Ok, I'm going to start by saying that Katanas are awesome. Even if there were no practical benefits to using one over a kitchen knife, about half of us would still grab them for our runners because Katana.

However...
If you want something that can't be effectively hidden and screams "I'm a shadowrunner", it's either the Katana or the Panther XXL. Outside of a very small set of circumstances, isn't it better to hide the fact that you're a professional criminal?

What I am trying to say is this: Why are so many runners focused on this sword? What is it about the beautiful, finely crafted distinctive curved blade that captures our imaginations so and sets us running around committing crimes with it? For a professional killer there are many other options out there that are somewhat comparable but lack the distinctive bulk.

AAGH! I have an escaped clone posting the same thing as me at the same time!!!
I knew I should have nuked that clone lab from orbit while I had the chance. Maybe if everyone ignores him he'll go away.

I think it's the whole romanticized "Samurai" deal in western culture. A claymore or a zweihander can be just as effective at cleaving a person in two, but it's that Eastern mystique, that lone warrior who can cut down enemies by the dozen, that seems to really draw us towards a weapon like a katana.

Well, besides the whole 'romanticized' thing-compared to a Combat Axe, it does nearly as much damage and a LOT less clumsy and bulky. (Out of game terms; it's more concealable, almost as damaging and has more Accuracy than the combat axe.) It's similar to a Sword, but again, a little better. It does a pretty decent job of cleaving armor as well(AP-3 out of game.)

You don't particularly need a mighty arm to wield one. Average People do pretty decently with it(an average, 3 strength joe would do 6P, -3 AP with the thing, and 1 reach to boot.)

I mean, overall-besides their appearance, they're just a very good weapon on top of it. Though yes-they ARE a little hard to actually hide under something that isn't a trenchcoat. Which I imagine is where 'Katana and Trenchcoat' comes into play.

I agree. But, as a kid who was an avid Conan the Barbarian comic collector and reader, I'll take a broadsword for my runners any time, but that's just the (anti)hero I grew up loving, Conan planting his back against a wall and mowing down warriors until the enemy had to bring in the mages (which is why he should have geeked them first...).

Also, they fit the old 80's theory of its better.. because it's Japanese...

Or maybe the combat knife... which costs 1/3rd of the price, has only one point of difference in accuracy and damage, and is massively more concealable.
As to compared to the combat axe... yeah, the appalling accuracy on the axe hurts it badly, but that only becomes a factor if you're really really good.

Maybe that's the appeal: to get the most out of a Katana (in 5th) you need to be very skilled. Ergo, if you're carrying one instead of a combat axe you probably are very skilled... or at least you like to think you are. once again, prestige.

I imagine it's something to do with them being called 'street samurai' and not 'street highlanders' or 'street knights'.

It's just....really cool?

Personally I prefer the scarier looking bladed things like katars, but hey that's just me

I saw a documentary on the katana. Supposedly the curved blade was much better at cutting through things.

Here's a cool demonstration video of the two handed great sword.

Spellbinder nailed it imo. Its the Street Samurai that searches for some kind of meaning in a disrooted (wireless) dystopian world and the one symbol even a 5 year old kid "gets" for Samurai is tha Katana with Iconerism on the rise. I had a "Street Anti-Samurai" by the handle of Claymore in one of my games and he made it a point going against any "katana wielding shmuck" (his worlds not mine) with either his claymore or a claymore (mine that is).

I'd go with the K-Bar (Combat Knife) if I absolutely had to use a blade, and only then.

love and bloodshed,
Sunshine

P.S.: Also Knight Errant got the european counterpart trademarked.

Speaking of combat knives, damn I miss my Cougar Fineblade Long. I kinda wish that one would have made it into the core book; it's been around since the old days. (I'd have guessed it may have actually HAD Str+3 Damage on it with a 7 Accuracy, but will probably be a good 4,000 or so itself in price.)

But that combat knife in the book is REALLY good. I'm working on a combat knife based character recently and it's pretty awesome looking so far. (That being said, they do lack the Reach of the Katana. So Knife=Cheaper and more concealable, Katana=a little more damaging, more accuracy, longer, more expensive. But yeah-when it comes down to it-I think the Eastern Culture thing might have a bigger role than how good thing thing actually is.

As for a combat axe, I SO want to make Cyber Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter now.

Any thoughts on the pole arm? reach 3 is pretty nice on the defensive side of things, but it feels like it lacks hitting power.

Katanas are just better.

Public Service Announcement: TVTropes will ruin your life. Hey, at least they're honest about it.

Okay, one of my story characters in the 2070's is going to get a Dikote™ coated bastard sword...

Holy Drek! I just looked at the stats for the mono-filament. You want an argument for close combat? This is it.
I think I'll be adding one to my character's arsenal (with a mere strength 2, having preset damage is going to be useful).

