Size and Blades

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valise
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Size and Blades

Unread post by valise »

Greetings all.
It has been a long time since my last post. As the title plate says. Size and blades. In this particular case i come seeking the forums opinions and perspective. Once again i am playing my favorite race the almighty Rahu-Men. I am taking WP Paired, WP Sword, WP Fencing.
This rahumen swordsman will be packing
4 NE-RV04 Ripper Vibro-Sword (Large 1 handed sword.)(Dimension book 8, pg25)
MD 3d6, 4lb, 18,000 credits
2 NE-RV05 Ripper Vibro-Robot Sword (Large 2handed sword) (Dimension book 8, pg25)
MD 5d6, 10lb, 30,000 credits
Now in my opinion the large 1 handed sword vibro-sword is roughly the size of a knife for a rahumen. Of course i could be wrong entirely. Hence i come to you all seeking input. Should he use the 1 handed large sword as a knife, or just up damage the vibro-knife?
side not: GM as stated PS bonus stacks with melee weapons so my supernatural strength bonus will be a nice bonus to damage. weapons beyond the ones mentioned will be gained when possible.
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ShadowLogan
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Re: Size and Blades

Unread post by ShadowLogan »

Given the Rahu-men size is over-sized power armor/cyborg or small 'bot. Which puts it at x2-x3 the size of a human.

Based on the size in the generic weapon table (I am looking at the one in PF2E, though its been C&P elsewhere):
-NE-RV04 will be more like a short sword than a knife size IMHO. Short Swords are between 1/3-1/2 in terms of length vs height of wielder, a large sword would be 1/2-3/4 (approx., using a 6' human, though Elves can get 6'10" and then Dwarves down to 3' with Giant kicking in at 7' and Gnome Size at less than 3', and Rahu-men are 12-15' tall). No length is listed for the vibro-blades, but if we assume human-size customer.
-The NE-RV05 might be a difficult to dual wield, even with the four arms IMHO (the pair of arms I would think would get in the way of each other).
valise
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Re: Size and Blades

Unread post by valise »

ShadowLogan wrote:Given the Rahu-men size is over-sized power armor/cyborg or small 'bot. Which puts it at x2-x3 the size of a human.

Based on the size in the generic weapon table (I am looking at the one in PF2E, though its been C&P elsewhere):
-NE-RV04 will be more like a short sword than a knife size IMHO. Short Swords are between 1/3-1/2 in terms of length vs height of wielder, a large sword would be 1/2-3/4 (approx., using a 6' human, though Elves can get 6'10" and then Dwarves down to 3' with Giant kicking in at 7' and Gnome Size at less than 3', and Rahu-men are 12-15' tall). No length is listed for the vibro-blades, but if we assume human-size customer.
-The NE-RV05 might be a difficult to dual wield, even with the four arms IMHO (the pair of arms I would think would get in the way of each other).


-nods- Intresting, ok. I can see that. I will keep it in mind. thank you for your perspective.
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Soldier of Od
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Re: Size and Blades

Unread post by Soldier of Od »

I have to say, I am perhaps a little harsher than most GMs when it comes to giant sized beings wielding human sized weapons, but my opinion is that the Rahu-man would find it very difficult to wield a human-sized sword. Yes, the length of the blade might be equivalent to the normal length of a knife or short-sword for a giant, but the handle is still sized for a human hand - the Rahu-man's hand would simply swamp the sword handle. Imagine a human trying to wield a sword that had a handle less than half the length and diameter that it should be. You could hold it, but can you use it effectively in combat? What are the chances of you fumbling and dropping it? I say your Rahu-man needs to source custom made giant-sized weapons. Or at least apply some penalties when using human weapons in combat.
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Re: Size and Blades

Unread post by Killer Cyborg »

Soldier of Od wrote:I have to say, I am perhaps a little harsher than most GMs when it comes to giant sized beings wielding human sized weapons, but my opinion is that the Rahu-man would find it very difficult to wield a human-sized sword. Yes, the length of the blade might be equivalent to the normal length of a knife or short-sword for a giant, but the handle is still sized for a human hand - the Rahu-man's hand would simply swamp the sword handle. Imagine a human trying to wield a sword that had a handle less than half the length and diameter that it should be. You could hold it, but can you use it effectively in combat? What are the chances of you fumbling and dropping it? I say your Rahu-man needs to source custom made giant-sized weapons. Or at least apply some penalties when using human weapons in combat.


IIRC, the Pogtal Dragonslayer in VK1 used a human-sized flaming sword as a dagger.
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Re: Size and Blades

Unread post by Soldier of Od »

Killer Cyborg wrote:
Soldier of Od wrote:I have to say, I am perhaps a little harsher than most GMs when it comes to giant sized beings wielding human sized weapons, but my opinion is that the Rahu-man would find it very difficult to wield a human-sized sword. Yes, the length of the blade might be equivalent to the normal length of a knife or short-sword for a giant, but the handle is still sized for a human hand - the Rahu-man's hand would simply swamp the sword handle. Imagine a human trying to wield a sword that had a handle less than half the length and diameter that it should be. You could hold it, but can you use it effectively in combat? What are the chances of you fumbling and dropping it? I say your Rahu-man needs to source custom made giant-sized weapons. Or at least apply some penalties when using human weapons in combat.

IIRC, the Pogtal Dragonslayer in VK1 used a human-sized flaming sword as a dagger.
For what that's worth.

