The rules for Black glaives make no sense to me.
Black Glaive (Black weapon)
Black glaives must be between 7’ to 10’ in length, with a maximum core
diameter of 1". The blade must be between 30" to 36" in length, 4" wide, and 2"
thick. At least 1/3 of the weapon’s total length must be blade, up to the
maximum blade size. The shaft of the glaive
must be padded with closed cell foam 24" from the bottom of the blade toward
the pommel. The pommel must be at least 3" in diameter. Black glaives may only
be swung with two hands. Black glaives may not have quillions.
So, if the blade can only be up to 36" long and the blade must cover at least 1/3 of the total weapon size... how can a glaive reach its 10' max?... Answer: Not possible, the largest you can make a max length blade is 9' max... not that this isn't long enough... but if that's the limit by a limiting rule we shouldn't say it can be 10'...right... or am I missing something?
Also I noted where it states what a one handed axe restrictions are saying a one handed axe MUST be no bigger than 3' in length... but it also states that a black axe may be used one handed to do white damage...So wouldn't that make it a one handed axe?
Also this irritates the F out of me:
Great Sword (Black weapon)
Great swords must have a handle at least 1' in length and a striking surface at least 36" in length. The blade must have easily distinguishable, squared-off “flats” and edges, and its thickness (edge) must not be more than 2/3 of its width (flat). The handle on a great sword may not exceed 28". A great sword may not have an overall length that exceeds 6½'. Great swords must be swung with two hands to administer black damage and will administer white damage if swung single-handedly. All great swords must have quillions.
Nowhere else in the rules (e.g. Black Axe, Black Glaive, Halberd, or even I white glaive) does it mention a maximum restriction on handle lenth... but for some reason we MUST limit this with greatswords... WHY? This makes no sense to me... is a greatsword with a 30" handle inherantly more dangerous than a black axe or halberd with the same length handle? WTF?!?!
Am I calculating these wrong in some way or is this another flaw:
White Glaive (White weapon)
White glaives must have an overall length of at least 5’ and less than 7’, with a maximum core diameter of 1”. The blade must be between 18” to 24” in length, 4” wide, and 2” thick. At least 1/3 of the weapon’s total length must be blade, up to the maximum blade size. The shaft of the glaive must be padded with closed cell foam 18” from the bottom of the blade toward the pommel. The pommel must be at least 3” in diameter. White glaives may only be swung with two hands. White glaives may not have quillions.
Tell me how you intend to make a 7' white glaive when the maximum length of your blade is two feet long and your blade must be at least 1/3 of the total length of the weapon...???
However... if you make your white glaive with a 24" and 18" of shaft that leaves you with 30" of handle... lets say you cover 1" with a pommel you now have a longer handle than is allowable by any greatsword... AND YOU'RE SWINGING WITH 18" of less padded shaft!!! How does this in any way make sense?
OK here's another fricken dumb-ass thing... I already posted the black axe SB rules but I am going to do it again along with the halberd rules just to show how ridiculous this is:
Battle-Axe (Black, Shield-destroying Weapon)
Battle-Axes must have an overall length of at least 3’. A battle-axe must have a blade that extends at least 9” from the core and a striking surface of at least 1’ in length. Battle-axes may have a blade on each side of the shaft. The shaft of a battle-axe must be well padded. Battle-axes must be swung with two hands to administer black damage and will administer white damage if swung single-handedly.
Halberd (Black, Shield-destroying Weapon)
Halberds must have an overall length between 6’ and 10’. The blade of a halberd must be at least 18" long, at least 2” thick, and extend at least 1’ from the shaft. The shaft of a halberd must be well padded. Halberds must be swung with two hands. See the section on Shields below for more information.
By these rules tell me why the F you'd ever want to make a halberd when there is no maximum length for a battle axe and the foam restrictions are less BY FAR! A halberd may only be between 6 and 10' but a battle Axe has no restriction in max length. A battle Axes' blade need only be 9" from the core, only need to be a 1' blade and there's no thickness restrictions like the 2" thickness a halberd must be...
Oh yeah... and you are allowed to swing a 12' battle axe with a 1' blade with one hand, to do white damage, but you're not allowed to swing the halberd one handed!
Also note that black and white glaives have a 3" pommel requirement, not so with a halberd or battle axe...
So it seems to me that these rules are broken in a big way... isn't an Axe an Axe..? and a certain minimum requirement allows an axe to be used two handed to do black damage and break shields. Why do we need to specify the difference between a great Axe and a Halberd? Aren't they both Big-F-ing-Axes???
And if you're gonna restrict great sword handle lenth, then wouldn't it seem prudent to make all swinging weapons over... say 4' feet long... have the same restrictions... and if not... then NOT impose the said restrictions on a single weapon type with similar specifications that many others?
/end rant