Tips for Sword Design

[Jedi]

Here I?ve compiled a few useful hints for sword-type weapon design. These are by no means written in stone, but they will help in making your sword more realistic.

First you must start off with the basics. Each sword must have a handle or some place where the wielder can safely grasp the weapon.
Note: This area should be fairly clear of any obstruction, as the wielder must be able to move his/her wrist freely.

You must decide if you want you sword to be two handed (Long Sword, Great Sword), one and a half handed (Long Sword, Bastard Sword), or one handed (Long Sword, Short Sword, Dagger, Knife). Long Sword is in all categories because, depending on how you design it, it could require any of the forms.

It must have a blade. This would seem obvious, but things such as the lance are often mistaken for swords.

A blade can never be wider that the cross-guard, else another blade could hit it, slide down over the cross-guard, and cut the hand of the wielder.

A sword blade should be able to both slice and pierce.

A cross-guard is a good idea, but it is not necessary.

Here are a few things that you should keep in mind when designing a cross-guard.

-   A cross-guard was invented to protect the sword-users hands. It should be wide enough to adequately do so. This is not required, but it will add to your swords practicality.

-  A cross-guard should not touch the blade anywhere above the base. Keep in mind that, depending on which sword class you chose, your sword probably has a sheathe to go with it. If the cross guard touches the blade, not only is it a waste of blade, but it could make scabbard design awkward. This, too is not necessary, but will save you polygons on making a scabbard.

- The cross-guard should not have any overly pointy or otherwise dangerous projections on it that may be a hazard to the wielder. In other words, keep the sharp things pointed forward. This rule is not negotiable.
 
-   The cross-guard should not be too long. An over-long cross-guard can make the sword unwieldy.

Every credible sword must have a pommel. There are no exceptions and here is why. Every sword must be evenly balanced to the cross-guard so as to make it possible to maneuver the blade. Remember blades are long shafts of solid steel (or whatever material you use) and they are very heavy. If the handle had no weight, the tip of the sword would drag along the ground and would be difficult to swing. The pommel is not necessarily large, but it must be equal in weight to the blade. This is just so that the wielder does not break his/her wrist when he/she must change the blade?s course quickly.

(Note: Light, single-handed weapons do not require a pommel.)

Here are a few hints for unique sword designs:

-    Some special swords had holes in the blades. These were strategically placed so as to provide the most deadly results without compromising the strength of the blade. These cause devastating damage to the opponent?s insides.

-    Grooves in the cutting edge itself can have the same effect.

-   Give the pommel of the sword decoration. Make it a carved image or a jewel holder.
 
-    Give the blade a curve or bow.

If you have any other suggestions or fixes, please feel free to post them bellow. All pointers are welcome.

[Icefalcon]

A blade can never be wider that the cross-guard, else another blade could hit it, slide down over the cross-guard, and cut the hand of the wielder.

A cross-guard is a good idea, but it is not necessary.

It looks to me like a cross-guard is necessary.

[chsh]

A cross guard is a VERY specific thing. Traditionally eastern swords favour a small disc-type guard, whereas the cross-guard (or hilt) actually makes the weapon look like a cross, and tends to be European. There are again other types of coverage like certain sabres have, which is a basket around the whole hand.

Cross style guard:


Disc style guard:


Basket style guard:


Not all swords had guards either, consider the case of many of the roman army\'s swords. There is quite a bit of variety in the weaponry on that site, so if you are making some fan art it may be a good resource to draw inspiration from. If that isn\'t broad enough, Google Images is your friend.

[Jedi]

Icefalcon, I never said that you had to protect your hand. It\'s just a minor convenience to leave a battle with all of your fingers.

Good man, chsh. You know more about this stuff than I do. Thanks.

[Icefalcon]

Alright, I see what your saying...but in my opinion, guarding your hand is very important, but so do you... O well, we both agree that you should have a crossguard

[Jedi]

Hehe, yes, sir.

Another point I forgot:

 Make the length of your handle proportionate to the length of the blade. If you have a really long *donkey* blade then it stands to reason that it will require two hands to wield it. No, the excuse, \"But my blade is really light!\" won\'t work. Even if it is light, it will still cause enough air resistance to make a one-handed swing both clumsy and painful.

[Kintall]

Thankfully this is a fantasy game an physics need not apply, or in other words \"Artistic licence\"

I say if it looks cool, make a one handed six foot buster sword kinda thing, course some sense is good too though

and Chsh, whered you get your cooool picccys from, I wanna lookie lookie:) pretty please