Disarming an Unarmed Opponent

Burning Wheel Subsystem Advice and Guidance
1

This came up in a Fight! I ran last Sunday. Two characters got into a fight, and escalated to swords and knives being drawn and used on each other.

This is the House Swordmaster (G8 Sword skill) versus the Baron of the House (B6 or lower Knives).

The Baron started it, so that the Swordmaster couldn’t behead the slowly reanimating corpse of the Big Bad, the Baron’s former friend. Wouldn’t let him desecrate the body, and won the Speed versus to block the Swordmaster.

The Swordmaster, not wanting to kill the Baron, scripted Disarm a few times in a row. The very first one worked. So when his subsequent disarms went off… what happens? Nothing?

I ruled in the moment that they would count as Strikes, because what he scripted involves swinging his sword at the hands of his enemy, his hands being the only remaining weapon to target with Disarm.

How would you have handled it?

2

Maybe knock the weapon further away?

3

Hesitation.

4

Okay, I’ll do that next time.

5

He scripted poorly and should not have been rewarded. As Thor noted, his action is relegated to hesitation unless he forfeits and changes his second action to something else.