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<blockquote data-quote="Sekhmet" data-source="post: 5816862" data-attributes="member: 97602">[MENTION=6678119]Jackinthegreen[/MENTION] The gladius is a stabbing weapon, but most importantly it was designed to be used from behind a large shield, which allowed the wielder to close melee distance into hand to hand distance. It should be noted that a typical gladius was between 25 and 32 inches, not exactly typical short sword length.[MENTION=6679551]Arrowhawk[/MENTION] I enjoy all forms of combat, and back in my high school and college days, I did a lot of reenactment combat from the medieval period for visiting crowds at Ren faires. &nbsp;A longsword hacking against chain mail, even with a strong arm behind it, will never break a healthy bone. A battle axe might (unlikely) if the angles are just right. Chain mail reacts in such a way that the majority of force is dissipated across several links and radiates outward rather than inward when struck at an angle. &nbsp;&nbsp;I agree with you that they are functionally different in the real world, hacking and slashing. I disagree that we need another damage type on the table to worry about. I also disagree that armor should be given DR towards specific damage types (even though it would make perfect sense), because it is another mechanic at the table to worry about. Unless, of course, all armor is given as DR instead of AC (which would suck at higher levels).</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Sekhmet, post: 5816862, member: 97602"] [MENTION=6678119]Jackinthegreen[/MENTION] The gladius is a stabbing weapon, but most importantly it was designed to be used from behind a large shield, which allowed the wielder to close melee distance into hand to hand distance. It should be noted that a typical gladius was between 25 and 32 inches, not exactly typical short sword length. [MENTION=6679551]Arrowhawk[/MENTION] I enjoy all forms of combat, and back in my high school and college days, I did a lot of reenactment combat from the medieval period for visiting crowds at Ren faires. A longsword hacking against chain mail, even with a strong arm behind it, will never break a healthy bone. A battle axe might (unlikely) if the angles are just right. Chain mail reacts in such a way that the majority of force is dissipated across several links and radiates outward rather than inward when struck at an angle. I agree with you that they are functionally different in the real world, hacking and slashing. I disagree that we need another damage type on the table to worry about. I also disagree that armor should be given DR towards specific damage types (even though it would make perfect sense), because it is another mechanic at the table to worry about. Unless, of course, all armor is given as DR instead of AC (which would suck at higher levels). [/QUOTE]

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