A Complaint

[Lumi]

A dwarf with claymores... 
That's already impossible !

[LigH]

But I have seen that often. It looks ridiculously like a Clacker...

[Rirenil Masdo]

dual wielding claymores used to be the thing to do......

[Rigwyn]

Try not lose the fantasy aspect in pursuit of realism.

Sometimes realism sucks...
For example:

*Getting sick unexpectedly and dying. Knock on wood...

*Falling down when drunk and breaking and arm or spraining an ankle

*Not being awesome or successful

*Living a plain, ordinary, uneventful life.

*Having to wear the same boring clothes every day.

*Not being able to run around in heavy metal armor with the sword of awesomeness and "1 ton shield of Oh no, you can't touch this, bitch."

*Not being able to just pull things out of your ass and chalk it up as magic.

It's kind of nice how in fantasy fiction, some allowances are made so that life is a little more awesomer. You can sit there and read or play it and be all like, "Dude, wouldn't that be cool? I totally wish life was like that. I'de give my left nut to be Randolph the dual clay wielding midget from hell and part time baker" instead of being all like, "Bummer. I am like sooo greatful for my quasi-meaningful life as an envelope licker and public assistance recipient."

[Volki]

Suspension of disbelief must be maintained.

[bilbous]

* bilbous hangs disbelief off the eagle's beak, "Tell us lies we can believe!"

[Eonwind]

Shields are another example though, staying on topic. Shields are almost useless if the approaching army has skirmishers outfitted with pilums. But shields are given a lot of importance in RPGs, whereas many people right now are typing "pilum" into google as they read this.

sorry to be a nitpicker but ... pilum were not especially effective against shields by themselves, what made them especially effective was the way they were used by roman army: they were used against charging army when they were covering about the last 30-20m. The good coordination of the centurions fore lines trowing the pilum all at once against the charging enemies made it so a rain of pilum landed on the enemy and was very effective at stopping the charge in many battles. The only reason why a shield was not very effective is because it's very hard to make an efficient use of a shield while charging on foot, especially against incoming projectiles. Same could be said for arrows but what made the pilum an effective weapon for the roman army is they didn't need a specialized soldier to use it (unlike archers), the same soldier was trained to trow the pilum then switch to the spatha or gladium (depending on the historical age) to engage in melee combat once the distance with the enemy was covered.
Still shields were and are the best way to protect oneself from long range and short range attacks even nowadays, of course provided they can stop the projectiles (which is not the case with firearms but police still use it against mobs).

[zanzibar]

Shields are another example though, staying on topic. Shields are almost useless if the approaching army has skirmishers outfitted with pilums. But shields are given a lot of importance in RPGs, whereas many people right now are typing "pilum" into google as they read this.

sorry to be a nitpicker but ... pilum were not especially effective against shields by themselves, what made them especially effective was the way they were used by roman army: they were used against charging army when they were covering about the last 30-20m. The good coordination of the centurions fore lines trowing the pilum all at once against the charging enemies made it so a rain of pilum landed on the enemy and was very effective at stopping the charge in many battles. The only reason why a shield was not very effective is because it's very hard to make an efficient use of a shield while charging on foot, especially against incoming projectiles. Same could be said for arrows but what made the pilum an effective weapon for the roman army is they didn't need a specialized soldier to use it (unlike archers), the same soldier was trained to trow the pilum then switch to the spatha or gladium (depending on the historical age) to engage in melee combat once the distance with the enemy was covered.
Still shields were and are the best way to protect oneself from long range and short range attacks even nowadays, of course provided they can stop the projectiles (which is not the case with firearms but police still use it against mobs).

I thought pilums lodged themselves in shields though, so that they would need to be discarded? And were they only used against charges? Or were they also used by skirmishers to soften up defenders in advance of Roman attacks?

[Volki]

Pila were used like Q-tips. Duh.

[tman]

Pila were used like Q-tips. Duh.

So everyone stuck them in their ears, despite the warning specifically telling them not to?

[Eonwind]

I thought pilums lodged themselves in shields though, so that they would need to be discarded? And were they only used against charges? Or were they also used by skirmishers to soften up defenders in advance of Roman attacks?

sometimes the pilum lodged itself in the enemy shield and sometime it was designed so after they landed they would break so they could not have been taken by the enemy and thrown back to roman soldier, this depends not only on the historical age but also by single battle decision made by the consul - of course one of the reason why the romans were so effective in battle was the habit to adapt their strategies.
Likewise it surely happened the pilum was used in skirmishes and not only against charging opponents but as far as we can tell this was not the "mainstream" use of the pilum as the favored tactic of the legion was to switch to the gladium when engaging the enemy at short distance.

[Lumi]

The only reason why a shield was not very effective is because it's very hard to make an efficient use of a shield while charging on foot, especially against incoming projectiles. Same could be said for arrows but what made the pilum an effective weapon for the roman army is they didn't need a specialized soldier to use it (unlike archers), the same soldier was trained to trow the pilum then switch to the spatha or gladium (depending on the historical age) to engage in melee combat once the distance with the enemy was covered.
Still shields were and are the best way to protect oneself from long range and short range attacks even nowadays, of course provided they can stop the projectiles (which is not the case with firearms but police still use it against mobs).

Indeed shields were efficient ! Especially the one drawed for roman army, long and curved to protect all the vital parts of the body (chest and all this). Shields were used as crests aswell, for the uniform of the legion. It must have been heavy tho... brave soldiers 

[zanzibar]

I thought pilums lodged themselves in shields though, so that they would need to be discarded? And were they only used against charges? Or were they also used by skirmishers to soften up defenders in advance of Roman attacks?

sometimes the pilum lodged itself in the enemy shield and sometime it was designed so after they landed they would break so they could not have been taken by the enemy and thrown back to roman soldier, this depends not only on the historical age but also by single battle decision made by the consul - of course one of the reason why the romans were so effective in battle was the habit to adapt their strategies.
Likewise it surely happened the pilum was used in skirmishes and not only against charging opponents but as far as we can tell this was not the "mainstream" use of the pilum as the favored tactic of the legion was to switch to the gladium when engaging the enemy at short distance.

Oh, I didn't mean used in skirmishes. I meant used by skirmishers: Front of the line units which served the purpose of harassing enemies and disrupting formations.

[Eonwind]

Oh, I didn't mean used in skirmishes. I meant used by skirmishers: Front of the line units which served the purpose of harassing enemies and disrupting formations.

oh I see... if I understood well this time you're referring to the Velites: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velites