Song of Swords: Shooting Bollocks Off

Reposting from the tail end of last thread.

>>47659051
>>47626265

Yo Jimmy, can you tell me about giants in The Tattered Realms?

Are they a thing? What do they look like? Are they inelegant? Is it a humans level intelligence or more of a bestial intelligence? How much do they interact with humans? Are they solitary, do they form societies or do they mingle with other races? Are they more like the giants in some European folklore, the kind that lives in the mountain and only exist to help/deter the hero on a quest? Do they cater to my fetish[spoiler}(being small enough to have comfortable sex with us but being big enough to treat us like rag dolls)[/spoiler] ? What are common hair colors?

If giants aren't a thing, do they at least exist as mythical creatures in the sitting, much like how they existed in folklore in reality?

I'm happy to make a page on the wiki about them if you answer my questions. Even if they only appear in folklore.

Wait a minute, now that I think about it. Didn't Gizka kill a giant? Was the giant qt?

>>47684982
Where the fuck is this bitches codpiece
I wouldn't even stab her in the face, I would use the arming spike on a halberd directly in her cunt

>>47685322
>Where the fuck is this bitches codpiece
Well, it is the "shooting bollocks off" edition, she's not wearing a codpiece and I don't see no bollocks.

Some musketeer probably turned her from a shemale to a female.

File: 142.jpg (63KB, 622x521px) Image search: [Google]

63KB, 622x521px

>>47685322
2/0/6 AV man.

>>47685322
>I would use the arming spike
Is "arming spike" euphemism for your penis? With 30 CP activation cost for every maneuver and -10 damage bonus on thrusts it's functionally useless.

File: 0230[1].jpg (145KB, 670x870px) Image search: [Google]

145KB, 670x870px

>>47685463
>"You think I'm wearing this codpiece for MY safety?"
t. Seigneur de Squllefuque

File: 1453653758876.jpg (40KB, 424x185px) Image search: [Google]

40KB, 424x185px

>>47685463
Louis C.K. go home

>>47685495
You are welcome, Buffoon McLimpdick

>realistic fantasy tabletop RPG that draws inspiration from historical fechtbuchs, weapons and armor.

I want to see you explain why this thread starts with a picture of "boob plate"

>>47685575
Because nobody bothered to bump old thread or make a new one. It's the hell you chose and deserve but now with freshly uploaded pdfs.

>>47685498
>Zellish arms evolution

File: 1465384411368.png (2MB, 1890x1417px) Image search: [Google]

2MB, 1890x1417px

Ballad ship creation rules when, Jimmy

File: 3cavalryswords.jpg (51KB, 768x1024px) Image search: [Google]

51KB, 768x1024px

Stat me /SoS/, left to right.

File: 1465426644080.jpg (215KB, 1500x954px) Image search: [Google]

215KB, 1500x954px

>>47685779
Did you steal all the good pics from the dieselpunk thread as well?

File: 1465385765368.jpg (237KB, 1600x1031px) Image search: [Google]

237KB, 1600x1031px

>>47686963
you know it.

>>47685996
Probably stat the first like a backsword, second as either a heavy backsword or sidesword depending on the balance, and the third maybe an Espada Ropera?

>>47685299
What a pedestrian fetish

Gizka is rumoured to have stolen the womb of a giant's wife, which may or may not be the Black Cauldron

File: kettenkrad.jpg (55KB, 800x570px) Image search: [Google]

55KB, 800x570px

Are there things like this in Ballad?

>>47687750
Those must be what the space SS use as normal motorcycles.

>>47687488

>What a pedestrian fetish

Only the tip of the rabbit hole my friend.

>Gizka is rumoured to have stolen the womb of a giant's wife

Yeah I remember that. A rumor told by the Albish right? As far as I'm aware that's probably just a tall tale and not exactly confirmation of the existence of giants.

>>47684982
That picture is from porn isn't it.
What's the title

File: AD&D.jpg (25KB, 855x187px) Image search: [Google]

25KB, 855x187px

Hey, so I've seen this thread around and lurked it a couple of times and you guys all seem to know a thing or two about swordplay, so I'd like to get your input on a rather abstract question if that's all right.

The other day, my best friend and I were talking, and I think Fire Emblem came up. In case you're not familiar with it, it has a very basic system of what sorts of weapons trump other sorts: swords have bonuses against axes, axes have bonuses against spears/lances, spears/lances have bonuses against swords.

I thought this seemed pretty reasonable, at least the part about polearms vs. swords, because swords generally have inferior reach compared to sharp things on sticks: an attacking swordsman would have to run past the polearm blade in order to attack its wielder. My friend objected and said the opposite was true: in real combat, a swordsman would have the advantage against the spear-wielder because he could use his sword to knock the pole out of the way, close range, and stab the other fellow first.

Obviously, the kind of polearm being used would probably be pretty relevant, but as far as we've talked about it it seemed to me as though we were at a bit of an impasse. He's got some experience with the SCA to back himself up, which I don't, but I can't help but think that an experienced guy with a spear would be able to just pull back and stab the other guy if they got rushed (assuming they just wouldn't be able to stab the swordsman first).

Anyway, what do you guys think about this? In an duel between a swordsman and a spear- or polearm-wielder, who would win?

>>47689107
Well, you've also got to consider how these things work in formation as well. In a major battle, a polearm-user in the front rank won't be able to 'just pull back', but on the other hand the sword-user will be dealing with more than just one polearm.
Also, I imagine that knocking a polearm out of line with a sword would be more difficult than it appears on first blush, but I have nothing but vague intuition to back that up.

>>47689107
>>47689462
Also depends what polearm.
Fuckhuge formation spears are a different thing.

>>47689107
I'd say that in a vacuum, the idea that spears and the like give an advantage over swords is reasonable. That may change when armor and shields and stuff are brought into the mix, but just at base, sure.

I'm actually more confused as to why axes have advantage against spears, you'd think that any weakness swords have against spears (which is basically one--reach) would be exacerbated by making the weapon even shorter, as most axes were.

