"You must spread some Experience Points around before giving it to Meatboy again."I didn't realize that I ever gave you experience before. I don't want to spread experience around. Those whom I feel deserve experience have received experience. Therefore instead I say thank you, Meatboy, thank you for posting that movie. I'd noticed it before, but I never watched it all the way through because it was a bit slow. But that movie is excellent once they really get going - particularly when they discuss shields.
I've always known from sparring with weapons that shields were very good and badly underrated by most systems, but because we always padded the weapons and left the shields bare, we didn't use them aggressively the way they use them there, and that's a shame. Seeing them manipulate one anothers' shields is fascinating, and totally contradicts the minor role shields play in almost every published roleplaying game. +1 AC, +1 Combat, or 1 in 6 parry? Maybe for a buckler. For a large shield like they use, multiply that by four, at least.
Seeing the aggressive way that shields are used also, to my way of thinking, provides further evidence that combat systems meshing attack and defense together are quite realistic. Zenobia just uses one Combat statistic, and shields give +1 to this rating (relative to weapons which give anywhere from +1 to +3 alone). Although I never liked the way this prevented you from making a character who was strong vs. quick, or aggressive vs. defensive, it did jive with my experiences as a fighter to simply have one Combat vs. Combat roll.
I also really liked the way they dealt with leg attacks. I always used them, and found them hard to cope with if I didn't have a large shield, but if you're willing to pivot from a left lead to a right lead your extension will be superior. In my experience I would double-hit against an opponent who tried a chop against my low lunge, which is a poor trade for the lunger, but perhaps practicing this technique would always allow a chop or thrust to defeat a lunge at the legs.
Thank you again. And if, in weeks to come, other people have earned experience from me, I will return to this post and give it to you.
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