Thoughts as to why . . .

[cuthalion]

. . . the epigraph to 'Two-weapon attack' doesn't relate at all to its combat task?

...with a great sweep Boromir hewed the head off another.

This is the scene with the wolves, at the foot of Caradhras. Some Tolkien lore here I'm missing? Or a subtle protest at having to shoe-horn dual wielding into the source material?

[HorusZA]

I suspect that is the case.

A while back I asked why there was so much excitement when it was revealed that dual-wielding rules would be in the AC. I thought that maybe I was missing some important reference to the lore.
In retrospect, I think it's mainly for the benefit of the fans of a certain scimitar-wielding dark elf ranger...

[Francesco]

...we did it just to see Jon's reaction to it...

Jokes aside, from a gaming perspective it's another option for the players to employ, that at the same time provides a reason to train those secondary weapon skills.

Francesco

[Terisonen]

Two weapon attack had always be seen as an excuse for optimized-power-gamer moron to get a free attack. And to wrap it in a cool description of their heroe. That's why it's seen with caution by master since the origin of RPG.

[Glorelendil]

In my mind the incentive to train a 2nd weapon justifies it.

[Falenthal]

And the penalty to Parry ensures no one is going to abuse it.

Moreover, see that it is a Combat Task, not a fighting style or the like. Characters won't enter a fight already holding two weapons in their hands: they'll have on in their hand, and the other sheated. In other words, it is just a single action that the character does in the fray of combat. Like cleaving with the sword, releasing it, and drawing the dagger to stab the same enemy. Yes, the wording of the rule indicate otherwise, but you can house-rule the text, without touching the mechanics.

Instead of:
At the start of a round, heroes wielding a close combat, onehanded
weapon in each hand may declare that they will
attack using both weapons.
One hand must wield a primary
weapon making use of the highest close combat weapon
skill of the hero, while the off-hand must hold a secondary
weapon making use of his second-best close combat
weapon skill.

You could say:
At the start of a round, heroes carrying two different onehanded
weapons may declare that they will
attack using both weapons.
The weapon with the highest skill is considered the primary weapon.
The other one is considered the secondary weapon.

Don't touch anything from the mechanics.

[Blubbo Baggins]

In my mind the incentive to train a 2nd weapon justifies it.

Totally agreed. I always thought there needed to be more incentive to train a secondary weapon. Really glad this is in the rules now. Now it just adds an interesting option for character development, rather than power gaming... well done.

[Indur Dawndeath]

I understand that the Two weapon action require a primary and a secondary weapon skill, but it will be difficult to explain, why a person with Cultural "Swords" skill cannot use a sword and a short sword utilizing the same Cultural sword skill for both...
And if I insist on two different skills, the player will then split the sword from the Cultural skill with the next rank and thereby gain a primary Sword skill and a secondary Cultural sword skill.

Any comments?

[Terisonen]

And RAW explicitly say that you cannot use a Sword/Sword or Axe/Axe combo, it must be two separate skill.

But it's time to read...

https://dconstructions.wordpress.com/20 ... he-bottom/

Just ask the Master. Just.

[amajo]

I understand that the Two weapon action require a primary and a secondary weapon skill, but it will be difficult to explain, why a person with Cultural "Swords" skill cannot use a sword and a short sword utilizing the same Cultural sword skill for both...
And if I insist on two different skills, the player will then split the sword from the Cultural skill with the next rank and thereby gain a primary Sword skill and a secondary Cultural sword skill.

Any comments?

Having one Cultural Weapon skill means that you're proficient using either one or the other weapon, not both at the same time. Splitting the Cultural Weapon skill into two separate skills to be able to use two-weapon attack might also represent the training it takes to use both weapons at the same time.

Amado