9.1.7 WEAPONRY
Weaponry is a skill that everyone acquires. Although anyone may use any
weapon in Aetolia, those untrained in weaponry, and without proficiency
in that weapon, will find it difficult to be effective with it.
Initially, you will have only the ability to learn proficiencies. A
proficiency means that you have mastered a particular type of weapon,
e.g. longsword, broadsword, halberd, whip, mace, etc.
Each weapon has three statistics that are relevent to how well it works
(and these may be seen with the ability WeaponProbe): Damage, To-hit,
and Speed. The higher a weapon's damage, the more damage it is capable
of doing. The higher the to-hit bonus, the easier it is to hit someone
with it, and the greater the Speed, the more quickly you will recover
your balance after using it.
When actually hitting someone with a weapon though, there are two other
factors besides the weapon's statistics that matter. First, as was
mentioned earlier, whether or not you are proficient in that weapon.
Second, your skill in weaponry. The higher your weaponry skill, the
faster you will hit, the more damage you will do (up to a certain
point), and the more easily you will hit someone. An opponent, however,
will automatically attempt to dodge your blows, with the success rate
dependent on your weaponry skill compared to his avoidance skill.
Though there are many ways to use a weapon, ranging from slash, to whip,
to bash, each weapon has only particular methods in which it will be
effective. You CAN, for instance, whip someone with a sword, but you
won't have a very good chance of hitting your target, and you will not
do much damage if you do hit. In order to see the proper commands to use
a particular weapon, simply PROBE it.
See also: WEAPONS, THROWING
