2nd Edition Weapon Speeds - Anyone Else Miss Them?

[Maerdwyn]

Even in these days of the 6 second round, I still assumes that charcters make many attacks in one round, and that the ones you make a hit roll for are simply the best aimed of those attacks. With that abstraction, speed factor isn't really necessary - multiple attacks by everyone throughout the entire are happening; so while a dagger may get them more quickly, only the skill of the combatants affects how quickly and how often the well-placed attacks occur.

 

[Vicegrip]

--Yeah, it's funny, I used to really worry about initiative when I thought about designing/evaluating games, but the fact is, in some cases it doesn't matter.
--In a gritty and realistic game, where every attack could be your last, then yeah, it matters. However, in a game like DnD where fight will last many rounds, many blows will be struck, and there's no real deterioration due to wounds, initiative is pretty insignificant. The only time it really used to matter is in spellcasting and interruption, and the AOO rules in DnD really kick the crap out of that problem IMO.

 

[psionotic]

The death of weapon speeds and spellcasting segments is one of the many beautiful things about 3E, says I.

 

[reiella]

SKR's rants the same, I actually like how the EQRPG handles weapon delay. It determines rate of iterative attacks. Prolly the most reasonable approach I've seen yet. Standard delay is 5 (ie, the standard attack progression), delay four giving this +5/+1 progression type, etc.

Kind of neat.

 

[CRGreathouse]

No. Weapon speeds always struck me as time-consuming and unrealistic.

Sean Reynolds' arguments against it, if anything, are too kind.

 

[Dremen]

NO!

By just taking into account a weapons size is not a way to determine the speed factor.

example #1 : Most everybody here should be familliar with the William Walace Sword from the Braveheart movie. This great sword type was used more like a eastern martial artists Bo staff than a golf club. It was a very close range weapon where the guard, pomel, and blade were used for striking, blocks, parries etc. This was blindingly fast. The history channel even did a special where this was demonstrated.

example #2: A Bo Staff or Kwan Dao (Basically a big Chinese Glaive they use them in Big Trouble in Little China) These are both Large weapons than are moved VERY fast. Almost too fast to see.

Since WotC could not even get the weights of weapons right or even CLOSE to real useable weapons, where the information is readily available, heck Museum Replicas Catalog Lists the weights and their stuff tends to be on the heavy side. I would not trust Wizards to do the research on the way a weapon was used if they can't even get the weight of the weapon to be even somewhat close to reality. Rant mode off.

-D

 

[Thanee]

The EverQuest d20 game has an interesting take on weapon speeds. Weapon delay is used to determine the iterative attacks from BAB there.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Bagpuss]

They made little sense originally (see SKR's comments) and even less sense in 3rd Edition. Glad to see the back of them.

 

[Mallus]

A thousand times...

No.

I just played in an old ongoing 2nd Ed. game this weekend where we use individual initiative and weapon speed factors {in a nine player group}.

In my opinion, the DM provoked an attack of oppournity from all nine of us...

 

[Nyarlathotep]

I'm one of the few strange ones I guess .
I really liked weapon speeds in 2nd Edition. My group and I felt that they were one of the few things that provided a difference between the various weapons (swords in particular). We also tried it with the Player's Options speed factors rules (or whatever it was called), but I was so disgusted with TSR by that point that we quit playing before I really got a chance to use them lots.

That said, I sure wouldn't want to use them in Third Edition. I've got enough to keep track of already without having to worry about speeds.