>>47690078
The videogame logic is "axe the spear to break it" I think. The game has some weapons that change the rules, and IIRC it's some chopping swords beat spears.

>>47684982
>boob plate
>no codpiece

>>47689107
>SCA
lol
HEMA or go home

>>47690350
>>47685322
I mean let's be honest if she's a cavalry anything there's not really a need for a codpiece due to the whole horse thing.

>>47689107
It depends on specifics.

That category includes everything from 15 foot lances to halberds and pollaxes on the polearm side, and everything from falchions to greatswords on the sword side.

Are the combatants wearing armour? What specific sword and polearm?

In general though, if the polearm is super long, it loses a lot of it's advantages in a one on one fight, but if it's a medium to short one, like a Halberd or a Pollaxe, that also have a lot more versatility than poking people, the advantage is with the polearm, especially if the combatants are wearing lots of armour and the sword in question is anything one-handed.

Polearms are not completely neutralized by getting past the point, at least not the short to mid-length ones. They can be used for tripping, hooking, cross-checking and so on, and if you're wearing armour the fight becomes more about trying to control or ground your opponent so you can dispatch him more easily, rather than hitting each other until one guy falls over, and then the advantage is heavily with the polearm.

Remember that some medieval fencing masters (if you put any stock in their opinion) said things like how pollaxe fighting can be used to teach all other kinds of weapons, or that the quarterstaff was superior to the sword.

I'm willing to bet that your sca friend never has to deal with people who are allowed to crosscheck him, sideswipe him in the chins etc, or fights where you go at it until someone yields rather than fighting for points.

SCA fighting is only marginally more relevant when discussing the pros and cons of weapons in combat than olympic fencing is.

File: Henry VII butt armour.jpg (48KB, 340x510px) Image search: [Google]

48KB, 340x510px

>>47690350
>>47685322

You only really see crotch armour on suits of armour meant specifically for foot combat. If you're mounted, the front and back of the saddle protects all those parts, and would make armour there super uncomfortable because you're sitting on it.

For foot combat on the other hand, you have things like the amazing butt-armour of henry VII.

>>47690595
Still, doesn't explain the boob plate. That shit would get you wrecked real fast in real combat because the boobs would attract enemy blows instead of fending them off. Also, it would get really nasty if someone managed bash your boob piece in with a blunt weapon.

>>47690892
It would get really nasty if your breastplate got bashed in with a blunt weapon any way man, it's also a very unlikely thing to happen seeing as the angle, thickness and location of your breast plate doesn't really lend it'self to super-effective swings connecting. If you're on the ground already, absolutely, but then you're fucked any way, boobs or flat plate.

The problem with boob plate is not that it's boob shaped, it's that it's often depicted as skin tight.

99% of the "boob plate doesn't make seeeense!" arguments only really work for skintight lolfantasy armour, and would not make much of a difference on "real" armour worn with proper padding.

The problem is that people try to sound logical, when logic is not their issue with boob plate.

People forget that making giant holes and deforming the armour was not really a common occurence. People in late medieval plate got killed when they got knocked over and had their helmets pulled off, not by magical can-opener warhammers.

>>47690892
>the boobs would attract enemy blows
And then you factor in how good plate armor is at stopping blows. Cutting weapons are useless, maces are short so you have to be close (or both fighting on horseback). Polearms besides poleaxes mostly utilize overhand strikes and hooks so boobplate doesn't help it find your fragile sternum. Boobplate magnet is a myth.

File: KHM_Wien_A_12_-_Bascinet_by_Master_A,_Milan,_c._1400,_side.jpg (2MB, 4032x4032px) Image search: [Google]

2MB, 4032x4032px

>>47690999
>>47690944
This.

Boobplate death trap is an exaggeration.

The people who are the most rabid about it are not actually worried about logic, they just want to make it sound that way while they're lashing out at what they perceive to be objectifying women.

Look at this here helmet. Notice how it's got a inward pointing crease between the eye slits and beneath them? OMG IT WILL CATCH SPEAR THRUSTS AND DIRECT THEM INTO YOUR FOREHEAD!

And it's worse, the entire helmet looks vaguely like a perky tit, so clearly it will just explode the moment you hit it.

File: 1464728281609.jpg (57KB, 739x326px) Image search: [Google]

57KB, 739x326px

>>47684982
>Secret life of Voltaire

>>47691056
Sexy.

>>47691056
Isn't that rather the point, so it slides harmlessly off the top?

>>47693039
Sure, and you could just as easily argue that boob creases could guide a thrust harmlessly off to the sides or up onto the gorget if you wanted to make that point.

In either case, real armour has all kinds of details and creases that we can zoom in on and say "zomg, spear/arrow trap" if we conveniently ignore that a spear thrust there has very little chance of actually piercing the plate.

There's a reason forensic archaeological evidence show us that people who are assumed to have worn plate armour were generally killed by injuries to the head or face sustained after the helmet was removed ( like, famously, Richard lll at bosworth field) , or in vulnerable spots of the armour after the person was incapacitated or on the ground. What we don't see very often is people getting killed by blows that have compromised or destroyed the armour.

A person in plate is really, really hard to kill or meaningfully injure as long as they're mobile, which is one of the reasons for the emphasis on weapons that can either A: ring someone's bell until he falls over even if you don't actually destroy the helmet, or B: hook or trip him the fuck up so you get him on the ground in the period where plate armour becomes more and more widespread. The most prominent examples being more and more complex halberds or the pollaxe.
A spear or sword thrust is not a serious threat to someone in 15th century plate, and putting tits on the armour is not going to change that.

Again, this of course assumes that the rest of the armour is non-retarded, if you have a boobwindow, bare thighs, no helmet and other silly nonsense going on, that's obviously going to make you very vulnerable, but that's not the boobplate's fault, and I'll not be told otherwise by people who have a problem with me enjoying tits on things. I'll put them on my helmet if I feel like it, mark my words.

>>47690350
Boobplate is fine, at least in this case. Context is everything.

