[Espy]

It's not that big, more or less like this, probably just a bit longer and broader. (The sword drawings from above weren't exactly to scale; the smaller one's probably a foot and a half.)

EDIT: Erm. Oops. It's not that visible here, but hopefully you get the idea?

[Suzerain of Sheol]

Ahhh, okay, I was thinking it was scaled. :P

That works.

[Espy]

So like...3.5ft, -ish? I mean, handle included, and the handle's pretty long just for counterweight purposes... Er...I lost my ruler somewhere, so I'm using manila folders as a measuring tool...

Yeah, no, no. I had initially thought of making it bigger, but I already have a recent character with a giant sword (actually functions closer to a shield and a spell catalyst), and TBH, Dante's built more like a swimmer than you typical fighting videogame protagonist, so he wouldn't be able to handle that anyhow.

Oh, right. Diogenes reminds me of a certain character from a certain manga whose name I can't recall right now. Er...I'll have to find him later. But seriously, I can't see any of the three current guys getting along at all...this will be fun.

[Suzerain of Sheol]

Hmmm... 42 inches? On the low-end for a two-hander, but perfectly reasonable. If my new longsword would ever come in I'd comment in greater detail, it clocks in at 49 inches and 3 pounds.

Actually, now that I think of it, I think I have a sword that's fairly similar in proportions to that thing.

http://www.kitrae.net/fantasy/KR25.html

For a fantasy wallhanger it feels pretty nice in the hand, the extended handle gives you a lot of control and power (and that pommel spike is *nasty*)

[Espy]

That handle and pommel are beautiful o.o I'm surprised it's only 3 lbs. Seems it'd be a lot heavier than that.

Which reminds me, I was going to go for a more curved designed, but for some reason opted against it. Huh. And okay, it was designed as a two-handed sword, but I shrunk it a bit after I figured out (not quite, yet) the glove so that given some momentum, he can swing it with just his right hand.

I think I made sense there. Not entirely sure. Tired.

EDIT: there was something else i was going to mention but forgot. oopsies..

[Suzerain of Sheol]

Honestly, anything over 4 pounds is going to have you gasping after 5 minutes of swinging it, let alone be terribly unbalanced in most cases. The biggest zweihanders got up to 5 or 6, I believe.

A well-forged sword should feel practically weightless in the hand. If you had someone freakishly strong, you could give them a slightly heavier weapon as long as the mass distribution was on par with a lighter blade, but for the average fighter, the general rule is 2.5-3 for a 2hander, 1.5-2 for a 1hander.

[Espy]

I mean, that makes sense. -has been swinging around a length of padded PVC piping and even that feels heavy-

...Please don't ask why I'm swing around a length of PVC pipe <.<;; Or why I need glow in the dark and neon paints ">.> I swear I'm not doing anything (too) dangerous.

That's a point I never got with videogames and such. Like...Cloud's sword is BASICALLY a giant five-foot tall thick-ish sheet of metal. Could've been a better design for it, but I guess it /looks cool/. Ichigo's sword is also a giant sheet of metal. Sephiroth's is a katana that's altogether too long, too unwieldy, too unbalanced, and too likely to get stuck in the ground or in a wall during a fight. And the list goes on.

...I have a thing against impractical armor and weaponry, for the most part. Mostly the armor. Occasionally the weaponry. -coughs-

[Suzerain of Sheol]

You know what's the worst? War hammers. To note: a war hammer is *not* a giant 20lb meat tenderizer.

An actual war hammer.

A meat tenderizer.

[Espy]

Warhammers were meant to completely ignore armor, right? -doesn't know too much about them-

[Suzerain of Sheol]

I wouldn't say "ignore" precisely. You'd use the blunt end to deform the plates so they couldn't move their limbs as well, and if you got an opening, a power swing with the spike had a good chance of piercing through, and the top spike could be used to stab at the mail protecting the joints, which, even if it didn't penetrate, would generally *hurt*.

Oh, and if you walloped someone in the head with the blunt end, they'd probably end up with a concussion. (Which is one of the principles behind fighting someone in plate armor with a longsword -- you flip the sword around and swing it like a warhammer, pommel strikes to the head could at the very least disorient.)

[Espy]

Hm. Interesting. I forgot that there's usually mail at the joints, haha...

...aaaand I just remembered how heavy plate and chainmail are.

[Suzerain of Sheol]

Plate's heavy, but the way it's distributed over the body makes it fairly light in practice -- the main issue with fighting in it is overheating, which can happen very quickly. As long as it's well-made for the person wearing it, though, it allows full range of movement, up to cartwheels and backflips @_@ . (There are videos on youtube demonstrating exactly that...)

Chain on the other hand is about as heavy as plate, and all the weight rests on your shoulders and hips (assuming you belt it, which you'd be insane not). It's a lot more restrictive and tiring to fight in, but on the other hand, it's a lot stronger than movies make it look, too. Proper riveted steel chain with a padded gambeson under it can pretty much laugh off cutting weapons, and it provides solid protection against piercing, too, even arrows from anything but an English longbow. (Plate could shrug those off, but only if they were arc-fired. A direct shot could punch through, though it'd still waste a lot of momentum doing so.) Blunt force trauma is, of course, the main answer to chain, could even end up driving the links into the skin. That's what you had a shield for, though...


But yeah, chain's a lot better than Hollywood likes to portray -- they wouldn't have worn the stuff if it could hacked through with such contemptuous ease. There's an old Icelandic saga describing a duel between two champions, one of whom is rich and has chain armor, and it basically describes the match as "unfair" because the other guy literally can't hurt him with his sword.

[Espy]

Had an hour-long conversation about impractical armor, swords, warhammers and spears, and scale armor with a friend of mine. That was interesting. He's apparently seen the same videos you have.

(And then we ran into fencing club at the Activities Fair, which I somehow forgot to sign up for.)

[Suzerain of Sheol]

I'm assuming "fencing" as the modern sport and not fencing as the Renaissance masters knew it? :P

And you need any more help for Dante at this point? Would like to get this going soon.

[Espy]

Nah, just need to find time to write stuff down. And TBH, we all know him well enough that this could probably get going before I finish his profile.

[Suzerain of Sheol]

This is a good point.

Ari, unless you're going to make major changes to Ei'lycia, I'm fine with just going of her old profile until you can a new one worked up.

So... anyone opposed to having this begin with everyone getting called before Zach for a new mission?