[RMS]

Originally Posted by Atgxtg

First off, the sword is typically a better weapon overall than most other melee weapons. It is fairly strong, and highly verstile, as you can slash & stab with it. Many other weapons of the era were either not as study, slower, or not a versitile. Swords were the weapons for the rich. So in a way they should be better.

A couple of things there. Swords really aren't for just the rich. Many ancient and medieval societys had access to swords for their common soldiers, as well as the rich. (The poor farmers may not have had the "extra" resources to spend on a nice sword, but the poor soldier certainly would have been able to manage it.) I'd agree that a good slashing sword probably is a superior weapon to most other weapons in a standard 1-on-1 RPG style combat. I wouldn't agree that it's superior outside of that. It's main advantages are flexibiliity and balance.

One huge advantage of a sword, especially from an RPG perspective, is that you can sheath it. A spear, mace, axe, etc. really isn't designed to be "holstered", so are more effort to transport and are also much harder to appear nonthreatening with.

Also, weapon reach isn't a big issue in RQ, but is a big factor in real combat. The spear has been and continues to be (thanks to they bayonet) a very useful weapon in part because it has a nice reach advantage over most swords, aces, and maces.

It has reach and is quicker weapon to wield, if we're talking one handed spears. In many ways, a competent warrior with armor, shield, and spear has an advantage over a similarly skilled warrior with armor, shield, and sword. (I'm ignoring larger spears as they require formational tactics to be effective. They're too unwieldy to be used in small skirmish combat.) RQ does deal with reach. That's what weapon SRs represent. It just doesn't do it beyond a certain level of granularity (like anything else).

Oh, and I disagree with Nighshade about the spear. The Egyptians, the Greeks, medieval militia, Swiss Pikemen, bayonet. The weapon has been one of the most used weapons throughout history.

Correct. For most of history, the spear is the dominant battlefield weapon, especially in the hands of highly trained professional soldiers. There's a reason for this and it has nothing to do with the spear being cheap or easier to wield (which it isn't) than other weapons.