Great White Games/Pinnacle Entertainment Group

[Zadmar]

The flail (SWD page 52, SWEX page 49) "Ignores Shield Parry and Cover bonus". I originally interpreted it as meaning that the flail ignores the Parry and Cover bonuses granted by shields (and only shields), however:

1) Other weapons (such as the rapier) also provide a Parry bonus,

2) It's been clarified several times that shields don't technically provide Cover,

3) While a shield does act as an obstacle, the rules clarify that the armour only applies against ranged attacks, yet the flail is a melee weapon,

4) Although you could technically throw a flail as an improvised ranged weapon (SWD page 73), there were no rules for improvised weapons in SWEX, and flails in SWEX had the same ability to ignore Cover.

After some searching I came across a comment about flails in the FC page 11: "A flail has a chain attached to the weapon head, allowing it to bypass shields, defensive weapons, and cover". That makes a lot more sense to me, however I'm not sure if it's an elaboration of the rules, a clarification of the intent, or an alternative definition specific to the weapons in the FC.

Should the flail ignore the Parry bonuses of all weapons (rapiers, spears, etc) as well as shields?

Should the flail ignore all Cover bonuses (eg someone ducking behind a table, or stepping behind a tree)?

Thanks in advance.

[Clint]