File: 1400083784261.jpg (870KB, 986x1369px) Image search: [Google]

870KB, 986x1369px

Tell me about Carthage guys.

People who are upset about the pretty reasonable boobplate and correct lack of groin protection for a horseback fighter but not about that fucking sword really need to reconsider their lives.

>>47695283
Plate cod pieces were only around in a certain time because of fashion anyway.

>>47695212
I can't tell you much, but I can try and find you some documentaries that are strangely butthurt about the result of a millennia old war.

>>47685779
Well, we'd sort of need ship combat to be ready before then. We are coming along in that regard them. I've just sent a message to Claymore regarding the delays, I hope we'll have something concrete to show off first.

In the meantime I have to deposit a check (Fucking Wells Fargo is unaware that it's current year, apparently, so I have to go do it manually) then maybe I can answer some lore questions.

I think someone wanted to know about Ballad's Technocracy, and someone else wanted to know about TR's Giants.

Both are good conversation pieces, I'll touch on them sometime today.

>>47695728
Are giants the same as ogres in the TR universe?

>Running Ballad of the Laser Whales for a first-time player and a group of normies
What am I in for, exactly?

>>47697145
Group frustration at how hard it is to hit someone proceeding someone actually being hit for the first time.

Overconfidence ending in a hail of automatic fire.

Relief that the luck mechanic exists.

>>47697145
Start out with enemies who have very low powered pistols and advise your players to use cover.

>>47697455
Also remind them that Aim exists.

File: Laser Whales.png (53KB, 1208x1123px) Image search: [Google]

53KB, 1208x1123px

>>47697145
Sorry, fucked the last one up.

So I want to run a bank job one-shot for some of my players with an escalation of force Payday-style, what is all the bad shit that can go wrong in a situation like that?

>>47695728
Hay Jimbo computers are still the size of rooms in BotLW right?

>>47698667
This is a work of divine comedy.

>>47698753
Sounds based. I would advise you to let the PCs do it "clean" if they're smart and stealthy.
I mean, they won't be, but that's normal.

>Computers
There are some which are smaller than that, normally very simple ones. Targeting computers are a fairly well developed science, but there are even very simple targeting computers that exist on certain planes--meant to discern enemy distance using radar, and then calculate the proper "lead" for the fighter's guns, so that the targeting reticle is always aiming where the enemy will be when the guns fire.

So it is possible to design computers that are of a less than extreme size, but they're usually very specialized for a specific task.

Sorry if this is the wrong place since I've never looked at these threads before, but I beg a question.

Say I wanted to run a game featuring a knights tournament. Does this system do something like jousting and melee justice for some chivalrous deeds? Does any system?

>>47699214
>a knights tournament
You mean like with one-on-ones? With dudes in armour?

That is literally the thing that SoS does best, no deception this is mechanically the best thing that SoS does right now.

File: ahlspiess1vz0.jpg (137KB, 800x600px) Image search: [Google]

137KB, 800x600px

>>47685322
>He didn't say ahlspiess

Look at this pleb and laugh.

>>47699214
The game is very focused on "lethal" combat, which is to say, there are rules for fighting with lances and such, but they don't really work if you don't want to kill the people involved.

A jousting lance might inflict bludgeoning instead of piercing damage, or even Unarmed damage, I'm not 100% on the engineering involved.

>>47699214
>Does any system?
The Riddle of Steel supplement Flower of Battle has chapter about mounted combat and jousting. Check it if you aren't satisfied with SoS. Maybe Pendragon or Hackmaster has specific rules for that.

>>47688846
https://nhentai.net/g/22708/

>>47699214
There's also ASOIAF RPG that does a lot of joust stuff.

Oh, gosh. Thanks for all the replies, sorry I fell asleep before I could read them.

>>47689462
>>47689499
Oh, yeah, we talked about formation stuff a little, but mostly I'm interested in the dueling thing.
>Also, I imagine that knocking a polearm out of line with a sword would be more difficult than it appears on first blush, but I have nothing but vague intuition to back that up.
That's exactly my situation, yeah: nothing but hunches versus his at-least-kind-of-significant sorta-actual-combat experience.
>>47690361
Unfortunately, "boffer battles aren't exactly very much like real medieval combat" is about the closest thing I have to an argument, yeah.
>>47690575
So the length of the specific polearm is going to be significant? That seems true. After all, pikes like the ones they used in formations could be like 10 feet long, right? Obviously it would be a real pain in the ass to fight a sword guy one-on-one with one of those. And I hadn't even considered how armor would factor into it at all, honestly. Thanks for that.
>I'm willing to bet that your sca friend never has to deal with people who are allowed to crosscheck him, sideswipe him in the chins etc, or fights where you go at it until someone yields rather than fighting for points.
That was my impression as well: he mentioned that he has fought against a spear-user, but I'm not sure exactly what the rules of SCA combat are like. You said it works with points?
I'd also appreciate it if you had the names of any resources that I could use as evidence, like those medieval fencing masters' names or something.

>>47695728

> someone else wanted to know about TR's Giants.
> I'll touch on them sometime today.

Thank you Jimmy you glorious bastard.

I knew that getting drunk and talking to my friends about you would only yield good things.

Also after I finished my rant about you and what you do, one of the fucks asked if you were the guy that made Windforged. After looking into it I can see why that is what he thought I was talking about.

>>47701151
>Unfortunately, "boffer battles aren't exactly very much like real medieval combat" is about the closest thing I have to an argument, yeah
Even in boffer going against a spear with nothing but a single sword is incredibly risky, especially if the boffer allows leg shots, which SCA does not.

>10 feet
Pikes could reach 21 feet.

>>47700882
Huh? I found it in Tsukasa Jun artwork collection.

>>47700158
>>47699403
>>47699368
>>47701028

Thanks dudes. I'll take a look at everything. The main draws of creating a knights tourney for me would be to ensure that it's theoretically non lethal combat with fairly common lethal consequences, usually accidental.

