Post originally by Sergio Mascarenhas at 2004-03-28 03:59:56
Converted from Phorums BB System

Like you I don't know the game, so the discussion is independent of its rules... to a point. The question is the abilities of starting characters and their consistency or realism. I think we should keep this in minf. Let's see...

<< If you maximize your fighting potential, you are creating a character who does NOTHING but fight. Train, practice and have real fights. Nothing else - otherwise, this would not be someone who is maximized. >>

Fair enough.

<< On the other hand, the qustion
Now, a knight, as in a more or less noble mounted warrior, would AT LEAST have to spend some time developing equestrian skills and attending to whatever needs attending for him to afford a fully trained warhorse, heavy armor and weapons (a sword is hideously expensive) - whether that be tending to his lands, working for his religious order (like a templar) or attending his liege's court. >>

Well, this does not apply to a young knight (remember, we are discussing starting characters). He would have lived under his lord of father. Most of his youth would have been dedicated to combat skills. He would have been taken to batlle as he was very young (say, from around 10 to 12). Yes, he might also have studied how to read/write, etc. But combat would have been a very important part of his activities.

<< Thus, it is impossible for him to dedicate as much time to fighting as a pit slave. >>

False on two accounts. For a start, a pit slave only became so when he was a grown up. No one trained children into pit slaves. The reason is simple: it's much easier and less expensive to buy a grown up slave with potential than to create him from childhood. So, if we compare a young knight and a young pit slave (say, both are 18 to 20 years old), the knight will have much better combat skills.

Second, pit slaves had a lot of other things to do besides combat training. For a start, they had to care for themselves. The idea that pit slaves would nothing in the course of the day other than training for combat is false.

There's a further problem you are not considering: variability in combat skills, specially for one-on-one close combat - the ones the pit slave would learn. Young knights were trained on exactly those skills. Yes, they didn't learn it to combat in the pit, but they learned it to plenty of other situations.

Of course, at the end of the day after some months of training a good pit slave would most likely than not beat a young knight. Maybe.

Sergio