To save time: Accuracy 5(7), Reach 2, Damage 12P, AP -8, Availability 12F, price tag 10,000. If you don't have a copy of the book, don't look at that.

That thing is insane!

And a prime target for bricking once the opposing side's decker finds it online.

I just had an image of police tazing someone wielding a mono-whip pop into my head. The results were not pretty.

I wonder if my GM will let me make called shots to the forearm with my S&S...

Wait, what? A whip has a wireless bonus?

So a tantō?

Wakizashi are already listed as one potential style of the "Sword", so I figure the same thing works for the "Combat Knife", despite it only being described as a KA-BAR style blade. There were even armor-piercing tantō called yoroidōshi, so the only thing you're missing is the blacked-out blade, which is really pretty extraneous.

That said, why katana?

Wootz, my SR5 Street Samurai, uses a katana because he's got a lot to prove, even if it's mostly to himself. He doesn't like the idea of killing being easy, and he believes that by using a hard to wield weapon, he'll be less tempted to kill needlessly. Additionally, his swordsmanship is something for him to practice, and in doing so he not only stays in physical shape, but also hones his mind. He's a very philosophical fellow, and tying his combat ability into his personal principles and perspectives on the universe helps him better manage both of them.

~Umi

I don't like the fact, that the developers made the Katana the best Blade weapon, just because they think it's the coolest weapon. I'd like to have a chopice of several similarly good weapons crunchwise and then choose whatever makes most sense for my character fluffwise.

Yup. Second accuracy value is if you have it subscribed to your PAN. On top of that, you get a safety feature that prevents you from being entangled by your own whip on the event you roll a glitch.

Then call it a Claymore and move on.

Any two-handed sword with a crummy concealability can use the "katana" stats. Just like a "combat knife" can be a tantō, and just like how the "sword" is listed as being "Available in a wide variety of styles (wakizashi, seax, scimitar, jian, machete, and so on and so forth)". Reskin the weapon however you like, so long as it still operates the same mechanically.

~Umi

Every weapon is wireless now. Not that wireless bonus is given for most of 'em, but hey....

Wait a minute...

A monofilament whip is basically a superthin wire.

If I go wireless, all I have is a handle!!

How is that going to be useful at all?

... And now I have to put together and play a street highlander, just because you said that. Thanks so much.



They are pretty good at their thing. Of course, they're kind of terrible for a number of other things (for instance, they're terrible stabbing swords). The thing that they're good at, though, does make them seem really cool.



Or just port over the (better) stats for the Claymore from SR4, improve it's AP to suit the increases in AP to other weapons, and give it an Accuracy value.

It's a very expensive paperweight.

At least it's not a bricked Excalibur.

Actually, I just looked it up, there is a listing for Claymores in the Concealability table. A katana is rated +6, while a claymore is rated, and I quote, "+10/Forget about it". So yeah, for 4 points of concealability, I would agree, it needs to be better than the katana. Odd that they'd give the item partial crunch like that, though. Maybe it used to be in the corebook but got cut?

~Umi

You'll find the same problem with flamethrowers, who get their AP value (-6) mentioned but don't get statted up.
I can only assume that they'll be in a future splat book.

Could be. In SR4, it wasn't seen until Arsenal - providing basically the same stats as the Combat Axe. I suspext the SR5 version will end up with a better Accuracy stat than the Combat Axe.

I'm going to strait up call BS on a katana having more armor pen than a European sword. The Katana was made for dealing with leather and wooden armor.

In my games, only poser(NPC)s use katanas.
Oh, and real samurai. Of the red persuasion.

Players don't usually get a sword, and even if they do, they'd rather go for a machete, a cougar fine blade, a kukri (as examples for concealable ones), or a really big one like the claymore or no-dachi.
Hell, my players scoff at (non-implanted) blade weapons so much that I was able to sell them SHARK KNIFE and KNUCK KNIFE for outrageous prices with no intent to ever use them

Katanas are nice to look at, and quality weapons, but they are nowhere near as outrageously good as they're made up to be. Hell, viking swords from the 8th century had very similar quality and craftsmanship.

Using them? Cheesy like the moon. My characters are not Michael Dudikoff, SR is not American Ninja and only people with 80s movies as a guilty pleasure actually consider taking one with them on a run.*
IMO, you're much better off with a gun, and if you ever need a knife (and you really often do, as a tool) the cougar blades are the go-to tool / weapon combination.

*Only applies to my games. YMMV

The most commonly used melee weapons in my games tend to be:
unarmed (possibly with Hardliners/Knucks)
extendable batons
various combat knives
shock gloves
monowhip

All these weapons are easy to conceal. If someone can bring a katana to a fight, another can bring a shotgun/assault rifle. Personally, I'd rather have the latter in a serious fight.

My street sam might wear a katana to meet a Johnson, just because it's the expected thing. On the job, though, the long-pattern Cougar Fineblade is the last word in edged weapons, IMO.