Lances are blunt and break easily so they don't puncture armor, with the intention to unhorse the knight rather than impale them, but the splinters are still dangerous and so is falling off a horse. And also the chance for some one to be a total dickhead and aim for the face. On-foot melee I think SoS definitely looks great.

>>47701458
I could see tourney lances as having negative damage modifiers, but a bunch of Shock (possibly increasing incrementally per Bonus Success to represent really good hits).

File: the few.pdf (1B, 486x500px)

1B, 486x500px

>>47695728
Have you ever checked out The Few?

Pretty simple but functional dogfighting game.

>>47701458
The lances in SoS right now are all battle lances, intended to poke a motherfucker right through rather than breaking on his armor. If you want tournament lances, homebrew would be necessary, but it wouldn't be too bad. Converting the lance damage to unarmed would probably work pretty easily, if you want people to be able to go multiple passes against each other.

>>47699374
That is one fine murderstick.

>>47702048
That's pretty damn good. Would be neat if it got expanded.

>>47701294
I'm not familiar with Windforged. Let me go check what that is. What gave them that impression?

>>47702048
I'll read it.

>>47705554
I mentioned airships and hunting flying whales.

Quickly someone, Jimmies trying to pass these ideas off as his own. I need that picture that warns against believing his lies.

>>47701294
>Windforged.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/266170/

>>47705709
I think it's less important in Ballad that they are whales and more important that they are LASER WHALES

>>47696817
So, here comes the much-awaited Giant Talk.

Before we move forward, let's establish what Giants are NOT.

Giants are not Ogres.
Ogres are large, bipedal humanoids, but they are probably not related genetically to humans--at least not any time recently. They are pure carnivores, and were unable to adapt to agrarian society. Driven to the edges of civilization, they are stereotyped as inbred cannibals incompatible with civilization, and are often killed on sight, or used for brute labor with the promise of alcohol and beef as their reward. They are also very fond of cow's milk, and often accept pay in the form of buckets of the stuff.

Giants are not Trolls.
Trolls are cunning predators, often believed to be Spawn of the Dark Watchers. Their bodies are hideous, twisted parodies of human form, with a slack, barely expressive human face attached to a monstrous and emaciated torso, with some parts protected by overlapping bony plates, and clawed hands and prehensile feet. Called "Fasci" in Illegon because of their ability to squeeze into very tight spaces (which causes their bones to poke morbidly out of their flesh, making them look like a bundle of sticks) they prey almost exclusively on humans. Some trolls can mimic human speech, though it always sounds stilted and lilting. They often use this ability to lure travelers to their doom.
They are infamous for their resilience to magic, and for their quick healing. They are also notoriously sadistic and cruel, often baiting their prey along for days before moving in for the kill. They can be found everywhere, but they are territorial, and rarely group together except in small gangs--often presumed to be family units, though no infant trolls have ever been seen.

>Next Post: What Giants actually are.

>>47706086
Giants are rarer than the above-listed creatures. To begin with, it isn't known if they reproduce at all. It may well be that those who exist now are the only ones who have ever been--or will ever be. Giants also don't share much in common with each other, aside from the fact that they're... Really big. Really big, and made of stone and earth. Some are bipedal--man shaped--others are bestial, some cannot move at all, and can be mistaken for strange rock formations or hills.

The giants are creatures from a previous age, that much is agreed upon by all. The Helians were aware of them in ancient times, and may have even worshiped them as gods at some point. Because the great creatures move so slowly, and so rarely take action, they made for pretty good gods.

But they do, from time to time, grow agitated, or hungry, or bored, or something. They don't really emote much--it's hard to tell what they're thinking, and they certainly don't explain themselves. A giant may awaken at any time--a hill that overlooks your hometown may one day stand up, shake the moss from its back, and then step on your house on its way to wherever its primal urges lead it.

Sometimes they kill, for varying reasons. It may be malice, or it may be the fear an elephant has for a rat. A few giants are intelligent enough to use weapons, which they often hide beneath them as they slumber. The single largest single object of Silversteel ever found was a crude mace fashioned of the stuff that was wielded by the giant Londokaius (named by the people he terrorized) who was slain by the mortal hero Thrasymachus, who tricked the giant into losing its feet, and then slew him with five spears, one after another, thrown to him by his kinsmen as he stood on the creature's neck and thrust them into its face. The Mace of Londokaius was melted down and made into the White Temple of Helion, a symbol of peace between the Orredin and Humans who shared the Empire, and was lost to the sea in the cataclysm.

>>47706206
How many are there? Are there few enough of these things left that they're all known, or are there unknown giants?

>>47706086
>>47706206

I knew that pouring another glass of Jack tonight would yield more good things.

I've gotta go now but when I get back I'll try and figure out how to update the wiki with this stuff if no one else has already done so.

You glorious legionnaire, Jimmy Rome.

File: 1465251131750.jpg (72KB, 720x720px) Image search: [Google]

72KB, 720x720px

>>47706328
Please do. I'm also going to do a piece on the Technocracy tonight, for our 3 or 4 Ballad fans.

>>47706206
That's a lotta silversteel.

>>47707863
are you a bad enough dude to put on a burdinadingdongadin diving suit and steal a sliver the silversteel of the silver steeple?

>>47708231
Jimmy, underwater fighting rules when?

>>47706206
So these things are colossi?

Can humans enter into Iron Glades without contaminating them? Can they be "scrubbed down" and made magically safe? Or do outsiders have to wear protective gear, like Burdinadin do on the outside?

>>47708769
With added paint on top, yes.

>>47706206
If they are made of stone and earth, how did a dude with some Spears even hurt it?

>>47706206
How does one kill them if they're made of earth and stone? Do they have weak spots or what?

File: hitting a colossus weak point.gif (1021KB, 286x178px) Image search: [Google]

1021KB, 286x178px

>>47710011
He found its weak point.

>>47710134
Jesus, was that a really light ball or is that bitch a fucking amazon?

>>47710011
Well, he broke four spears doing it. That sounds pretty hardcore.

