Walking with swords

[Quartz]

A group walked up a hill, in and around various foliage with various swords, from a Viking sword to a montante to a katana.


Educational and instructive. The easiest swords were the smaller ones and the katana because they could be left alone, and, curiously, the montante because the wielder could use it like a walking staff (but required a hand which some of the smaller swords did not). Medium-sized swords like the longsword and rapier and grossmesser required the use of a hand to steady things for varying amounts of time. The more difficult ones were the two-handed sword in the back scabbard which kept snagging and was difficult to draw and the grossmesser because it dragged on the ground. Some crossguards came in for criticism for painfully poking through clothes.

 

[aco175]

A spear might be best for taking a hike through the hills. Maybe a quarterstaff? Swords get all the fun and attention though.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

"But is it better than dancing with wolves?"

-A. Ranger​

 

[Quartz]

A spear might be best for taking a hike through the hills. Maybe a quarterstaff? Swords get all the fun and attention though.

A sensible adventurer would have both spear and sword, surely?

 

[Quartz]

Does anyone else remember the story of Sean Bean when filming LOTR refusing to take the helicopter and hiking up some mountain in full Boromir attire?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Does anyone else remember the story of Sean Bean when filming LOTR refusing to take the helicopter and hiking up some mountain in full Boromir attire?

One does not simply take a helicopter...

 

[Corinnguard]

Walk softly and carry a big stick with sharp, pointy ends.

 

[sevenbastard]

A sensible adventurer would have both spear and sword, surely?

100% so in the first round you can throw the spear and then draw sword. Dont want to waste an action moving towards the enemy.

 

[Willie the Duck]

Good topic. Certainly helps answer questions we (my gaming inner circle) always asked in our youth like why 'shortswords' existed, why every one-handed sword didn't have a hand-and-a-half-length handle, and why every sword didn't have knuckle bows/basket hilts once they became available, and so on. Less is more with something you are wearing on your side every waking hour during a challenging endeavor (99%+ of which will be spent not-actually-fighting) and the least cumbersome/inconvenient model you can have that still serves the purpose it primarily would serve would be most favorable to most.

A sensible adventurer would have both spear and sword, surely?

Or sword and bow; sword and halberd; sword and lance (which is a specialized spear, acknowledged; plus being mounted changes the whole dynamic); or sword, shovel, and pickaxe (if your biggest adventuring challenges are environmental, rather than combat). That thing you carry in your hands for the entire journey is going to be a major source of frustration, so it had best be useful.

 

[Ryujin]

He just had to Rickroll at the end

This is the sort of stuff that I consider when making a character, these days. I lean toward shortswords, scimitars, Wakisashi, and other short blades. Bows are typically short composite, because dungeon crawling with a longbow is unrealistic.

A spear might be best for taking a hike through the hills. Maybe a quarterstaff? Swords get all the fun and attention though.

Probably 80%+ of adventurers should be using spears, with sword or axe as backup.