Beautiful Knives...and more?

[Dannyalcatraz]

Every once in a while, you (as DM) have to describe something- especially a weapon- that is visually impressive. Sometimes its the clean lines of Dwarven steel, other times its the flowing poetry of Elvish design.

...and you get in a rut. All of the descriptions sound the same and you find your players tuning you out. I've tried photos from the armories of great museums as a way around this, but several of my players have the same books.

I recently purchased a couple of books by David Darom that I have found will make that less likely. Not only will they inspire me to come up with some new/better descriptions, I now have pictures unlike those I've ever seen before.

http://www.amazon.com/Custom-Fixed-...bs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203922505&sr=1-2

http://www.amazon.com/Design-Modern...=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203922505&sr=1-6

They're full of the works of some truly fine master craftsmen. (He has others, but I don't own them...yet!)

Anyone have anything similar in their libraries?

 

[Fallen Seraph]

I have tons of armoury books in my bookshelf, none of them particularly specific but I have got a good range.

I find really good books (especially when it comes to firearms) are antique/restoration weaponry books. They are nice since they really concentrate on the unusual or only produced once kind of weaponry, so you can really find something unique and interesting to incorporate into your game.

 

[MrFilthyIke]

Saw those at Books-A-Million...drooled...put them down as my bookshelves are bursting as is.

 

[kenobi65]

Cool books.

I've occasionally used the Museum Replicas catalog. It's got historical replicas, as well as some more fantastic-looking blades.

 

[Oryan77]

I didn't think of using images out of weapon books to hand to players to describe their loot. Thanks for the idea

There's this knife I always wanted as a kid, but as a kid, $40 or so was too expensive for just a knife. Now that I'm an adult, I decided I would fork over the money to get this knife if I could ever find it again.

I look every time I'm at a knife show/store. I can never find it.

It was about 8 or so inches long, sort of a boot knife that had 2 blades (or one blade that was split down the middle to look like to blades), and the handle was wrapped in a thin chain. I think there was a dirk that was similar and could be bought as a set. One day I will find this knife and own it

 

[Smackfish]

I didn't think of using images out of weapon books to hand to players to describe their loot. Thanks for the idea

There's this knife I always wanted as a kid, but as a kid, $40 or so was too expensive for just a knife. Now that I'm an adult, I decided I would fork over the money to get this knife if I could ever find it again.

I look every time I'm at a knife show/store. I can never find it.

It was about 8 or so inches long, sort of a boot knife that had 2 blades (or one blade that was split down the middle to look like to blades), and the handle was wrapped in a thin chain. I think there was a dirk that was similar and could be bought as a set. One day I will find this knife and own it

The knives you are talking about were called the silver shadow and the double shadow, designed by Gil Hibben, pictures can be found on his website:

here

I'm not certain if they are still in production, but knowing the names should make them easier to find through ebay or craigslist.

Smackfish

 

[Oryan77]

The knives you are talking about were called the silver shadow and the double shadow, designed by Gil Hibben, pictures can be found on his website:

here

That's it

How in the world did you know exactly which knife it was from my pathetic description?

 

[Zoatebix]

That's it

How in the world did you know exactly which knife it was from my pathetic description?

Agreed - that was positively amazing, Smackfish!
-George

 

[Smackfish]

That's it

How in the world did you know exactly which knife it was from my pathetic description?

My father collects knives, and while he stuck to mainly pocketknives, I used to leaf through his catalogs as a kid. I tend to remember those knives because they were some of the first fantasy knives that Mr. Hibben (who also designed the Rambo knives, as well as the wasp knife on the cover of one of the books in the OP) designed for production.

In regards to the OP, a few good websites to go through looking for knife and sword pictures would be Gil Hibben's, Kit Rae's, United Cutlery, Smokey Mountain Knife Works (largest knife store in the continental US), Museum Replicas, and Angel Sword.

Smackfish

Edit: Thought of some more websites =)

 

[Fallen Seraph]

I have always wanted to when I get enough money to order this side-sword from TherionArms:

http://therionarms.com/reenact/therionarms_c909.html

As well as looking into making a matching handle version of this main gauche:

http://therionarms.com/reenact/therionarms_c429.html