>>47710801
If i remember right rental bowling balls are colored by weight and i believe pink is 6 pounds

>>47711401
Oh. That's not so bad. I remember my uncle owned one and it was way heavier than that. I didn't know they got that light.

>>47711508
like it's literally for children. if you look at the video you can see some green and blue which are normal sized while hers is about 80% their size

>>47709403
They usually sanitize humans who want to enter (think radiation scrubbing and a rough loofa to remove dead skin cells) but other than that it isn't a problem unless you get too many humans in one place. Like a hundred of them in one room or something.

The chief issue is that humans have a very distinctive smell that Burdinadin tend not to like, largely because they grow up in totally filtered and sterile environments, so everything seems really pungent to them. They're very polite about it though, and normally just mask the constant mandatory cleansing as concern for the outsiders' health. The ones who deal with humans often usually get used to it.

>>47712516
One final question. Do the Burdinadin have any sort of naval presence? Sea bases, Glades built on islands (specifically the Slivers), research ships, things like that?

>>47713378
I'm pretty sure they have a glade on the ocean floor.

Like everything else they do, it's probably a bad idea.

Hand-Tree anyone?

>>47713378
Probably got goddamned ironclads

>>47713378
I hope not. The setting's ridiculous enough without literal Sealab

>>47706271
>a hill that overlooks your hometown may one day stand up, shake the moss from its back, and then step on your house
Implies that many are not recognized for what they are.
There are probably also cases where a hill is said to be a giant, but the local people think it's mere superstition and don't believe in giants. And while in that village they might be wring, there might be similar local superstitions in a town two villages over, where the relevant hill really is just a hill.

>>47706328
I've just done it, but for future reference it's really easy to do. There's a "contribute" dropdown in the upper right part of the site, select "new page". Give it an appropriate name, select "blank" and copy-paste the text dump in. That's enough to have helped out, and you can click the button to finalize, but it would be more thorough if you give it an appropriate category ("monsters", "people", "military units", and "culture and science" cover like 90% of entries), put double square brackets ( eg [[Trolls]] )around anything that has its own page or seems like it ought to, and fix any typos or bits that are responding to previous posts in the thread.

>>47712516
So humans are like niggers to the Burds?

>>47714400
Or white people to the Japanese. I hear it's a dietary thing.

File: tumblr_inline_nt0vfexkpK1spsojg_540.jpg (67KB, 540x534px) Image search: [Google]

67KB, 540x534px

>>47713844
Oh God, flashbacks hard

>>47714545
Probably a more apt comparison since the burds are isolationist hikkis and Jimmy "Shoahnator" Rome would never put innocent minorities in his game.

>>47714583
Goblins are literally Jews. They're disgusting, they smell bad, you can never get rid of them, they have to keep cutting off their foreskins because they keep growing back, nobody likes them, and the only people who play as one are those who pity them

File: 1465089833755.gif (490KB, 450x310px) Image search: [Google]

490KB, 450x310px

>>47714400
>>47714763
Jesus lads, meme a bit harder, I think there's a hatelist I'm not on yet.

File: 1353238655446.jpg (57KB, 550x569px) Image search: [Google]

57KB, 550x569px

>>47714918
Jimmy Rome is a heterosexual Bhutanese Mossad agent working to bring about a hostile takeover of 4chan by Reddit!!!!

File: 1461667280900.jpg (50KB, 500x500px) Image search: [Google]

50KB, 500x500px

>>47713378
There's been an Iron Fleet mentioned to have traded with the TR-Nips, I'd guess that they're Burds

>>47715017
what if they are actually ballad ships

File: 1384819365588.jpg (44KB, 286x351px) Image search: [Google]

44KB, 286x351px

>>47714918
Hey now. I'm not the one who made the Goblins

>>47691056
I just think it looks dumb personally. If the design is good enough I don't let it worry me, but generally it looks shit.

>>47715017
The Burds have explicitly traded with the Japanese, so that sounds right.

>>47717042
There's definitely a form that's just terrible looking. The OP isn't great, but it's acceptable.

How rough is feudalism in Vosca? It is about the same as historical western Europe in the 15th century, eastern Europe in the 16th century, or exaggerated in cruelty for the sake of conflict and story?

>>47719881
I imagine it's mostly realistic. Which means there doesn't really need to be that much exaggeration.

>>47719881
It doesn't seem like it goes out of its way to be oppressive. In fact, the Republics and other societies that deviate from regular feudalism (Krajina comes to mind) seem a lot more fucked up.

I think the implication is that forcing a more modern form of government on a society that doesn't have the social underpinnings required for it doesn't make that society better, it just gives it new and unnatural venues for brutality.

Dace for example is a Republic without any enlightenment principles underpinning it, so it has simply devolved into populist warlords bickering over control of the country and regular people killing each other in the street for their faction's promotion. This is way shittier in depiction than Galli's mere feudalism which, while exploitative, at least has a coherent power structure.

Does anyone have like, a collection of Jimmy's lore writings?

>>47723728
The wiki is largely made up of them. Otherwise, no.

>>47724013
I thought the wiki was only for SoS lore?

>>47723418
>populist warlords bickering over control of the country and regular people killing each other in the street for their faction's promotion.
Come to think of it, this is pretty much the Roman republic too.

>>47724020
Yeah, if you're looking for Laser Whales, there's nothing.

>>47724034
Someone should make the Laser Whale wiki.

>>47724388
Wouldn't it be better off as a combined wiki?

>>47724534
Why? Seems confusing to me.

>>47724545
Having two wikis would be twice as unwieldy. It would be pretty simple to implement tags for each franchise.

>>47724587
>twice as unweildy
How? How often would we need to link between the two or have any crossover?

>It would be pretty simple to implement tags for each franchise.
How would we go about doing that? What is the method that you have which would be easier and simpler than just not mixing shit up in the first place?

There are already a few pages of Ballad on the wiki
http://tattered-realms.wikia.com/wiki/Ballad_of_the_Laser_Whales

>>47724810
Yeah, but they're not conveniently usable.

