In that case, is there any benefit or use for pairing a weapon and shield?
Using just a shield as a weapon seems really, really odd to me. I can only think of, like, two characters who use a shield and nothing else: Rand and Captain America.
There is precinct in the Mouse Guard comics of a mouse just using a big shield to defend itself and whack people over the head with it. Like Hook&Line it is a Mouse Guard thing.
Of course you can use two different weapon but just 1 weapon per exchange. When you use your shield in volley 1 you have to keep it until the next volley 1. Then you can switch to a more aggressive strategy and attack with your axe or whatever.
There is a precedent of it, but it’s still a bit weird. I wonder why S&S can’t be a single weapon (like, for example, in Monster Hunter)?
I think I’m gonna work on a hack for weapon and shield sets.
It really works great as is. I encourage you to try it out for a few seasons of play.
It just now occurred to me to ask this:
In terms of in-game time, what length of time does a volley represent?
What I mean is, for example, in a game of D&D a single turn is only meant to be 1-5 seconds of time (If I remember that correctly).
Maybe it feels weird to me because I’m thinking of volleys as a time span greater than what they actually are.
It’s going to vary greatly based on the type of conflict.
Volleys in a weather conflict could easily be hours or more. In an argument, a volley is enough to get out a few sentences or so. In a fight a volley might be a few seconds – enough to bring a weapon to bear or maneuver to a better position, or scramble up a tree a bit.
A Chase conflict might be moment to moment much like a fight, but it could also be a lengthy period of tracking, such as a day at a time.
A War conflict could be a small block of the overall war covered by the most climactic 6-8 minutes of fighting, or it could be a long campaign lasting an entire season or longer.
That represents one of the important and valuable facets of abstraction.
I’ve run a conflict in which I told the group before starting that each action in the set of three represented 6-7 days unless they specifically stated they wanted to work more quickly. However, in another conflict, each action was only representative of about 1-2 minutes of time passing in a council chamber.
In fights, I generally explain that the in-game character is engaging in a variety of actions both aggressive, offensive, and defensive througout the fighting; some of that is narrated into helping fellows. However, the out-of-game player gets to call upon one skill, via one action, that hopefully is most impactful in the fight.
Actually, I say that about every conflict. I keep it in mind for simple and complex obstacles also.
Spartans also used their shields as weapons. Large round shields can be easily used that way.