If you're going to fight, you'll probably need a weapon. The good news is that you already have one. Unfortunately, it's probably not very good unless your species is designed for fighting. For example, while mysrrae have built in claws, all humans have are their meaty fists. Anything on Terrinor can be used as a weapon: A canteen, a sword, some sand, your torch, a shilling, etc. If you can hold it, you can hit someone with it. However, things designed to be weapons are much more useful at it, so you should probably use a real weapon rather than trying to kill someone with a penny. There are several skills which affect your ability with weapons. A partial list would include:
- Sword
- Dagger (includes knives)
- Axe
- Club
- Hammer
- Spear
- Staff
- Unarmed combat (just your fists)
- Brawling (fighting with things not meant as weapons, like your shoe)
Once you have a weapon, you'll need to choose your style. Each end of a spectrum on the style table has a skill associated with it which indicates your ability to use that particular style element. For example, if you have dodge emphasized, it means that you will spend more time dodging than being offensive. Also, the style you use will determine the way that your skills improve. If you never dodge, you'll never get better at dodging. (see increase for information about changing your style) One last note: your weapon skill also affects your chance to parry with that weapon.