Swords

Swords in GURPS are any rigid, hilted blade with a thrusting point, a cutting edge, or both. All swords are balanced (unless otherwise mentioned), and can attack and parry without becoming unready. Swords are covered by various skills and have various types. The skills are DX/Average, except for Knife, which is Easy.
For the list of melee weapons skills, see Melee Weapon.
==Types of Swords by Skill==
Skill 	Description 	Defaults
Knife 	The smallest "swords". Easy to use. Highly preferred when in close combat, as they can all strike at Reach C. 	
* DX-4, Force Sword-3, Main-Gauche-3, or Shortsword-3
Shortsword	Smaller, more agile blades, highly suitable for feints without needing to rely on fencing footwork. Shortswords are often used by creatures as a cheaper option than a broadsword, or as a lightweight backup weapon. Don't underestimate a goblin who can feint. 	DX-5, Broadsword-2, Force Sword-4, Jitte/Sai-3, Knife-4, Saber-4, Smallsword-4, or Tonfa-3
Broadsword	The classic medium-sized sword. These can typically be drawn from the hip, and used readily in one hand. Some heftier versions can use one or two hands, and are drawn from a "hook" and short scabbard on the back. When using two hands, use Two-Handed Sword, below.	DX-5, Force Sword-4, Rapier-4, Saber-4, Shortsword-2, or Two-Handed Sword-4.
Two-Handed Sword 
(or 2H Sword for short)	Two-Handed Sword: Used for wielding mighty two-handed greatswords, or when gripping a sword with two hands -- this is common for longswords, bastard swords,Or "bastion sword" if your table is averse to the word. and katanas. 	DX-5, Broadsword-4 or Force Sword-4.
=== The Weird Ones ===
Skill 	Description 	Defaults
Force Sword	A skill for Force Swords, plasma-blades, and other "zero-blade-weight" weapons.Basic Set, p.208 This includes ultra-tech "laser swords", psionic blades, and magic swords with fire/lightning/etc for "blades".	DX-5, or any other sword skill at -3.
Jitte/Sai 	Any tined, one-handed sword designed to catch rigid weapons -- typically blades. These give a +2 to a Quick Contest for disarming an opponent. You may attempt to disarm any time you parry. 	DX-5, Force Sword-4, Main-Gauche-4, or Shortsword-3
For fencing weapons, see the Fencing Weapons page!
== Using Non-Swords as Swords ==
“If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.” -- Abraham MaslowIf you only have sword skills, there's a lot you can improvise. Balanced batons and sticks (including jittes and tonfas) can be used with Shortsword and Broadsword, while staffs as jos can be swung by their ends with Two-Handed Sword. Some fencing weapons, like edged rapiers and jians, can be used with Broadsword, while main-gauches can be readily used with Knife. The mighty tetsubo can be used with axe/mace in a normal grip or use Two-Handed Sword in a "choke up" grip.
==Additional Information==
=== When It's Not A Greatsword ===
#The sword must be drawable from a hip sheath to not be a great sword.
#The length of the blade has to be short enough that with a firm one handed grip on the handle one can use the other to grab someone and "do stabby things" to them. If not it is a great sword.
#Hold the sword in a standard stance (lower hand about chest high) and move the sword down without moving the vertical position of the hand. If it hits the ground then it is a great sword.
:The fighting style for a "true" Great sword is more along the lines of the polearm or quarterstaff.
===The Gradation of Swords, a Visual Guide===
From left to right:
*Shortsword
*Arming Sword
*Bastard Sword - note how subtle the differences between the Arming Sword on the left and Longsword on the right are.
*Longsword
*Longstord/Great Sword (can be used both ways)
*"True" Great Sword - used with the polearm or Staff quarterstaff skill as it is very cumbersome to use a sword skill with this weapon (its simply too big, for a human). Appears in the Renaissance.
===The Bastard Sword and Longsword===
Regarding Bastard Sword - "Qui n'était ni Française, ni Espagnole, ni proprement Lansquenette, mais plus longue que ces fortes épées." ([a sword] which was neither French, nor Spanish, nor properly Landsknecht [German], but longer than any of these sturdy swords.")Oeuvres - François Rabelais (écrivain), César de Missy, Jacob Le Duchat, Louis-Fabricius Dubourg, Bernard Picart, Pieter Tanjé, Balthasar Bernaerts, Jacob Folkema. p. 129.
"Bastard Sword": "also known as the hand and a half sword, the bastard sword was a long, straight-bladed weapon dating from 1490, with a plain cross guard, long grip, and rounded pommel. Blades averages forty inches in length, but some were as long as fifty inches." This works to 4.17 to 5 feet long. "The term bastard undoubtedly comes from the fact that the sword has, because of its design, no legitimate claim to being classified as either a single-handed or two-handed weapon" (Charles Henry Ashdown (1967) European Arms & Armor; George Cameron Stone (1961) A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor: in All Countries and in All Times, reprinted as part of the Dover Military History, Weapons, Armor series in 1999) Evangelista, Nick, (1995) The Encyclopedia of the Sword Greenwood Publishing Group (now part of ABC-CLIO) pg 48
Long Sword "The long sword was of the two handed variety. It was invariable a cutting weapon and was always, because of its length and weight used on foot. Blades of these weapons often reached five feet and more in length. The long sword family includes the claymore, the spandon, the espadon, the zweyhander, and the flamberge" (Egerton Castle (1885) Schools and Masters of Fence: From the Middle Ages to the Eighteenth Century)Evangelista, Nick, (1995) The Encyclopedia of the Sword Greenwood Publishing Group (now part of ABC-CLIO) pg 364
== Trivia ==
* The "Shortsword" skill can include knives in the 12 - 24 inches range but GURPS defines it as "a one-handed cut and thrust sword between 18” and 24” long."Low-Tech, p. 61 A Large Knife is between 15” and 23” long.Low-Tech, p. 58
==References==
*Classification of swords (Wikipedia)
Category:Melee Weapons