Now you mention it, I think you are right. I'd still impose penalties in my games though! :demon:
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valise
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Re: Size and Blades

Unread post by valise »

Thank you for the comments and perspective. it is something i thought of also. the quick and dirt sulotion that jumped to mind would be a modified grip for them, just to avoid having to stat from scratch build. thoe i guess i hsould get off my lazy rear and dig through my books and just compare the giant npc's and there gear for something equivalent. I do attest i like the ripper vibro weapons. As the rahu-men is a TW, i have this mental image of 2 silver plated ripper giant vibro swords strapped to his back that have been enhnaced with magic, and 4 silver plated ripper vibro knives in knife sheaths on his chest that have also been enhanced by his tw abilities..
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Re: Size and Blades

Unread post by Killer Cyborg »

Soldier of Od wrote:
Killer Cyborg wrote:
Soldier of Od wrote:I have to say, I am perhaps a little harsher than most GMs when it comes to giant sized beings wielding human sized weapons, but my opinion is that the Rahu-man would find it very difficult to wield a human-sized sword. Yes, the length of the blade might be equivalent to the normal length of a knife or short-sword for a giant, but the handle is still sized for a human hand - the Rahu-man's hand would simply swamp the sword handle. Imagine a human trying to wield a sword that had a handle less than half the length and diameter that it should be. You could hold it, but can you use it effectively in combat? What are the chances of you fumbling and dropping it? I say your Rahu-man needs to source custom made giant-sized weapons. Or at least apply some penalties when using human weapons in combat.

IIRC, the Pogtal Dragonslayer in VK1 used a human-sized flaming sword as a dagger.
For what that's worth.

Now you mention it, I think you are right. I'd still impose penalties in my games though! :demon:


Unless the grip is modified, that would make realistic sense in a lot of cases.
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Re: Size and Blades

Unread post by Mack »

This is my head-canon... I always figured any location that has a significant number of Dbees would have a cottage industry of modifying human items for their use. So if a Rahu-man is in Lazlo, he buys large vibro-sword at a weapon shop then walks across the street to a mod-vendor who will replace the grip (if the weapon shop doesn't have the capability in-house).
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Re: Size and Blades

Unread post by guardiandashi »

Mack wrote:This is my head-canon... I always figured any location that has a significant number of Dbees would have a cottage industry of modifying human items for their use. So if a Rahu-man is in Lazlo, he buys large vibro-sword at a weapon shop then walks across the street to a mod-vendor who will replace the grip (if the weapon shop doesn't have the capability in-house).

replace or add onto the grip as needed, it all depends on how hard it would be to replace.

to use a rather extreme example, lets say someone buys a rune sword like the sword of Atlantis and they are a giant. I strongly suspect you CANNOT remove and replace the hilt of a rune sword. however I could make a 2ish part hilt that has a cutout inside it for the hilt of the runesword, and then clamp the new hilt around the real hilt of the sword to make it so the person/giant can actually grip it correctly.
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Re: Size and Blades

Unread post by Fenris2020 »

Soldier of Od wrote:I have to say, I am perhaps a little harsher than most GMs when it comes to giant sized beings wielding human sized weapons, but my opinion is that the Rahu-man would find it very difficult to wield a human-sized sword. Yes, the length of the blade might be equivalent to the normal length of a knife or short-sword for a giant, but the handle is still sized for a human hand - the Rahu-man's hand would simply swamp the sword handle. Imagine a human trying to wield a sword that had a handle less than half the length and diameter that it should be. You could hold it, but can you use it effectively in combat? What are the chances of you fumbling and dropping it? I say your Rahu-man needs to source custom made giant-sized weapons. Or at least apply some penalties when using human weapons in combat.



Since the handle of a knife or dagger is smaller than that of a sword... And most human-sized swords would be about the same comparative size, I just treat one-handed swords as WP Knife for giants. Two-handed blades become one-handed, and might need a grip modification.
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Re: Size and Blades

Unread post by Shark_Force »

here's my perspective on it:

you're talking about a modification that likely costs a few hundred credits on a weapon that is selling for tens of thousands of credits.

the companies that sell the weapons are not going to want to miss out on a 20,000 credit sale (if not substantially more than that) for the sake of a 200 credit modification. they may or may not offer it as a free service (and by free I mean calculated into the cost of the item in the first place of course), but if we're talking about a shop where a 12 foot tall four-armed person can just walk in and buy a vibro-blade the shop is going to either be able to offer the service of re-sizing it themselves, or they will have some sort of deal in place for someone else to do it, unless it is in the absolute middle of nowhere.

Naruni Enterprises didn't get rich selling weapons to who knows how many different alien species by having grips on their equipment that can't be modified.

(that said, iirc there's a vibro-halberd in the first phase world book that is pretty awesome, and would avoid the question entirely).
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Re: Size and Blades

Unread post by Blackwater Sniper »

A giant (or being with more than augmented strength) using a standard weapon meant for humanoids may cause it to break. (DMs discretion) It just wouldn't be capable of handling the torque and strain of slamming against a solid object without developing stress fractures.
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Re: Size and Blades

Unread post by Shark_Force »

these weapons are MDC structures. if you took a modern tank main gun and shot the blade at point blank range, you *might* be able to break it.

I'm not saying it's impossible that a giant-sized creature might put too much force on the blade while using it, but I *am* saying that I think it's pretty unlikely.
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Re: Size and Blades

Unread post by Fenris2020 »

Blackwater Sniper wrote:A giant (or being with more than augmented strength) using a standard weapon meant for humanoids may cause it to break. (DMs discretion) It just wouldn't be capable of handling the torque and strain of slamming against a solid object without developing stress fractures.



I can see that happening to an SDC weapon.
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