Uhm… shields are primarily used to protect yourself from arrows. Unless you are telling me that they also used their katanas to parry arrows. I highly doubt that is the actual reason they didn’t use shields.
Also I’m pretty sure Samurai used Katanas as a side weapon, who in their right mind would use a SWORD as a primary?
Please correct me if I’m wrong but I think that there are samurai who uses weapons other that katanas like bows and arrows or something that looks like a spear (halberd I think?) and others too
@StarshinaSokolov stated a few posts earlier that Samurai primarily used spears and bows.
Don’t be a smartass. Shields were used to protect from melee attacks as well.
@StarshinaSokolov
I don’t think so. I seem to recall seeing wood block prints depicting samurai bowmen on foot using mantlet-like shields for cover, or having a retainer on hand with something resembling a pavise. Samurai had a pretty selective view of honor, though. The arquebus was considered “dishonorable” - sure as hell didn’t stop them from using it.
I’m gonna go ahead and bow out of this discussion, because we have diverged wildly off-topic and hijacked @JimD’s thread.
@StarshinaSokolov I agree but was only talking about balancing starting items and skills. I’m still at character building. I don’t want to discourage people completely from picking homemaker or teen.
I will make that change. I also am redesigning stats since I don’t like the current ones and don’t feel the game captures a “badassery” stat so far.
@lithopene that’s a great idea! I shall make it so!
@EmperorHeartless I do have range coded, so shooting a rifle is more accurate past 30 feet than a .38 Special. For an object like a spear or knife being tossed, I’d just figure out the range and use the close combat skill, or even a combo/average of ccw and ranged. Like Starshina said, I have to lump everything eventually into one skill or a combo. Animal training is a check of the Survival skill, for example. I also do have weapon modifiers based on things like quality of the item, durability, etc.
As Starshina also said, using a gun in melee would be last-ditch.
@Sneaks @StarshinaSokolov We also have to keep in mind zombie vs. human anatomy. In ZE, zombies are somewhat frail with brittle bones, so cracking an undead skill is easier. Some weapons will still be poorer when hitting the head and some will break.
Putting katana or uzis or AKs or many other weapons are a bit of fan service. I have a loyal group of readers who want to play as [insert action hero].
I won’t be giving any such options 
@Blazerules good catch.[quote=“Nathan_Faxon, post:2732, topic:2000, full:true”]
Jillian: Well we’re out of ammunition and all our melee weapons are behind that group of zombies, now what?!
Me: Not all our weapons. stares determinately at box of vinyl records
[/quote]
@Nathan_Faxon I may just add this to the game.
@NJG thanks! I’ll fix that.
I am enjoying the conversation about weaponry since it helps me generate ideas on handling them in game. I wish I knew more to add. I tend to treat ZE as pulp fiction when it comes to weapons.
So how do improvised, desperate, last ditch weaponry work in skill checks? Like @Nathan_Faxon vinyl records of doom?
Also if we can have a weapon called Vinyl Records of Doom I’d probably have that as my main weapon throughout the entirety of the game.
@JimD
I found this error in chapter 2 when I visited the three story home.
I selected “run from the house.”
You know… on the subject of asking random Japanese people you know about Japanese swords… um… you know not all Japanese people are also medieval warfare nerds right? Just because someone’s French doesn’t mean they know the difference between a Flamberge and a Bardiche. And those aren’t even both swords.
Isn’t flambrege a sword and badiche a halberd?
Not that it’s relevant, but a Flamberge is a specific type of sword, and a Bardiche is a type of pole axe. A Halberd is a different type of pole axe.
Yeah halberds tend to basically be a spear with an axe head slapped on while a bardiche is a pole with a blade slapped onto it’s side. So ehh no bardiche isn’t a halberd, not even close.
Not sure how someone would confuse a flamberge and a bardiche though. It’s basically confusing a knife with an axe.
I know what they are but I forgot its called pole axe XD
I’m not that good when it comes to spear types and got them mixed but you have to admit they are similar
If that Katana broke then it would have been made only for decoration, was it even made out of steel? Any Katana less than a few hundred dollars is not made for combat. If you want to get a decent Katana that is made for combat you need to spend a lot of money.
Also Katanas were made to last for generations, it takes a lot to break a decent Katana. The weapons made by European countries generally made to be mass produced and were likely to break within your lifetime.
Also “Who in their right mind would use a sword as a primary?” anybody in their right mind would, especially if it’s something as reliable as a Katana. Samurai did have a shorter sword called a Wakizashi which would have been their secondary weapon if for some reason they couldn’t use their Katana ie. in a confined space, somehow lost their grip on their katana in a fight.
Could we get glaives as weapons (a glaive is basically a halberd with a blade edge not axe head)
It would be very useful as it’s a polearm so the MC Could stay away from the infected and still behead them (with enough skill)
That would be fun but I don’t think we should be trying to get so many different weapons in the game. What’s in the game already is enough.
Ya I suppose but it would be really fricking awesome
@JimD you sir, are a gentleman and and scholar.
@EmperorHeartless I agree, vinyl records of doom will be my duct tape: It will solve all my problems.
a group of survivors is fending of a large army of zeds, they are running out of ammo and options. Suddenly when they thought all hope was lost, a disc shaped object flies and decapitates one of the undead, as the zed falls to the floor, another disc flies out and then another.
Within seconds, discs fly from all directions and beheading the army with precision and grace. One of the survivors picks up a disc and inspects it. Vinyl Record. Looking off in the distance they see a lone man with a box beside his legs, launching the vinyl records with inhuman speed, his arms are a blur as they fire from him like a machine gun. An Apocalyptic Hero.
When the MC finds the vinyl records, the description should be:
'flicking through the records one in particular catches your eye. Examining it gives you a sense of nostalgia, this is the second album you ever brought on vinyl. You return the record and take the box with you."
No skill checks, all you need is the safe haven to have zombies inside, at least one survivor with you and you’re out of ammunition, then the choice to use the vinyl records as a weapon is prompted.
I would use a sword as primary(there is something charming to me about chopping undead or anything else into pieces) as long as I don’t have my duel pistols/sawed off shotguns then I’m all about melee 
Because they’re both archaic weapons nobody uses anymore.
