Short sword

A short sword is similar in construction to a longsword, except, as its name implies, it is shorter. Generally made with a two foot long blade and a grip made to only fit one hand, short swords are very common weapons and is often referred to as a "common sword." Short swords are primarily thrusting weapons as they do not have the weight to crush armor, but they are effective against unarmored foes when either thrusting or slashing.

Construction

The short sword consists of two major parts: the blade and the hilt.

Blade

Similar to the longsword, a short sword's blade is divided into the forte and foible. The blade, unlike with a longsword, is usually completely sharpened, from the base of the crossguard to the tip. A short sword does not usually have a fuller due to the sword's already small size. A tang extends from the blade through the hilt. The blade is always double-edged, and since short swords are primarily thrusting weapons, the blade tends to be thicker than a longsword's blade.

Hilt

The hilt consists of the crossguard or quillions, grip, and pommel. The crossguard is used for protecting the hand, trapping the opponent's blade, or to prevent slipping. The pommel acts as a counter-weight and secures the grip to the blade via the tang.

Other Nouns

A short sword was very common and used by many cultures. The weapon evolved greatly over time and therefore, essentially, the same weapon has been known by many different names. The currently acceptable nouns in GemStone are: antler sword, braquemar, baselard, chereb, gladius, kris, and wakizashi.

Game Mechanics

Short swords are mid-range weapons that balance power and speed. Not as strong as a longsword, not as fast as a rapier, they fit a nice medium.

Weapon	AG	Cloth	Leather				Scale				Chain				Plate				RT	Min RT	Damage Type	STR/DU
	AsG	1	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Short sword	DF	.350	.240				.200				.150				.125				3	4	Slashing/Piercing/Crushing	70/185
	AvD	40	36	35	34	33	30	28	26	24	25	21	17	13	25	19	13	7

Related Articles

• Forging - Player forged weapons gain a 2%, 4%, or 6% bonus to AvD and DF, depending on the quality.

References

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_sword
• http://www.play.net/gs4/info/armory/edgedweapons.asp#Shortsword