item descriptions..
Based on an email someone sent to me years ago I did most of the item descriptions in ToME.
Now, having lost that email and armed with wikipedia and google I am doing item descriptions again ;)
So far only mushrooms have been impacted sideways by this activity, good mushrooms got better, bad mushrooms got worse. And I got rid of Katana's, I doubt any were to be found in the late Middle Ages in Italy. I also changed bastard sword into Gladius since bastard sword really is the same as long sword. Even a broadsword is really a longsword..
Tulwars ( curved blades from India ) pose an interesting question, there are over a dozen Indian blades with an interesting story and unique qualities:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talwar#See_also
But will I include them in Hellband ? No.. Because people already consider Hellband over the edge and at least the weapons keep things familiar. Still, its a shame. Now kids out there think that bastard swords, broadswords, long swords and "2 handed" swords are different things.
T.
That would be because bastard swords, broadswords, longswords and "2 handed swords" are different things, even in historical literature referring to themselves. In much literature, the terms are used interchangeably, referring to each other without so much as a nod to the fact that they are different.
ReplyDeleteOriginally, a longsword was a long one-handed weapon, then later evolved into a two-handed weapon. A katana could be referenced as a longsword, and has been translated as such at times.
A broadsword refers to a double-edged infantry sword, typically with a basket hilt, typically wider than other weapons (rapier, saber) of the time. It is not necessarily broader than a "longsword", and the terms were not used concurrently.
Bastard swords were also known as hand-and-a-half swords; a long sword, balanced for one hand, but with a hilt long enough to be wielded with two.
A "2 handed" sword could refer to either a greatsword (an even bigger longsword used in two hands) or a Zweihander (even bigger than a greatsword), but always refers to a weapon balanced for two handed use and much bigger than a conventional longsword.
That's not to say that a glut of weapons is a good thing, and while real-world differences are relevant in the real-world, they don't necessarily make enough of a difference to game-world mechanics to make it worthwhile - a longsword and a broadsword (and a bastard sword in one hand) probably have the same effect in game, so is there a point in having all three?
Good work with the new item changes! I love that you're sticking to weapons that were in Italy around the middle ages. It adds a unique sort of realism which is quite nice.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I'm something of a mushroom enthusiast myself, what kinds of changes were made to the good/bad mushrooms? The bad mushrooms I'd imagine have a chance to kill you or something equally as awful. But what kinds of things can the good ones do?
So,
ReplyDeletethe good ones ( like cure blindness ) will now protect from blindness for while, cure confusion will protect from confusion for a while which might come very much in handy. All good mushrooms also cure medium wounds now. Mushroom of blindness now gives blindness but also telepathy ( is now called of Third Sight ). Cure poison also restores strength and constitution. Cure fear will protect from fear like heroism except for the combat bonuses. Mushroom of hallucination also gives confusion now ;)
T.