>I think a better fix is to discard equipment as separately rated, and
>instead rule that a skill rating includes the effect of use of appropriate
>equipment and possession of that equipment.
This is what I do. My rationale is thus. The ratings for equipment are in terms of bonuses. Bonuses are given for having an advantage. So when in a fight, I look at the relative advantage in terms of equipment, and assign bonuses based on that. With equal equipment, no bonus. Yes, you can just cancel the bonuses to come up with this, but I think that it's better to use common sense about the situation at hand. For example, I'd actually give a guy using a sword against an unarmed person more than +3 bonus for the situation - or depending on the description, a large penalty to the unarmed character.
This is also imporant, because it makes special equipment more special. When a sword is giving you a +3, and you get another +3 for a sharpness ability, the sharpness counts less than if you have only the +3 for the sharpness.
In any case, as I always point out, you don't get a +3 for running on the ground, do you? Yet it's required to use the ability, no? Well, sans a sword, it's going to be hard to use Swordfighting. The basic equipment is what you need to just use the ability. You can actually use the ability Swordfighting to some effect in a fistfight, but you'll be at an improv penalty. Basically, the sword puts you at zero, just as the ground does when you're running. Penalize for lack of basic equipment, don't give bonuses for it.
Mike
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