Don't forget the gear porn aspect, it's folded 90 gazillion times and (because for most people, folds = awesome) better than any other steel, millennia of ancient wisdom went into the design, bla bla...

Forget katana, when is someone bringing out a workable Chainsword?

Vibro Sword in Arsenal...but no axe, makes the blood god sad

Those are good, but just lack the bone chattering thrum of power when cutting through someone.

A very sad blood god indeed.

Yeah, we so need some chain-weapons! Chainswords, Chainaxes, Chainvibroswords, Chainvibroaxes, you get my drift.

I wonder if you could get a chainvibromonowhip?

Katanas and Vibroswords, to me, just scream unprofessional pink mohawk team, with the Johnsons more likely to hire you for meatgrinders instead of professional runs.

But then again, I've never liked pink mohawk and try to discourage it in my games, so I may be biased here.

Yeah, but they make brilliant bribes for gangs when you need some muscle ect

Hmm, the last time of my PCs bribed some gangers, it involved a crate of Ingram Smartguns and a couple of LAWs. After all, you can't spell slaughter without laughter!

Both the Katana and Viking Longsword share a whole bunch of the same forging techniques, the same matallurgical properties and are usually of very high craftsmanship and well designed and weighted to their appropriate fighting styles. Having used both I find the Katana the more versatile weapon as the Viking Longsword (who's actual name escapes me) is designed to be used in conjunction with a shield and is very much a limited grip, one hand only affair.

Now, Iirc the Ares Monosword used to be very similar in the stat line to the Katana and there is probabley a good reason for this which has been touched upon. Swords are a rather uncommon item as combat pieces in the 21st century and even in the Sixth World with only a few organisation (mostly historical) employing them. Eastern weapons are more common to be functional because of the Martial Arts that use them and the proliferation of that schooling. In both cases the Status Symbol of these things are pretty much null out here in the west. Mostly Knives are the order of the day fir Western blade requirements.

The Katana however has retained its status symbology of the Samurai, even in an era where the Samurai are a fading cultural nuance and in the Sixth World the Japanacorps played a big role as the triple A Megas (Fuchi, Renraku, Yamatetsu, Shiawase, Mitsuhama, that's Five of the Big Eight as was). Even today some Japanese security and law enforcement forces are taught to actually use No-Kendo or Kenjuitsu and still are issued with bladed weapons. So these weapons as both functional and status implements would evolve to bear mono edging, the latest alloying blending techniques, lighter, faster, stronger and sharper than the average weapon of a millennia ago.

Now before people mention the "old katanas having the same stats" do remember that surviving weapons from a millennia before are often those few Exceptional pieces of craftsmanship that are by far superior to the more "common" blades to be found.

Ergo the SotA Ares Monosword sharing stats the the Japanacorps Katanas, because the Ares Monosword is the Modern version of the Viking Longsword, matching up statewide with these new oriental weapons. Same alloys, techniques and mono edging.

The other swords out there were always just functional lengths of sharpened folded metal (or injection forged!) without the other expensive and shiny techniques, materials and mono edging applied.

At least that's what makes sense to me.

Right there with you. For me, the pink mo' doesn't integrate very well into what I understand Shadowrun to be about, at least not beyond gang-level.

They didn't start making Katanas till the 1600s.

Well I prefer the good old "long sword" with a grip of 25 - 30 cm and a blade of about 90 cm. In a fight there is no reason other than preference, to want a Katana instead. Being nice and all, a Katana can be a nice sword, it still remains a sword though.

Putting myself into the position of a shadowrunner, I would clearly leave both of them at home and prefer perception and deception, unarmed combat (if need be) and the gun, for the shit and fan thing. I really like swords though.

First reference to Katana is made in the 12th century with the crafting of such really getting started in the 14th century using the "katana signature". So okay not a Millenua on some cases but still 500-800 years. There are also older examples from the period of 900ad.

Meanwhile, as someone who wears the pink mohawk proudly, I am all about doing fun stuff with weapons. (I wear a trenchcoat with the mohawk, however. I am not against being quiet and doing Other Things besides blowing stuff up, but there is always a measure of mohawk to our games, since it's what we have the most fun with.) We try to strike a balance of either 'Trenchoat with added explosives' or 'Mohawk with added planning'. After trying both styles of games-Ice Cold Pro and Total Chaos-I found the former get boring(for us), the latter actually get silly after more than a few sessions, so the middle ground seems to be where we're at.

Katanas and vibro-swords end up working quite well in the balance. It's more the 'Super Serious Ice Cold Pro' games I guess they start falling out of favor. (And, honestly, they aren't quite silly enough for Super Pink Mohawk Extravaganzas. THAT'S when you need Monofilament Chainswords. )

What exactly makes Katanas and Vibroswords more pink mohawk then some other melee weapon?
Or are you implying that using melee weapons in the first place is unprofessional?

Heck working at Neo Tokyo you can carry katana as your standard walking around weapon.