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CHAPTER SIX
WEAPONS AND
EQUIPMENT
Adrian bolted the heavy oaken
door behind her. She could already
hear the sound of her pursuers’
hatchets hacking away at it. She
glanced at the remains of her
longsword. It could be reforged –
would be, it was her father’s – but it
wouldn’t help her now.
As her eyes adjusted to the
gloom, she looked around the room:
no other doors and the window was
a tiny grille. Then she spotted the
weapons – aha, a guardroom! Her
luck hadn’t run out completely.
The dagger would be too light to
handle hatchets and falchions. The
rusty shortsword was crumbling.
And the halberd was far too long for
such close quarters. Standing in the
corner, though, was a nastily
hooked bill, not much taller than
Adrian. That would do nicely!
Grasping the weapon across her
body, Adrian turned toward the
door, glad that she hadn’t spent all
her time studying swordplay.
Purely unarmed fighting styles
exist, but most traditional martial
arts evolved for use in battles or
duels involving weapons. Many
were intended for armored warriors
facing similarly clad opponents.
These basic realities remain
for today’s combat styles, but art
and sport forms often replace
lethal weapons – or all weapons –
with nonlethal ones, and armor is
typically either nonexistent or
designed specifically as training
equipment.
Traditional or modern, lethal or
nonlethal, the hardware used by
the practitioners of many styles
can be as complex as their tactics.
Tomorrow’s gear will probably be
even more elaborate. See GURPS
Ultra-Tech for futuristic equivalents
to many items found in this
chapter.
WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT 211