Continuing with damage types today I'm going to talk about slashing weapons. A slashing weapon inflicts damage by moving the length of the blade in a cutting motion down the side of, well, whatever it is you're cutting. This can range from long gashes if you get the majority of the blade to cut to something as small as a little nick. The actual cutting motion depends on the type of sword (curvature & weight distribution). If you've spent enough time cutting onions you know there are plenty of ways to dice it and with different motions. The same applies to heavier knives and swords. The Khukuri for example is meant for a downward chopping motion followed by a cutting motion, a brute force weapon. Compare this to the Scimitar, Shamshir or Talwar and you have a slender curved blade well made for slicing motions while on horseback as well as for quick slashes and flicks of the wrist while on foot. While the methods of slashing may be different they all have one general outcome, to cause a lot of damage over a large surface area. They also share the same weakness, they need to be able to cut through the surface.
A slashing weapon increases wounds dealt equal to its slashing rating on a critical hit or against lightly or unarmored targets.
Most light armor only cover the vitals (torso, possibly arm guards or shoulder guards) so for the most part a lot of skin is exposed, perfect for a razor sharp edge. The critical hit clause is meant to represent when you have the perfectly aligned strike poised to hit their vitals and any seams or vulnerabilities in their armor. So as we saw before, Impact weapons are very good at beating on armored foes, slashing weapons are quite adept at taking on lightly and unarmored foes. Turning your average sword into a deadly weapon against the poorly equipped.
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