>Opaque Industries' setting where industrial-era dystopias battle it out in an interstellar void through which habitable islands drift. Laser Whales contain the oil by which many things are powered and from which mystical traditions are derived.

Is this a good description of the Ballad?

>>47725274
That's about right. Maybe replace "interstellar void" with "surreal voidscape" to keep people from thinking it's like a total sci-fi setting.

>>47724653
Guy who suggested two wiki's.

I wasn't thinking that it would be unwieldy two have two but I just didn't see the point. It's not exactly like either of them are ever going to be large wiki's. It's like making two blogs for your personal life. You just don't need to, keep that shit on one.

But it would also be great for the few articles that are applicable to both settings.

>>47725917
Tattered Realms wiki is already pretty big despite being woefully incomplete. It's not like the size really matters though, it's really just an organizational thing.

>>47725954
Since the Tattered Realms and The Void seem to be connected in some way, it's probably a good idea to unite them, especially so there aren't any repeat articles like for Zells.

I've made the Wiki of the Laser Whales. It is here:
http://laserwhale.wikia.com/
As of now, it contains all relevant pages that were on the Tattered Realms wiki, but nothing new, and what is there hasn't seen much cleaning. I also haven't removed anything from the Tattered Realms wiki, though I think that should be done at some point. In the future I'll also improve the Laser Whale wiki. I'd appreciate if other people put work into this stuff, but considering how much has been done by other people on the Tattered Realms wiki, I'm not holding my breath.

>>47727021
I disagree. A Zell in the Tattered Realms and a Zell in the Ballad of Laser Whales is fundamentally different in their relation to their surroundings. I believe it's worthwhile to separate the two. In fact, these overlaps are, in my view, a strong reason in favor of the separation, as it is not conveniently possible to have both a laser whale zell page and a tattered realm zell page otherwise.

File: 15th_century_knight_by_skane_smeden.jpg (816KB, 1280x1024px) Image search: [Google]

816KB, 1280x1024px

>>47701151
>So the length of the specific polearm is going to be significant? That seems true. After all, pikes like the ones they used in formations could be like 10 feet long, right? Obviously it would be a real pain in the ass to fight a sword guy one-on-one with one of those. And I hadn't even considered how armor would factor into it at all, honestly. Thanks for that. 'd also appreciate it if you had the names of any resources that I could use as evidence, like those medieval fencing masters' names or something.

For references, look up "Le Jeu de la Hache" (basically "axe play" in french) it's a 14th century text about combat with pollaxes., or Fiore dei Liberi's "Fluos dellatorum" (flower of battle)

Some general notes. Swords are terrifying, efficient and well-designed (usually) weapons, that allow a skilled swordsman to perform lethal attacks without overextending himself, thanks to generally being very well-balanced. But against real armour, their effectiveness is incredibly diminished since the common types lack the mass and concentration of force that you need to either penetrate armour, or transfer enough shock through the armour to hurt the guy inside. Once mail armour had been widespread for a while, you see swords evolving from cutting/slashing weapons to stiffer, pointier weapons, to be able to defeat mail links with a thrust, or to be poked into gaps in armour (not rapiers, but weapons like stiff, narrow-tipped longswords with a diamond shaped cross section), but most of all you see a rise in other kinds of weapons. The flanged mace came into widespread use to combat mail armoured opponents, and the warhammer and various 2-handed weapons and polearms became more advanced and came into wider use among professional and elite warriors or those who fought them when plate became common.

>>47724020

And yet there's fan-made crap for some reason.

>>47727159
I thought you could use SoS rules in Ballad of the Laser Whales, like flaws and races?

>>47728189
Like?

I thought there was only 1 guy that updated the wiki (thanks for posting the guide how by the way) and I didn't think that he seemed like the type to just put in his own fanwank theories.

>>47730523
Banes-Boons yes, races no, afaik

>>47730523
They're the same game, so yes.

>>47731590
Not fanmade lore, homebrew races and monsters. Pretty decent ones if I remember correctly. There's a Witcher Race, with rules for signs and some potions.

>>47727369
Is this padded skirt over armor a common thing? I never see it elsewhere.

>>47734336
I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure that it's part of the body gear that's worn under most types of plate armor and not a standalone skirt.

>>47735384
That's what I mean. It appears to be a longer gambeson worn under armor. I'd think that most of the padding would be much more fitted to the armor in this period.

>>47735690
Fair point. Maybe it was done that way to help keep in warmth or to add some more protection to the legs?

>>47736938
He's got metal down there so I doubt it's for protection. I'm betting he was either cold or he didn't have a proper arming doublet for the picture and used a regular gambeson instead.

>>47734336
>>47737168
>>47736938
>>47735690

It's for sure just a case of using what he had available.

>>47701151
>Also, I imagine that knocking a polearm out of line with a sword would be more difficult than it appears on first blush, but I have nothing but vague intuition to back that up.
>That's exactly my situation, yeah: nothing but hunches versus his at-least-kind-of-significant sorta-actual-combat experience.

If you try to knock a polearm, that's gripped two-handed, with your one-handed sword, out of line, you're going to have a bad time.

The polearm has way more mass and leverage than your sword does, you're not going to come out on top in that exchange, especially against chunkier, shorter stuff like halberds or pollaxes.

Yes, in some kind of weird artificial situation where someone is holding a pike out for you to smack with your sword, and isn't actually trying to stop or attack you with it, sure, but you need to think of it in a "live" situation. People don't just stand there and politely let you do the thing that you need to do.

You shouldn't be asking yourself "can you knock the polearm out of line with the sword" you should be asking yourself "how the fuck is someone going to protect themselves against a polearm with a sword" and always keep in mind that polearms vary immensely and the things that are true for a spear are not necessarily true for a halberd, and those things might not be true for a pollaxe, but polearms WERE the dominant form of close combat weapon in the period where personal armour was the most widespread, and swords were kind of backup weapons.

File: feca6c3d65c51c533fb0f0e38f830806[1].jpg (10KB, 238x273px) Image search: [Google]

10KB, 238x273px

>>47710126
Just seek this symbol, the mark of their nature.

