Nodachi damage rating low?

[Philnicau 0]

I've noticed that the nodachi (rule pg 24, beginners set) has a damage rating of 5, this seems low considering that a Katana used two handed has a damage rating of 6. Is this a typo?

[faolannus 4]

I am also curious about this, I mean I can kinda see a trade off in the range increments given you have 1-2 but I’m not sure that warrants a decrease in damage given you’re giving up the choice of one to two hands. I mean you’re going to tell me the katana is the far superior weapon? It’s like half the size of a nodachi, a weapon designed to cut down horses.

[Kyasanur 17]

Maybe there will be some "push-back" type mechanic for the larger weapons that didn't make it into the BB for simplicity sake. If this is the case, the mechanic would be more valuable to the theme of those weapons than a high damage value.  Pure speculation, though.

[Hida Jitenno 586]

It could also be a typo. They did have a few others in the BBox, I believe.

Anyone recall what the Nodachi v Katana damage value was in the Beta?

[Wyrmdog 54]

11 hours ago, Philnicau said:

I've noticed that the nodachi (rule pg 24, beginners set) has a damage rating of 5, this seems low considering that a Katana used two handed has a damage rating of 6. Is this a typo?

I don't think it is a typo. This is likely a deliberate design decision made to enforce some 'setting fidelity.' There are hints of this design philosophy here in the Armed for Battle section: https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2018/9/11/a-masterful-technique/ It is not explicit in stating that this is why it is done or even if this section is addressing your issue at all, but I suspect it may. I realize this may not be satisfactory (and part of me agrees).

An easy fix though, would be to just say that your 2-handed-only weapons don't already account for a 2-handed grip. That could introduce new problems though, so be careful if you do that.

@Hida Jitenno I don't see the No-Dachi listed in my beta doc at all.

Edited September 13, 2018 by Wyrmdog
added note for HJ

[WHW 1,817]

Beginners Box has no deadliness stat, so I assume the Katana for purposes of BBox gets +2 damage when two handed instead of +2 deadliness. In Beta, main draw of Nodachi was range of 1-2 with respectable damage and deadliness ratings, which made it one of the most flexible battlefield weapons in the game.

[Hida Jitenno 586]

21 minutes ago, Wyrmdog said:

 

 I don't see the No-Dachi listed in my beta doc at all.

I don't remember which update added it, but I know it was in the 4.0 update at least. I'm at work, so I can't pull it up.

[AK_Aramis 1,002]

56 minutes ago, Hida Jitenno said:

It could also be a typo. They did have a few others in the BBox, I believe.

Anyone recall what the Nodachi v Katana damage value was in the Beta?

No-Dachi: Range 1-2, Damage 5, deadliness 6. (β u4.0, p.7)

Katana: Range 1, damage 4, deadliness 5 (1h) or 7 (2h)

The big difference is the range; and that is where the stats make some sense: at range 2, the hit's less solid but higher speed; at range 1, more solid, but less speed due to less acceleration than a 2•h katana.

Reality is that a no-dachi CAN be 1-hand used... not easily, but it's only a longer katana (3-4 shaku blade). I've used a no-dachi bokken 1 handed for good effect in sparring. Quite a workout, really.

The classic definition of sizes for the katana family of blades, all based upon tsuba to tip:

• < 1 shaku = tanto (has standard sized tsuba) or aiguchi (no tsuba or non-protruding tsuba)
• ≥ 1 & < 2 shaku = wakizashi / shotō
• ≥ 2 & <  3 shaku = katana / dai-tō (& typical nagamaki blades)
• ≥3 & < 4.5 shaku = no-dachi
• ≥ 4 shaku = ōdachi

The shaku traditionally runs about 30 cm; it's officially 30.3 cm since metricization. 3 shaku = 91 cm or 0.9974 US or ETM feet. And 3mm past the metric foot (30 cm). It was also decimally divided into 10 sun.

Traditional hilts for tanto run 5 to 7 sun; wakizashi 5 to 10 sun; katana 8-12 sun, nodachi 10-15 sun. Nagamaki tend to be similar to  blade length, ±5 sun, but weren't as well defined in law.

So, overall, a katana would be 2.8 to 4.2 shaku overall, heavily weighted towards 3.2 to 3.5 shaku (2.4 to 2.6 shaku of blade, 0.8-0.9 of hilt) 

 

[Hida Jitenno 586]

Okay, so in the Beta, two-handed increased the deadliness, but had no effect on damage?

Whereas it looks like in the BBox, the two-handed increases damage?

[AtoMaki 1,431]

42 minutes ago, Hida Jitenno said:

Okay, so in the Beta, two-handed increased the deadliness, but had no effect on damage?

Whereas it looks like in the BBox, the two-handed increases damage?

There is no Deadliness in the BBox., so it is safe to assume that this is just a change for the simplified ruleset.

[Azrael40 3]

Nous dachi allons an extended range from 2h katana. 

At range 0-1 it seems normal katana IS better (maneuvrability)

At range 1, seems normal it does little bit less than naginata that design IS this range (naginata IS initialy a katana for samurai-ko to compensate less physical strengh by distance and manoeuver).

As anything in between two ranges, it's less effective than things dedicated to each of these range . U want a good short range; katana. U want a good extended range; naginata. U want both on one weapon? Nous dachi, but less effective than either naginata or katana in their range.