Re: [HOE] "florentine" -- a little excessive?

[Matt Crawford <matt@severian.chi.il.us>]

> (how the Hell did he get a +5 sword, anyway?)
and
> I don't wanna be mean or anything, but who the heck gave him a +5 sword in
> the first place?

Simon.  Fair and square, by the book.  There are plenty of edges that
are explicitly tagged as needing the Marshal's approval.  Relic isn't
one of them.  What can I say, first round of character-creation for a
first-time Marshal.  Lemme tell ya, the rest of the posse misses this
guy when he doesn't show.

> If you're relying on the blade's skill, then
> it's not going to help with your other hand...

I could argue this from the other side -- the blade gives you better
swordsmanship when you wield it through the spirits of those who've
wielded it before.  And back on the first side, those spirits guide
the blade, with which they have a connection, not the newest
wielder's arm, with which they have none.

> If the opponent is a complete loser in hand-2-hand fighting, then
> the fight wouldn't have lasted long even without the Florentine stuff.

You got that right.  With a sweep against a line of goons, he takes
down three or four at a stroke.  Usually.  He has been known to push
his luck too far.

Anyway, I have until tomorrow or whenever he finds a second sword to
decide.  No relic bonus on the raise computation sounds good.  But
better be sure to apply called-shot modifiers to both, rather than
thinking of the second TN too much like a second attack at -5, since
it should be commensurately difficult to score with the second blade
when concentrating so hard on getting the first into the eyeball or
whatever.