File: Dr. Kekyll.png (251KB, 346x427px) Image search: [Google]

251KB, 346x427px

>>47738336
not him, but son of a bitch how did I not see the connection

File: 1465723904832.jpg (97KB, 1280x720px) Image search: [Google]

97KB, 1280x720px

>>47738440
I dunno, maybe you have problems.

>>47734336
Maybe he just wants to look pretty

>>47738266
At least with 2H swords there was some guard that was supposed to work really well against spears, to the point that depictions of it included a pile of broken spearheads beneath the defender, but I've never heard of one for halberds.

>>47684982
>Janovich 1488
I don't get the joke. Did they have man portable guns with that sort of rate of fire during WWII?

>>47744698
"1488" is some nazi thing

>>47744698
It's a reference to 14 words from the 88th speech Hitler gave or something like that. The 14 words are:
"We must secure an existence for our people and a future for white children"

Janovich is a reference to Drosaico Janovich, a Zell from SoS who is the closeted-gay second-in-command to Rade Sark, who is basically Zell Hitler. I assume it's Jimmy poking fun at implications that he's some sort of Nazi.

>>47744798
Considering that speech was originally in German (presumably), wouldn't those 14 words actually be like, 10? I know German likes to compound words more than English does, so I figure "our people" and "white children" might both be easily compoundable words.

>>47746206
It was the speech as repeated by George Lincoln Rockwell, an American Nazi who was also really popular with Black Muslim Nationalists. Whole crazy thing that happened like 50 years ago, he was shot at some point. I'm not really sure of the details.

File: left-handed dagger aka main gauche.jpg (134KB, 1024x1024px) Image search: [Google]

134KB, 1024x1024px

I'm possibly playing in an ASOIAF campaign soon and I have a question that you guys might help with since you are a voice of authority when it comes to medieval weaponry and the culture that surrounds them.

What I'm planning is that my character would only use a single left-handed dagger for defense, relying on grappling and unarmed strikes for offense while opponents focus on the distraction dagger. When it comes to Europe/Westeros would people just laugh at him and make him fight with "a proper weapon"?
Of course that wouldn't happen in actual no-holds-barred combat but what about duels, tourneys and the like?

File: CARLOS!.jpg (19KB, 500x367px) Image search: [Google]

19KB, 500x367px

>>47746310
>an American Nazi who was also really popular with Black Muslim Nationalists.
Well I did nazi that coming.

>>47746522
That's anime levels of stupid in a setting with armour and proper battlefield weapons.

Even something like sword/rapier and dagger combo is a kind of post medieval or civilian armament that mostly makes sense when your average opponent is lightly armoured or unarmored, and would suffer badly against someone in plate armed with a heavier weapon.

But not even using a weapon in the main hand really pushes it over into a region that's usually populated by whips, the throwing anus and Indian martial arts weapons.

>>47747309
Someone in plate armour would still have gaps where a dagger would fit through (though arguably a stiletto would fit that work better) and if the opponent has a heavy weapon to the point that it's "slow", maneuverability would be even more important. Why block with a shield/weapon if the opponent would just break it or at the very least exert massive amount of force on your blocking arm?
Also, armor protects against hits but I doubt it would work that well when it comes to breaking/dislocating joints.

File: 1402422330579.jpg (25KB, 110x165px) Image search: [Google]

25KB, 110x165px

>>47747309
>not going dual koncerz joint thrust
>this year of our lord 2016

>>47747309
I appreciate the input, but that didn't really answer my question, which is on the feasibility of using that method of fighting in an official setting.
From what I have read in the mean time, it seems that in case of duels, one of the combatants may choose the weapon used eg. archery duel, sword duel, staff duel etc.
However this still leaves open the other avenues of organized combat. Are tourney melees always done with predetermined weaponry or can combatants choose their own weapons?

>>47746522
It could work. Grappling is really strong.

>>47747412
>heavy weapon
>slow

No, no, no. Have you heard of the physical principle called a 'lever'? "Heavy" weapons are fast.

>>47748041
Have you heard of the physical principle called "preservation of motion?"
It's literally the first Newton's law. The weapon would move fast in one direction, but it'll be difficult to change it, making it a sluggish weapon in practice.

>>47748088
Yes...like a human body dodging, vs the tip of a 2 to 5 lb zweihander.

Bringing a dagger to a great-weapon fight is not a winning strategy.

>>47748125
Yes it is. This is why pikes in the middle ages were fought with special units of "Einhanders", mercenaries with small single-handed blades.

>>47748157
Gonna need source on that.
>>47748125
I know that plate armor was eventually abandoned due to firearms, but if great weapons are so... well, great, why were they abandoned?

>>47748203
Holy fuck you're an ignorant cunt.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zweih%C3%A4nder
It was sarcasm.

>I know that plate armor was eventually abandoned due to firearms
It wasn't. Plate armor was developed partly in response to firearms. It was abandoned in response to large-scale professional armies, which made that level of expensive equipment no longer economically advisable.

>if great weapons are so... well, great, why were they abandoned?
They weren't necessary when heavy armor went away. Polearms became better. Those were supplanted by bayonets, which do the same thing but are also guns, and bayonets lost favor when magazines got bigger.

>>47748278
>It was sarcasm
I figured but since there is no sarcasm font I decided to make sure since I am not a historian. Excuse me for keeping my mind open.

>It wasn't. Plate armor was developed partly in response to firearms. It was abandoned in response to large-scale professional armies, which made that level of expensive equipment no longer economically advisable.
For a long time I have been taught wrong. In retrospect that IS the more logical reason.

>They weren't necessary when heavy armor went away. Polearms became better. Those were supplanted by bayonets, which do the same thing but are also guns, and bayonets lost favor when magazines got bigger.
My question about great weapons was more of a rhetorical one. The point was that if great weapons were so good, why would people phase them out? The answer is weight. They are harder to carry and they are more cumbersome in combat than lighter weapons. Not in a way that they move at a snails pace, but more sluggish nonetheless.

