up book to my PC's Spellsword's Manifesto, which itself was supposed to be a magical The Book of Five Rings. But his path changed ICly, and it never got written. Someone else should get on that!

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You think Magic is your ally... but you merely adopted the Art. He was born in it. Molded by it.
Sometimes, an angel is simply a devil with better intentions.


 
      
Dark Immolation
 
PostPosted: Mon, Feb 19 2018, 4:56 AM 

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Location: The downeaster "Alexa"

A couple more things:

Italian Longsword Techniques
Zulu and Filipino Kali Stick Techniques

Two different fighting styles, but watching them brought me back once again to character ideas. A PC's weapon of choice(if you get can beyond the mechanics) might speak to their personality. Are they methodical in fighting, or is their goal to end the fight as quickly as possible?

There are of course different techniques and styles that can tell a character's personality too, but at a face level, it's pretty true of my characters. One uses a bastard sword/Elven Courtblade. Most often his strategies, large or small, involve devastating and disabling force. He seeks to fully and completely escalate the fight to its maximum, immediately. He'll strip your enchantments first, or perhaps disable you in some fashion, but the ultimate goal is to beat you and anyone standing near you into a smoldering crater. Long fights are annoying and to that end, his fighting style is a reflection of his impatience. Or at least his persistence to a goal, once he sets his mind on it.

The other uses a Rapier/Saber. She is a smiter and focuses on foresight. She's more of a duelist, so of course she uses a duelist's weapon. Compared to the other PC, she is more than willing to wait and feel you out, knowing that it's only one strike she really needs before she can fly off to another part of the battlefield or target another prominent enemy. On some level, I think that's evolved from her reservation to fighting and killing things that aren't an immediate(and Evil) threat. If she's fighting a wave of mooks rather than staring down the general, or stabbing something non-evil rather than persuading or intimidating it into non-aggression, she'd consider it to be a failure of duty on some level.

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You think Magic is your ally... but you merely adopted the Art. He was born in it. Molded by it.
Sometimes, an angel is simply a devil with better intentions.


 
      
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