Out-of-Character Chat

[Joe the Rat]

Thanks for the answers. I figure the torch would work decently as a defense weapon - less the blocking of attacks and more of the "Y'know, I want to hit that guy, but he keeps waving a flaming stick at me, and I don't want to be set on fire today" sense.


Arehzo - Yeouch, tight budget. Also, you might want to add a whetstone to your gear list. A big guy with a big sword ought to be able to sit there and menacingly sharpen it when the need arises.

[Iain_IF]

Some possibly odd questions about the rules.

1. Is an unlit torch equivalent to a club? I ask because a club does 1d4 but a torch does 1d3.
2. Am I correct in my understanding that only Small weapons can be wielded in the off hand? Can all Small weapons be wielded in the off hand?
3. Is it correct that a weapon in the off hand can be used similar to a shield as per Combat Options p. 2? Can thieves use a weapon in their off hand defensively?
4. Am I correct in my understanding that off hand weapons can't be used to defend against missile fire?
5. Is there any benefit to having a bigger (or smaller) shield? I don't see any, but wanted to make sure.
6. What happens when you wield two shields?
7. Do heavy crossbows fire every round?
8. Is the ratio of 12.5:1 for a silvered weapon (obtained from silver dagger:dagger) constant? Would a silvered short sword cost 75 GP?

[Joe the Rat]

I can field a couple of these:

1. Torches are 6 to the pound, a club is 1 pound - it would be a rather light, and somewhat sticky club. I assume part or all of the damage would be from fire. It's up to Joe as to if an unlit torch does 1d3, or if weighted torch sconces are available to give us proper flaming clubs.

4. Yes. The defense bonus specifically against a single melee attacker.

7. Heavy crossbows fire 1 per 3 rounds.

[JoeCarr28]

Some possibly odd questions about the rules.

1. Is an unlit torch equivalent to a club? I ask because a club does 1d4 but a torch does 1d3.
2. Am I correct in my understanding that only Small weapons can be wielded in the off hand? Can all Small weapons be wielded in the off hand?
3. Is it correct that a weapon in the off hand can be used similar to a shield as per Combat Options p. 2? Can thieves use a weapon in their off hand defensively?
4. Am I correct in my understanding that off hand weapons can't be used to defend against missile fire?
5. Is there any benefit to having a bigger (or smaller) shield? I don't see any, but wanted to make sure.
6. What happens when you wield two shields?
7. Do heavy crossbows fire every round?
8. Is the ratio of 12.5:1 for a silvered weapon (obtained from silver dagger:dagger) constant? Would a silvered short sword cost 75 GP?

1. No. The primary function of a torch is to provide illumination, not thwack people. It is, at best, an improvised weapon. Hence the lower damage. Also, from a game balance perspective, why would you ever use a club if a torch delivered the same level of damage whilst simultaneously providing illumination and being cheaper and lighter?

2. The Combat Options supplement is rather ambiguous on this point. The text states that "the secondary must be dagger, handaxe, or similar very small weapon". I think for clarity and consistency we'll say that any weapon classified as "small" on page 11 of the rulebook can be used as an off-hand weapon, i.e. hand axes, daggers, shortswords and warhammers. Incidentally, Arehzo previously asked a similar question and I said that a shortsword couldn't be used as an off-hand weapon - that decision is now reversed.

3. Two-weapon combat is available to all characters. The difference between a shield and a defensive off-hand weapon is that a shield provides an AC bonus against all attacks, whilst an off-hand weapon only provides an AC bonus against a single melee attack. So an off-hand weapon provides no additional protection against the 2nd, 3rd, etc. attacks against a given character in a given round, or against any missile fire.

4. Yes. See question 3 above and Other Joe's answer.

5. No. There is just one standard shield in Basic Fantasy.

6. Ummm ... you get a +2 bonus to AC, but at the expense of being able to attack?

7. Other Joe is right (page 47 of the rulebook). Also, light crossbows fire once per two rounds. Actually, I'm not sure if I've enforced these rate of fire rules previously, but will do so henceforth.

8. No. A non-standard silver weapon will be a bespoke item. It won't have a standard list price.

[Arehzo]

If I want to switch to dual shorthanded swords now with the new rule change, do I need to sell back the 2-Handed27th Sword, or can I swap out? Also can I change my specialization back to shortsword, or is that set now?

[Arehzo]

Also a blanket apology, I own a marketing agency and I'm on the road a lot, so a lot of posts are coming from my phone. hopefully the errors will be at a minimum, but they might occur from time to time. I'll try my best to fix anything egregious.

[JoeCarr28]

If I want to switch to dual shorthanded swords now with the new rule change, do I need to sell back the 2-Handed27th Sword, or can I swap out? Also can I change my specialization back to shortsword, or is that set now?

Sure, make any changes that you wish. Just swap your weapons and specialisation to suit.

[Iain_IF]

I ask about the off Hand parry because it seems to violate the Mage and thief no shield rule. For example, I can carry a torch in my off hand and gain a +1 to my AC even though I can't wield a shield.

[Hywaywolf]

If you want a logical explanation its because a shield is big and bulky and if metal can make noise if you bang it against things. A thief doesn't spend time training with it because its would be hard to be stealthy carrying it around. But two handed weapon proficiency assumes you have trained your offhand to be useful. A dagger would be something a thief would have anyway and wouldn't effect his stealthiness to carry it around in the off hand. A torch is something we might be carrying anyway and its less used as a matter of skill as it is just a deterrent to the attacker just because its flaming.

[JoeCarr28]

The "Marketstone Lorebook" campaign background topic was rather neglected, so I've removed it from the forum and transferred all such information across to Obsidian Portal. This is a nice web-based tool for managing campaign details. It's primarily for my benefit so that I can track and collate NPCs, timelines, items, notes, etc., but it might also be a useful occasional reference for the players as well. The link is below.

The Marketstone Campaign at Obsidian Portal