Friendly PSA to Game Designers, weapons help you block.

An irritating trend in most RPG games I’ve seen whether video or table top, is the lack of effect weapons have on a persons defensive stats. Without a weapon it’s virtually impossible to block unless you have a shield. Being unarmed should be a serious penalty to any defensive stat, but it seems no one wants to take that into account. The only time we see weapons effecting defense is with things like parrying daggers, despite the fact a quarter staff provides a much more solid defense than a rapier and dagger combo.

It’s not much extra work to implement some version of it and adds just a touch of realism. It can also lead to alot of depth and complexity if that’s the path a designer wants to go down. It can even help with adding tempo and advantage in a fight to a game, something I’ll add more on later. Regardless it’s a small fix that will help most games. Outside of anime style over the top genre games this addition will fit in easily and upset nothing. So how bout it designers? Lets see some games remember that weapons don’t just kill people for you. They also help keep you alive.