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Message: <blockquote data-quote="storyguide3" data-source="post: 1217178" data-attributes="member: 8555">I think the problem is a possibly faulty assumption that the "fast mover" will be appreciably faster than the trained armoured warrior in any way that will gain him a real advantage on the battlefield. To our modern eyes it seems "obvious" but modern folk also believed that knights were lifted into the saddle with cranes and could barely move when on foot.  Having watched some demonstrations of trained men in real armour and how fast they can move, I'm not so sure that the dex fighter has an advantage. It is just as likely that the armoured warrior, nearly impervious to the light weapon of the "fast mover", will close with him physically, negating the light fighter's weapon, and beat him to a pulp with an armoured fist, before stepping back and disemboweling him with a broadsword. The knight's armour lets him take several blows if he has to, the dex fighter does not have that luxury. And the knight can move plenty fast. Running, jumping and getting up from prone in armour is not that hard if you are trained with it. Remember that the type of fencing we think of a swachbuckling was not the product of "light fighters can kill armoured fighters with ease". If unarmoured fighters had any real advantages over those in heavy arnmour, they would have been the norm. Heavy armour went away becuase it didn't stop bullets and therefore became a waste of money. Without armour it became more important to dodge and defelct blows than it had been before, hence the fighting styles of fencing. The defining factor in a swashbuckling campaign is the gun. If firearms rules are designed to allow these weapons to bypass armour (such as by using melee touch attacks to hit instead of normal attack rolls), and guns are common enough then people will be less likely to wear armour, as it will not give them the advantages it normally does when compared to its costs. That means that the swashbuckling fighter comes to the fore as he can dodge sword thrusts better with his higher dexterity, which also stands him in good stead when being shot at, as not getting shot is the best defense against gunfire. Guns create swachbucklers, IMO.</blockquote>

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