>>47748402
>The answer is weight.
No it's not. They're like four pounds. Soldiers carry and have carried way more weight than that. They're just not necessary. Being cumbersome is relevant, particularly for cavalry sabers, but that's more that it's inconvenient to have a great big thing around if you're not going to use it.

>more cumbersome in combat than lighter weapons.
A big two-handed sword is way more agile than something like a rapier or smallsword, which is only slightly lighter, and those gained popularity at the time that the sort of weapon you're discussing fell from favor.

>>47748458
So you are saying that slight inconvenience of space is the reason everyone dropped the apparently faster, more destructive, more intimidating and all around better weapon?

>>47748540
No. The situation changed. Great weapons were useful when fighting heavily armored people, and could be advantageous in breaking pike blocks. Those goals ceased to be important in actual warfare and civilian combat. Real life weapon use isn't D&D, you know.

>>47748587
But if a weapon can slice open guys in fucking plate armor and has great reach as well, why couldn't you use it against non-armored opponents? There is no over penetration when it comes to close-combat weapons.

>>47748652
>can slice open guys in fucking plate armor
It can't. It just hits hard enough to fuck people up anyway. This is why big swords generally use mordhau in this situation.

>why couldn't you use it against non-armored opponents?
You can. People didn't though, because on the battlefield, they had polearms, and off of it, weapons that big were inconvenient to carry around.

>>47748652
because he'd steal initiative and shoot you

>>47749628
Damn, I forgot I was in the SoS thread for a while.

>>47748652
There is most definitely over penetration with melee weapons.

>>47748652
Do you want to carry a greatsword around with you all the time? Carry your halberd to the bar?

>>47751522
>Carry your halberd to the bar
Yes I would.

>>47751672
Prepare to not be served, and treated like a brigand then asshole.

>>47752751
You don't walk into a bar with a halberd. You walk out of bars with halberds because the bar tender favored your side in a fight and keeps a barrel of them for just such an occasion.

>>47751672
Manliest of men.

>>47748652
Why is it that people don't carry AKs and Nuggets about with them, but they'll happily carry a pistol?

>>47746206
I don't know the original text of the german speech, but it can be translated like this:
>Wir müssen eine Existenz für unser Volk und eine Zukunft für weiße Kinder sichern
Which also counts 14 words.

>>47744798
My guess would be that it's just 88 as in HH as in Heil Hitler. I think it's a neonazi thing.

>>47756764
So 14 would be AD? Anno Domini? The year of our Lord, Heil Hitler?

File: image.png.gif (2MB, 266x400px) Image search: [Google]

2MB, 266x400px

>>47756927
14 words, we must secure a future for our white children something something.

>>47744798
You know, I was searching for dieselpunk images and I found that a few of the sites had disclaimers or explanations that they were not Nazi supporters. So I guess that's a problem outside of Ballad as well.

>>47746522
In Westeros you would probably be mocked by traditional knights for such a style.

>>47756952
I'd secure her future.

>>47746310
>an American Nazi who was also really popular with Black Muslim Nationalists
So Jimmy?

File: 1465456030451.png (196KB, 640x640px) Image search: [Google]

196KB, 640x640px

>>47758614
We must secure an existence for our people, and a future for middle aged black women from the South.

>>47748652
>But if a weapon can slice open guys in fucking plate armo
Name three weapons that can actually do this

Go on

We're waiting

>>47759458
railgun

lightsaber

jackie chaFUCK

>>47706206
So unless they have one of them silversteel maces or something, what's the actual point in killing these things? Do they have sick loots?

File: Black Knight.png (284KB, 352x501px) Image search: [Google]

284KB, 352x501px

>>47758614
With Jimmy it makes sense since he is himself black.

>>47761070
There isn't much for most people to gain from killing giants. Only a very few of them have anything of value on them. These days, if a giant is a hassle, the local authorities usually just blow it up with a bunch of cannons. It's not Antiquity anymore, creatures like this are not threats to a modern state.

However, most giants are either dormant, or are for whatever reason no danger to society, and so are ignored either out of a lack of interest, or a fear of disrupting some sort of natural order.

Now, if you're interested in magic, that's a different story...

>>47763768
then tell us the story, you tease.

>>47763768
Doctor Doom presumably has a summer house on top of one of these things.

>>47763768
Seeing as it's roughly mid 20th century, what is the state of nuclear physics research in the Void?

Bannerlord before SoS is imminent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=705at0Pr4fM

>>47764756
Hopefully none at all.

>>47764954
I'm too hype to be mad

>>47764954
Oh fuck yes.

>>47764954
>yfw both some time after HL3 release.

>>47764756
I asked Jimmy a while ago. They aren't anywhere near the Bomb. Something about there being no heavy elements around, I think.

File: 1465852866418.jpg (282KB, 2048x1536px) Image search: [Google]

282KB, 2048x1536px

>>47764473
>Jesus Christ a giant monster is rampaging through Berkukha
>Hundreds of heroes die trying to defeat it
>Finally scale its great body up to the top
>Zoph Escher in a lawn chair with an umbrella and a pina colada
>"Oh hey, you made it! Grab a chair, we're almost to the beach!"

>>47769603
Now that is a beach episode I would watch.

File: tumblr_o8h2ce3G321u6mxlto1_1280.jpg (279KB, 929x1280px) Image search: [Google]

279KB, 929x1280px

Alright, the tourney will be taking place at 17/6/16 (UTC+10) at 0300 same timezone. I'll post a roll20 link in the sheet and here when I'm finished with it. If you can't be there, put a message somewhere. I'll probably see it eventually.

>>47771035
yayyyy though i can't figure out what time that is for me

>>47772964
Have you tried using the internet? Something like timeanddate.com or if all else fails fucking wolfram alpha.

File: 1465693814121.gif (3MB, 640x266px) Image search: [Google]

3MB, 640x266px

>>47771035
>Azasuke Wind
How tasteful.

>>47754402
People do carry AKs around in some countries. In mine, they prefer AR-15s.

>>47772995
all of which is no help