Melee (Blades) Discussion

[10harold66]

Dagger is pretty straightforward. Stiletto, switchblade, penknife, box cutter, utility knife, leatherman, classic "D&D sized" jeweled dagger, etc.

Blade is a little iffy for me. Something like a corn knife or machete? Or a kukri, Bowie knife -- heavy knife with enough heft for hacking versus just stabbing/slashing? I don't understand the basket-hilt requirement, though.

Rapier and Cutlass are fine with me. No explanations required.

I was wondering if an axe might make its way into the final rules -- unless one always cuts trees/wood with lasers, I'd think an axe would still be handy. Not as hard to manufacture in a low-tech environment as a longer sword, either. Would make sense to me.

 

[rust]

I am not certain, but it seems to me that the weapon in the picture of
Review 2 that I would identify as a Blade does not have a basket hilt.
Besides, a basket hilt should not influence the "performance" of this
kind of weapon in any meaningful way, so in my view you could just
as well introduce "unusual" blades without basket hilts.

In my imagination a blade is indeed somewhere between a Bowie knife
and a (short) machete, or perhaps a Roman shortsword.

An axe would indeed be a nice addition, especially because it is also
used as a tool by firefighters, rescue teams, and thelike, and I doubt
that it will be possible to replace it completely with some high-tech
tool.

 

[AKAmra]

I'm inclined to equate a Blade as any short sword/large knife ( so yes to kukri, large bowie knife, machete). I'm presuming that the basket hilt description is a classic Traveller carryover, and can safely be disregarded - unless MGT is introducing some type of defensive/parrying bonus to this class of weapon.

I think that there may be a few weapon descriptions that have more to do with classic Traveller precedence rather than common parlance, like Broadsword being a heavy two-handed weapon. I'm new to Traveller, so this is just a guess.

I agree that the axe is a basic weapon/tool and it would be nice to have stats. However, it shouldn't be to hard to extrapolate if it's not. Since Traveller is a sci-fi game, it is forgivable if they don't cover lower tech items exhaustively.

 

[Emperor Herdan]

Yes Broadsword is indeed a CT term... many of the terms will be emmm slightly out of kilter now-a-days. To me (and others of a D&D or historical bent) it's a one handed weapon, but to CT/ and MGT its the 2 handed weapon.

Depending on the Axe, I would use the cutlass value (for a light axe) and the Broadsword value for a heavy axe.

You'll see a bigger choice once the suppliments come out... Especially more exotic things like "Entrenching tools" (Look its a light shovel ! ... No thats the Mark 14a Entrenching tool, Imperial Infantry) (which can be (and I'm surprised to admit to this) taught to be used as an improvised melee weapon that can cut, hack, or club someone in extremis)

I can hardly wait for the Micro-sledge to make a re-appearence


Take care

E. Herdan

 

[10harold66]

That's true about the supplements... I am thinking Bow Combat and the associated weapons might appear later-on. I keep thinking this rules set is going to have everything...

 

[Supplement Four]

Blade is a little iffy for me. Something like a corn knife or machete?

Yes. A "blade" is a large knife or very small sword (think machete) that dates back to the first incarnation of Traveller. But, even in Classic Traveller, the blade could be a bit confusing because the term "blade" was also used to refer to all melee weapons.

So, in CT, going through character generation, a character could roll a "Blade" skill. When this would happen, the player would have to decide which melee weapon he wanted his character to have a skill in. It cold be a polearm, like a spear. It could be a cutlass or a dagger. Or, it could even be a "blade", which is the large knife.

Later versions of Traveller made it a bit more confusing in that there were both Large Blade and Small Blade generic skills (where a player would have to choose a type of large blade, like a sword, or a small blade, like a knife).

As for the weapon itself, "Blade", in Classic Traveller is defined as: A hybrid knife weapon with a heavy, flat two-edged blade nearly 300mm in length, and a semi-basket handguard. Because of the bulk of the handguard, it is generally carried in a belt scabberd.

The weapon is TL 3, costs about 50Cr, and weighs about .35 kg.

Think of a weapon that a pirate from the 1500-1700's would use. Big, thick blade, with handguard, but short enough for use in close quarters.

The "Blade" is considered one of the iconic melee weapons in Traveller, as it is somewhat unique in role playing games. CT featured a lot of bladed weapons not only for ceremonial dress but for practical reasons as well -- on a vessel in space, a sharp melee weapon that doesn't produce a recoil that will send you spinning across the room when in Zero G, and that can also be just as deadly as a bullet to the head when used to cut Vacc Suit air lines or critical electrical cords (like the suit heater).