Hi! Reading through Chain of Command I think I found a typo: the parrying section (pg. 187) reads "The ability of a defender to parry depends on how much greater their weapon class is compared to that of their attacker", but it should be "The ability of a defender to parry depends on how much lower their weapon class is compared to that of their attacker".
Also, the weapon breaking in case of a kill score is the defender one, not the attacker one.
The idea being that only similar weapon (or lighter and faster ones) can engage in parrying, with the added possibility for the defender weapon to break, denying an otherwise killing blow.
Was literally looking over that part in FMC last night and it did strike me as a bit odd, my immediate thought was to things like the parrying dagger. A weightier thing like a polearm wouldn't be able to parry a dagger too well when in close combat unless imagining the pole part being used to absorb the cut from the dagger. I guess on the opposite end, though, I find it hard to imagine daggers doing too well against a polearm. Once they get far enough apart the techniques are drastically different.
I see what might have happened, given the wording in Chainmail, but it does seem like the faster (lower classed) weapons get a chance to parry, originally, as you said. The problem here is, it seems odd that weapons with a higher class, with their pretty much sole advantage of attacking first in the initial engagement, seem to lose that advantage with this subsystem, given the language about "first blows" seeming to mean the first strike of the engagement. I feel like it makes sense if in close combat already, where both opponents could already reach each other, but the initial chance to hit should go to the character with more reach, I think. It does seem like it makes an exception for pikes, spears, and lances (but not polearms apparently): if there's a charge, then those weapons get priority in the first round, but I feel like I'd want to expand on this.
Combine this system with the generally rougher time lighter class weapons get versus most defensive types, though, maybe it evens out?
One thing to remember is that Chainmail rules were used in a wargame, and then imported to be used in a proto-ttrpg, so the rules makes sense the most applied to the former, when a single strike is straight up a kill.
Keeping that in mind, as you also point out, daggers and hand axe have a very low chance to hit an armored opponent, while higher class weapon like two handed swords are arguably the best weapon by a large margin, speaking strictly about chance to hit the opponent.
The lowest class weapon to be kind of reliable is the Mace (Class 3), that if pitted against a 2h sword (Class 10) has a difference of 7 classes, so the mace wielder gets the choice of having first blow OR parry, not both. In this case, it's a gamble: since the 2h sword has higher chance of hitting, you could forgo first strike and parry, getting a counterblow in case of success; or maybe you could go "all in" attacking first...but if you miss, the 2h sword has an higher chance to strike without a parry reducing the roll.
The flail seems to have one of the best overall to-hit, which strikes me as a bit strange, but maybe since it's in the middle it's got the problem of not being dedicated enough in speed or in reach
Highly enjoyed every part of this book. Reading the blurb at the end, I greatly appreciate your honesty in why you've created FMC. This is possibly my favorite OD&D clone, like you said it's like a mirror that gives you what you put in.
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hello. thanks for this nice book. Is the versions on lulu updated to Gamma?
Hi! Reading through Chain of Command I think I found a typo: the parrying section (pg. 187) reads "The ability of a defender to parry depends on how much greater their weapon class is compared to that of their attacker", but it should be "The ability of a defender to parry depends on how much lower their weapon class is compared to that of their attacker".
Also, the weapon breaking in case of a kill score is the defender one, not the attacker one.
The idea being that only similar weapon (or lighter and faster ones) can engage in parrying, with the added possibility for the defender weapon to break, denying an otherwise killing blow.
Was literally looking over that part in FMC last night and it did strike me as a bit odd, my immediate thought was to things like the parrying dagger. A weightier thing like a polearm wouldn't be able to parry a dagger too well when in close combat unless imagining the pole part being used to absorb the cut from the dagger. I guess on the opposite end, though, I find it hard to imagine daggers doing too well against a polearm. Once they get far enough apart the techniques are drastically different.
I see what might have happened, given the wording in Chainmail, but it does seem like the faster (lower classed) weapons get a chance to parry, originally, as you said. The problem here is, it seems odd that weapons with a higher class, with their pretty much sole advantage of attacking first in the initial engagement, seem to lose that advantage with this subsystem, given the language about "first blows" seeming to mean the first strike of the engagement. I feel like it makes sense if in close combat already, where both opponents could already reach each other, but the initial chance to hit should go to the character with more reach, I think. It does seem like it makes an exception for pikes, spears, and lances (but not polearms apparently): if there's a charge, then those weapons get priority in the first round, but I feel like I'd want to expand on this.
Combine this system with the generally rougher time lighter class weapons get versus most defensive types, though, maybe it evens out?
I'm glad you brought this up.
One thing to remember is that Chainmail rules were used in a wargame, and then imported to be used in a proto-ttrpg, so the rules makes sense the most applied to the former, when a single strike is straight up a kill.
Keeping that in mind, as you also point out, daggers and hand axe have a very low chance to hit an armored opponent, while higher class weapon like two handed swords are arguably the best weapon by a large margin, speaking strictly about chance to hit the opponent.
The lowest class weapon to be kind of reliable is the Mace (Class 3), that if pitted against a 2h sword (Class 10) has a difference of 7 classes, so the mace wielder gets the choice of having first blow OR parry, not both. In this case, it's a gamble: since the 2h sword has higher chance of hitting, you could forgo first strike and parry, getting a counterblow in case of success; or maybe you could go "all in" attacking first...but if you miss, the 2h sword has an higher chance to strike without a parry reducing the roll.
The flail seems to have one of the best overall to-hit, which strikes me as a bit strange, but maybe since it's in the middle it's got the problem of not being dedicated enough in speed or in reach
Highly enjoyed every part of this book. Reading the blurb at the end, I greatly appreciate your honesty in why you've created FMC. This is possibly my favorite OD&D clone, like you said it's like a mirror that gives you what you put in.
thank you so much :) really glad you enjoyed it