Where are the long melee weapons?, :wacko: Reach 4? :wacko: Options

[Dakka Dakka]

According to p. 158 of SR4A weapons can have Reach up to 4. Where are those weapons? Even the largest ones are only Reach 2 and in Troll hands Reach 3.

Typo? or am I missing somehting.

[Whipstitch]

The Elongated Limbs SURGE quality stacks with standard metatype reach bonuses. A SURGE'd troll with a simple telescoping staff can toss around a surprising amount of dice on a charge.

[Maelstrome]

well, how many weapons do you think would be wieldly at 9 feet and counting for the typical runner imagine that elongate troll with a claymore in a hall way. reach 4 is about 12 feet right? if you need 12 feet in a fight i think its about time to use a gun. now i used to have rules for over sized weabo weapons. but i cant find or recall them. if you are just wanting the reach bonus you can go the way of elongated limbs like the other said.

[Medicineman]

....oO(Well there is the famous 11' Pole (weather from D&D or from Wing Chun) and maybe a chain could be that long....)

with a Poledance
Medicineman

[Maelstrome]

....oO(Well there is the famous 11' Pole (weather from D&D or from Wing Chun) and maybe a chain could be that long....)

with a Poledance
Medicineman

ive seen them at wle.com my whole take on it isnt that they dont or cant exist. its that they just dont work well in enclosed spaces. its all situational like having a gogang with a twelve foot spear would probably work but the huge weapons just arent suitable for most indoor environments which in my experience is where most close combat takes place. now a really long flexible weapon like the chain medicine man talks like a chain with a weight on the end would probably work.

im somewhat remembering the rules i had. they were telescopic weapons that had extra reach for double the cost. so +1 reach cost 2x and +2 reach cost 4x. and that they broke beyond repair on a critical glitch.

[CanRay]

A Troll swinging another Troll holding a Spear. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

[Sengir]

....oO(Well there is the famous 11' Pole (weather from D&D or from Wing Chun) and maybe a chain could be that long....)

with a Poledance
Medicineman

And now with stats, straight from the Berlin SB: http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/5339/bild0051a.jpg (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Doc Byte]

According to p. 158 of SR4A weapons can have Reach up to 4. Where are those weapons? Even the largest ones are only Reach 2 and in Troll hands Reach 3.

Typo? or am I missing somehting.

Lancebiker

Go, Timber Wolves, Go! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cool.gif)


€dit: http://sr.clausvb.de/Troll.jpg

[Lansdren]

In the real world I can just about used a seven foot heavy spear with reasonable ability. I can see a troll with a twelve foot spear easily. Not very useful in a world mostly made for humans but possible none the less.

[Manunancy]

Most of those overlong weapons were designed for formation fighting (greek phalanx, spanish tercios, pikemn squares, that sort of things). Which makes them poorly suited for the sort of quick-moving skirmishes that are a shadowrunner's usual lot.

Once you're inside a pike's reach with a normal weapon, it turns into an oversized and really clumsy staff and the pikeman is toast.

[Doc Byte]

Once you're inside a pike's reach with a normal weapon, it turns into an oversized and really clumsy staff and the pikeman is toast.

Get a double-bladed polearm of reasonable length, it's Shadowrun after all not reenactment. Take full advantage of having a weapon with two edges.

[Lansdren]

Get a double-bladed polearm of reasonable length, it's Shadowrun after all not reenactment. Take full advantage of having a weapon with two edges.

I hate double ended glaives my mate has a custom made one from one of our good armourers. Looks nice but I cant stand it as a weapon it just feels wrong.

Give me my large axe anytime or my very large one if we are doing polearms

[Blade]

A SURGEd troll (or centaur) with elongated limbs kicking someone with an art martial goes up to 3 without any weapon. Do telescopic cyberlegs add anything to the Reach?

[Mäx]

Once you're inside a pike's reach with a normal weapon, it turns into an oversized and really clumsy staff and the pikeman is toast.

Yeah thats the biggest problem with adding reach 4 weapons in to game, as such a weapon would prettty much always give the user the reach advance, even though as you say having a weapon that big would be a disadvantage at least as often as it's an advantage.

[KarmaInferno]

Pretty much the only way I can see a Reach 4 weapon not being very awkward would be if it can instantly extend and retract at the user's whim.




-k

[Yerameyahu]

Yup. Totally ridiculous.

[hobgoblin]

....oO(Well there is the famous 11' Pole (weather from D&D or from Wing Chun) and maybe a chain could be that long....)

with a Poledance
Medicineman

D&D have had 10' pole in its mundane gear list for ages. The 11' may be from hackmaster or munchkins as a spoof on the "higher number is better" mentality.

[Mäx]

The 11' may be from hackmaster or munchkins as a spoof on the "higher number is better" mentality.

No the 11' pole is for those adventures where the designer put the button little more then 10' away so that you cant just use a 10' pole to push it (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[Sixgun_Sage]

If I recall correctly the Macedonian spearmen had spears 16 feet in length, of course this was only effective as part of a phalanx but...

[Stahlseele]

And now with stats, straight from the Berlin SB: http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/5339/bild0051a.jpg (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

BWAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAAHAAAAAAAA
Didn't even see that when i first read through my limited edition ^^

[crash2029]

When I was a kid my family was in the SCA. As a result I did alot of sword fighting. I also used other weapons when available. I remember one time when I got my hands on a pollax. That was fun. It can be intimidating to see somebody charging at you screaming and leaping into the air to deliver a gravity-enhanced blow. Good times. Although I admit that was outside. My point is that a reach 3 weapon can be useful depending on how you use it.

[Stahlseele]

Now remember: Smart materials and Telescopics are in Shadowrun.
Technically, you CAN build Son Goku's Staff from Dragonball . .

[Whipstitch]

If I recall correctly the Macedonian spearmen had spears 16 feet in length, of course this was only effective as part of a phalanx but...

Yeah, polearm clashes are quite a different beast. Greek tactics were clever and interesting in large part because they built the bulk of their military strategy around a formation tactic that was dominant in a specific situation and very inflexible in others.

[Bodak]

D&D have had 10' pole in its mundane gear list for ages. The 11' may be from hackmaster or munchkins as a spoof on the "higher number is better" mentality.

It seems more likely to me that it is a Spinal Tap reference.

And I expect if you can have SmartLink technology that lets you control your firearm at the speed of thought, similar DNI/PAN linkage could extend and retract a telescoping polearm to a length appropriate to the environs. Of course, when not fully extended, the player would not get to add the full reach modifier (they tend to conveniently forget such finer details in all the excitement)!

[Yerameyahu]

You'd have to invent it, of course. The telescoping staff in Arsenal is mechanical, not Smart, electronic, or anything. Certainly doable, but probably not worth it to munchkin out 1 or 2 extra Reach. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)