Top 10 odd D&D weapons

[Orius]

3) Mercurial Swords: Explain the attraction of a using a deliberately unbalanced weapon that is likely to spew a highly toxic substance if sundered.

I know this has already been discussed to death here, but I'm going to jump in on the "Mercurial Weapons are freaking asinine as hell" bandwagon. I don't care if magic exists, such a weapon just seems impractical and stupid. Assuming a D&D campaign has the technology to actually produce one of these jokes, I can't see how it could possibly be used as a weapon without breaking. And I also don't see how a channel of mercury could affect damage potential. Just a silly and asinine weapon that will never EVER find its way into my campaigns.

In fact, half the crap introduced in Sword & Fist's equipment section will never enter my games. Gyrspikes, doums, mantis...all STUPID.

4) Orc Shotput: The perfect counterpoint to the Orc javelin team. Spend 10 gp on a 15 lbs. chunk of iron...or just go and find a rock to throw.

I always liked the orc shotput actually. Orcs are actually crude enough to actually use these. I can see orcs lined up hurling these things at enemies before using their double axes in melee (well, ok not the double axe, that's another goofy idea).

8) Two-Bladed Sword: This weapon led directly to one of the oddest miniatures from WotC, a man in full plate armor wielding one of these. That would probably be the only way to wield one without slicing off your fingers, come to think of it.

Yes, another one of 3e's silliest weapons, and along with the dire flail, it's in the PHB, so it's harder for the DM to outlaw it. But I've rarely seen players use it, so it doesn't bother me.

 

[big dummy]

Technically, a flails, nunchaku, 3 sectional staves, kusarigama, chijiririki, etc. are just such weapons, but I know what you mean.

No thats not true. The weight is finite. Just because the mass swivels around a link doesn't mean that the mass is moving up and down from end to end. It's completely different. You don't use a flail like a bull-whip.

As has been pointed out, such weapons make a modicum of sense in a fantasy world in which huge creatures may wrap you in their coils or tentacles, or might snatch you up in their claws for later devouring...it works for puffer fish, hedgehogs, porcupines, echidna and so forth, after all (who live that life for real).

porcupines have spikes essentially on their back, not on their hands, elbows, or knees, nor do they have to wield swords or cast spells...

And no they don't make much sense if you couldn't walk 10 feet without spearing yourself in the eye with a spike, & not if you can't move your arms without spearing yourself or entangling yourself.

Also think how hard it would be to move through any kind of underbrush? I guess this kind of armor is designed for a completely urban world...

Armor without spikes would be tough enough, incidentlaly, for most animals to grab.

 

[big dummy]

The double axe is actually a very feasable weapon and one that is fun to use and will scare the hell out of anyone whois fighting you. I use one in a fighting club I'm in.

ROFL!!! Maybe a 6 ounce LARP version. Not anything even remotely approximating real weight and balance. I've been doing stickfighting for 20 years and WMA for 7, and I would love to fight somebody with a double axe. I'll use a padded sword and you use a real double axe with steel blades. We'll see who dies first. I'll just stand back and watch you try to swing the thing and cut your own arm or head off and laugh until I wet myself.

BD

 

[big dummy]

There's a significant difference between sparring with a weapon and using it to deal damage to an armored being.

especially big difference from some LARP sword-tag game with featherlight boffers and the real thing..

BD

 

[big dummy]

I always liked the orc shotput actually. Orcs are actually crude enough to actually use these. I can see orcs lined up hurling these things at enemies before using their double axes in melee (well, ok not the double axe, that's another goofy idea).

Actually, your basic rock, or thrown stone has been used in conflicts from the ... well stone age until today. The medieval period and Renaissance had hunderds of battles in which we;; documented forces in one or more of the armies who were rock throwers, including some of the most effective armies in the period. Think about a baseball being hurled at 90 mph. A baseball can break bones, knock people unconscious. There are reasons why the umpire and the catcher wear all that gear.

