Short Sword

“Almost as fast as I could blink, my Fasaran traveling companion, Marwen, drew his two short shorts and leaped at the enemy. He seemed unconcerned by the Ferkina’s raised axe, and ducked underneath it to kill the man with a well-placed thrust.”
— from The Wild Men of Mhanadistan (Revised Illustrated Edition), by Kara ben Yngerymm, 1022 FB

For ages, short swords of one form or another have been used by all peoples of Aventuria. Cross-guards, blade form and length, and decorations vary widely. Warriors often wear one as a secondary weapon, and sometimes even as a primary weapon. Short swords are especially favored by more sinister types such as gangland thugs and assassins. It may not be the strongest weapon available, but it holds its own against longer weapons. Moreover, short swords are more easily hidden, compared to large swords and axes, and they rarely get confiscated because many local weapon prohibitions are based on blade length.

Short swords are too light to parry two-handed weapons effectively, but a true master of the short sword does not need to hide behind fighters with larger weapons.

“The short sword comes in many shapes. It is inferior to the long sword in almost every instance, but when you must deal with a cramped environment, the short sword is the better choice.”

— Geron Bladebreaker, mercenary

Technique	Damage	P+T	AT/PA	Reach	Weight	Length	Cost	Complexity
Swords	d6+2	AGI/STR 15	0/0	short	0.75 stn 1.5 lbs	60 hf/cm 24 inches	140 S	simple

Weapon Advantage: The wielder may combine the maneuver Circumvent (see Aventuria Compendium, page 155) with the maneuver Forceful Blow.

Weapon Disadvantage: Suffer a -1 penalty to PA versus Two-Handed Impact Weapons and Two-Handed Swords.