Violence

How do people react to violence? 

Even in the higher levels of violence commonly found in medieval and ancient cultures, most people had little direct combat experience.  The overwhelming majority of people in a medieval-like setting will be rural farmers.  Some of them will have experience hunting with slings or bows, cutting wood with axes, and a familiarity with butchering animals for food – but deer and chickens don’t normally fight back.  Urban people would have even less hunting experience and might have little to no experience with weapons.  Both of these populations would likely have experienced the occasional fistfight, but actual battle would have been somewhat rare. 

Someone who both owns and knows how to wield a sword or spear would be uncommon; even common folk who had been levied to serve as infantry in a military campaign might only have fired a bow or levelled a spear.  These veterans – those who survived – would have a different reaction to violence than the balance of their fellows.

Engaging in combat with other humans (or humanoids, or equivalent in your story environment) is a very different bargain than hunting or chopping wood.  Being the less experienced party in a potentially lethal exchange is not a healthy place to be.

For the most part, only those who have been trained at arms – usually nobles or the small number of people working as professional, full time soldiers – would be comfortable with weapons and violence.  These people usually only make up a small slice of a society.

This is not to say that people without martial training can’t learn, or adapt to violent activities, or indeed find they have a comfort with melee combat.  Just that such individuals would likely be unusual.  There may also be ‘edge’ combatants – bandits, thugs, or other people whose nefarious careers make them familiar with a certain style of violence.  However, most people simply aren’t accustomed to combat.

With all those factors taken into account – what would a reasonable reaction to violence, or the threat of violence be?

Most people will react slowly to the threat of violence.  It takes time for the mind to adjust to unfamiliar circumstances.  Those not trained to combat may take some time – seconds or longer – to adjust to the idea that they are in a fight, and that they should defend themselves.  If placed in immediate danger, panic, and the panic responses of fight or flight, will likely take over.  Panic fighting can be effective, but it rarely involves training and the skilled use of weapons.  Never underestimate the effects of shock on the untrained and inexperienced.

If required to go on offense, most people take time to work themselves up into a level of aggression capable of sustaining combat – thus the common pre-battle rituals seen in many cultures, singing, chanting, banging weapons on shields, shouting and pushing, and so forth.  These actions allow combatants which may not be entirely comfortable with close action to work themselves up to a state where they can engage in it.

For professional soldiers, knights, mercenaries, or other folk who see regular combat, the scenario will play out differently.  The more combat experience a given combatant – or group of combatants – has, the more comfort they have with violence.  The faster actions will transition from confrontation to combat, and the more lethal they will be.  Well trained and experienced troops will usually prevail against untrained and inexperienced troops, even if the latter have greater numbers.