Boomerangs!

[Jacob the Impaler]

After watching Road Warrior for the sixth time, I'm thinking of making a tribe of boomerang-throwing orcs for my players to slaughter.

Boomerangs have probably been statted up somewhere before, but I'll post my interpretations anyway. I'm not going for high realism, but suggestions on rules for it returning and looking less sloppy in general would be greatly appreciated.

Wooden Boomerang:
Medium-sized Exotic Ranged Weapon
1d6 Bludgeoning; Crit. 20, x2; Range 50'; 2 lbs; 6 GP

Special: Boomerangs are thrown in an arc equal to the distance they travel. If the boomerang misses its target, it returns to its thrower at the end of the round. The thrower can catch it as a free action.

Steel Boomerang:
Medium-sized Exotic Ranged Weapon
1d6 Slashing; Crit. 19-20, x2; Range 50'; 4 lbs; 20 GP

Special: Boomerangs are thrown in an arc equal to the distance they travel. If the boomerang misses its target, it returns to its thrower at the end of the round. The thrower can catch it as a free action. The catcher must wear a gauntlet to catch a steel boomerang safely. Without a gauntlet, he takes 1d3+1 damage trying to catch it.

 

[GreatLemur]

Oh, man, boomerangs are a great idea. Not sure about the way you've statted them up here, though.

The way I'm reading the return mechanic is that, on a miss, it grants a free attack (at a very minor bonus) on every target between the thrower and his initial target (although it can only actually hit one, of course). That's sounds a little too good, to me. In fact, actually hitting somebody on the return trip seems a little bit unlikely . . . or, at least, using any of the thrower's BAB to hit something he wasn't even aiming at seems unlikely (unless we're talking about some kind of Batman/Xena thing, here). I'm not aware of any good rules for this situation, though.

Catching it seems like it ought to be a swift action, maybe.

I could also take issue with the damage, since it doesn't seem like such a lightweight blunt instrument ought to do as much harm as a club, but since it's an exotic weapon, taking the damage down to 1d4 feels a bit harsh.

Man, I wish I could help more.

 

[Machiavelli]

Returning boomerangs tend to return on a very high arc, swapping some speed and momentum for altitude so as to exert the force needed to make it arc around, then swapping altitude for momentum and speed again to bring it back and down to the thrower. I think the idea behind returning boomerangs is for hunting birds, so that the frequent misses don't require frequently replacing lost boomerangs.

Regardless, the arc of a thrown returning boomerang is well above the ground, and in fact even higher as you throw it further. I'll put together a template to show my interpretation of this, but I haven't the time to do so right now.

That said, I've thrown together a template for 10', 20', 30', 40', and every range increment out to the maximum 5 increments (250'), based on your description of the boomerang's path. It's not very realistic, but there it is.

 

[Jacob the Impaler]

Thanks a lot for the input. I used to play with a boomerang when I was a kid, and I'm kinda remembering how they work now. Updated first post.

Keep the feedback coming.

 

[Machiavelli]

I'm working on boomerang rules that are as realistic as I can make them using ordinary D20 mechanics. It's taking a lot of time, which I haven't an abundance of, but expect a post tomorrow morning or evening.

It's actually rather complicated, and I'm beginning to think that a magically returning throwing club would be preferable for simplicity's sake.

 

[LightPhoenix]

Funny you should mention that, that's pretty much what I first thought of - Exotic Weapon, Club stats, non-magical, but has the Returning property if you are proficient.

 

[trav_laney]

That said, I've thrown together a template for 10', 20', 30', 40', and every range increment out to the maximum 5 increments (250'), based on your description of the boomerang's path. It's not very realistic, but there it is.

Gaa! Having to apply a template everytime one of my players throws a weapon in combat? That would make my head explode.

I like the stats that you have written here for the boomerangs. The damage, crit range, and weight all seem very believable. As for the "returning" aspect of them, and whether or not they can hit targets on their return trip, and the kind of action required to catch one, etc., why not treat them as non-magical returning weapons, like LightPhoenix suggested?

 

[Quartz]

Interesting! Two thoughts: catching a returning boomerang ought to provoke an Attack of Opportunity, and tower shields and other cover-granting situations shoud not grant their cover bonus - perhaps an additional feat might be necessary for this.

Oh yes, if you don't have EWP: Boomerang and throw the boomerang and it misses, you should be subject to some sort of attack by the returning boomerang.

 

[Machiavelli]

Okay, here's my overly complicated set of rules for boomerangs:

[sblock]Boomerang 1d6 x2 bludgeoning Range: 50ft

A boomerang can be thrown in either of two ways: straight, as a club might be thrown; or, if the user is proficient, with the correct technique to allow it to return. A boomerang thrown straight behaves exactly as any other thrown weapon. If throwing a boomerang to return, the player must choose one of the flight paths shown below, such that it intersects with the target. The target and the boomerang must be within the same altitude bracket, as shown for each flight path on the chart below. The player may choose to increase the altitude that the boomerang reaches at a given point on the chosen flight path by a single altitude bracket (or, at the apex, up to a maximum of 120ft), but all attack rolls for the boomerang throw then suffer a –4 penalty. Conversely, the player may choose to decrease the altitude, but the boomerang deals one lower hit die than normal for each bracket of decrease.
The player makes a ranged touch attack against the target. If the ranged touch attack misses, the boomerang continues on its chosen flight path. The player may then choose to catch the boomerang as a swift action by rolling a successful ranged attack against the square he himself occupies. Concealment and cover are applied as appropriate for any obstructions along the boomerang’s flight path. If the player does not catch it, and cover does not deflect it first, the boomerang lands in the square that the player occupies.
If the ranged touch attack against the target is successful, however, the player uses the same roll result to make a ranged attack against the target, dealing damage according to the chart below. Regardless if the ranged attack is successful, the boomerang drops to the ground in the last square it occupied before entering the target’s square.

[/sblock]

A quick self-analysis: with such pitiful damage capacity, and such limited combat utility, the boomerang is best used for hunting small flying creatures that have a pitance of hitpoints. With such a complicated system, the DM is best advised to only permit its use for this single, rare purpose, anyway.
I can imagine using a boomerang for dispatching an enemy's messenger bird in mid-flight, or for a tournament-style match between two boomerang wielders. Hunting is rather much a waste of game time to play it out attack for attack, and the boomerang is pathetic for actual combat.

 

[D.Shaffer]

Wow...that's just a little bit to complicated to be all that useful, IMO.
I'd just say 'It's a hunting boomerang, they dont come back' and be done with it.

For what it's worth, 'official' boomerang stats show up in the Eberron campaign book and Complete Warrior. They simplify things to a simple AC 10 to catch it on the return. Functional enough when you're outside, but sometimes silly if you're doing it in a corridor.

Boomerang              1d4/x2   20'   B    10GP   2 lbs   Subdual Damage
Talenta Boomerang      1d4/x2   30'   B/S  15GP   1 lbs   
Xen'Drik Boomerang     1d6/x2   20'   B    20GP   2 lbs