Now think of that baseball being a very heavy, glass-hard piece of obsidian or granite. Ouch!

BD

 

[Orius]

IMHO, the strangest weapon in DnD is the polearm. Why are polearms so weak compared to swords? There was a reason most people carried a spear or a polearm throughout history. They WORK. And they work really, really well. Roman soldiers didn't fight with swords, they fought with spears. As did the vast majority of foot soldiers until the age of gunpowder. Yet, in DnD, polearms take a back seat to swords in terms of effectiveness and damage.

Sorry, my own personal little rant. Carry on with the rest of the thread.

That's always been the case in D&D. It's a matter of effectiveness and image. In the old rules, there was lots of polearms that did only 1d6 damage or something similar, and had slow weapon speeds. That might not be the case these days, but then there's image. Not only do many players have no idea what many of the really obscure polearms look like (and many of the ones in the old books are redunandant IMO), the simple fact is, swords have been and always will be "cooler". Spears and halberds are ok weapons, but most players will want to use a sword (or maybe an axe) instead anyway.

 

[Orius]

And, just for the sake of being annoying, I figure we should discuss the fine art of playing with the weight of weaponry, using nothing less than the most violent of modern sports: Baseball!

You're wrong. Everyone know the most violent modern sport (in North America anyway) is hockey. Those guys always get in fist fights out on the ice and whack each other with the sticks. The worst baseball players do is take steroids...

Though if you really want a violent sport, nothing beats rugby. And the violence isn't confined to the players.

 

[Land Outcast]

In fact I would advocate taking it a step further and incorporating some of the actual features of different weapons like reach and speed and defensive potential, that way you wouldn't have trouble understanding the purpose of polearms or go around thinking that a 12" dagger can barely hurt you...

More than welcome... (if by speed you don't mean the AD&D weapon speed rules)

 

[Agent Oracle]

You're wrong. Everyone know the most violent modern sport (in North America anyway) is hockey. Those guys always get in fist fights out on the ice and whack each other with the sticks. The worst baseball players do is take steroids...

Though if you really want a violent sport, nothing beats rugby. And the violence isn't confined to the players.

Dude, i was using sarcasm as a means to convey a point, you'll notice that later in the post, i also claimed not to jam anything into Mark McGuire's ass... intentionally. Besides, Hockey players don't... or more appropriately, can't "juice up" their sticks by shifting their weight around, since even the most violent of strikes in hockey has nowhere near the force behind it of a home-run equivalent baseball blow.

And now, i see by your smiley faces that you too are using sarcasm! I feel like a tool.

 

[Agent Oracle]

porcupines have spikes essentially on their back, not on their hands, elbows, or knees, nor do they have to wield swords or cast spells...

And no they don't make much sense if you couldn't walk 10 feet without spearing yourself in the eye with a spike, & not if you can't move your arms without spearing yourself or entangling yourself.

Also think how hard it would be to move through any kind of underbrush? I guess this kind of armor is designed for a completely urban world...

Armor without spikes would be tough enough, incidentlaly, for most animals to grab.

"I don't have spikes on my elbows?"

"Funny, I look like i've got a full set..."

Take it from someone who has handled porcupines, and knows how to do so with realtive safety.. the only place on these things that dosn't have sharp, pain inflicting properties are their underbellies, and the underside of their tails. Oh, and the babies. the babies are safe for about two weeks to handle, then it's spikes start coming in.

But, let's be fair, a porcupine's quills are very different from armor spikes in that they rest on the body in a flexible mat of pain-inflicting enemy repulsion, as opposed to inflexibly being welded to your chest. FOr a better comparison, you would have to go WAYYY back in history, to some critters with INFLEXIBLE spinkes on their bodies... Dinosaurss baby.

Forgive my lousy spelling here, the ankleosaurus (i'm spelling it wrong, i know it) was essentually a walking suit of spiked armor. those rocy outcroppings on it's back came to some nice points when it was alive, and it's tail-club had an obvious functionality.