Arming Sword

Game Stats

• Range: melee
• Base damage: 1d6 (slashing/impaling)
• Secondary: none
• Concealable: no
• Civilian Carry:  no

Description

The arming sword is a one-handed cut-and-thrust sword with a comparatively broad but tapering blade capable of delivering powerful cleaving blows and agile thrusts.  It is the traditional weapon of the Sevillan knight. 

Use and Characteristics 

The arming sword is the closest thing in the Circle to a "generic" sword, a well-balanced form that emphasizes no particular aspect of fencing but is capable of most of them.  Its blade is broad (somewhat less than two inches wide at the widest point) but tapering and about 30-32 inches long.  The broad blade allows arming swords to be made with a very flat cross-section, increasing their cutting power, while the blade's taper makes it agile in thrusting attacks.

Arming swords are short enough that they usually have no ricasso; unlike edgeblades, they are not "fingered" by hooking an index finger over the cross-guard.  This means that the guard of an arming sword is usually a simple cross-guard, just enough to keep the knuckles from smashing against an enemy's shield.  Arming swords are nevertheless sold with a dizzying array of decorative hilt forms; it is the blade, not the hilt, that defines the sword.

In combat, the arming sword is capable of cutting or thrusting as necessary, but its most powerful attacks are cuts.  A strong blow from an arming sword can lop off a heavily muscled limb in one stroke, and a good blade can even shear through mail armor in the right circumstances.  At the same time, the sword is light and agile; a typical specimen weighs two pounds.  It is this combination of agility and brutality that made the arming sword the traditional "war" sword of Sevillan knights.

Despite its agility, like all one-handed swords, the arming sword is too slow and too short to provide a complete defense by itself.  A swordsman's off-hand should ideally be engaged by wielding a shield (or less commonly, a dagger) when wielding an arming sword.

Advantages

The arming sword's principal advantage is its combination of power and versatility.  It is a hard-hitting sword that can thrust or cut as needed and still leave the swordsman's off-hand free to wield a shield or hold the reins of a cavalry mount.

Disadvantages

The arming sword's main disadvantage is its relatively short reach compared to many other battlefield weapons, and even many one-handed swords.  Like all swords, it is comparatively ineffective against armor; even if an arming sword can shear through mail, doing so requires a lucky combination of precisely the right impact angle and force, and may damage the blade's precious (and expensive) cutting edge as well.

Variants

Like most blades in Harkania and Sevilla, arming swords are produced in high-quality steel (referred to as "steel" colloquially) and low-quality steel (referred to as "iron" colloquially).  Many arming swords have crystal edges, particularly those that belong to wealthy knights.  A number of Dolotai steel blades are arming swords, treasured family heirlooms that can trace their history to some famous knight.

The equivalent of an arming sword is occasionally cast in bronze by bronze-working cultures, although this is rare.  The mechanical properties of bronze are such that a long bronze blade is liable to bend or snap under the stress of forceful blows: bronze is a hard alloy, but it has very little flexibility.  Arming swords in bronze usually feature pronounced profile and distal tapers, and are used primarily for thrusting.

Party Associations

None

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