Carrying weapons

[Kichwas]

In Fahla's nation of Lomyr within any settlement that carries the nation's law only nobles, licensed private guards, and 'The guard' may be armed with anything beyond simple weapons that have practical tool uses like knives or staves.


Armor may only be worn by 'the guard' while on duty. Anybody else in any armor is likely to end up in irons by the end of the day. Including private guardsmen.

Soilder's may not go armed or armored within a settlement unless in the act of 'pacifying' that settlement under the Queens command (an extremely rare event).

Gladiators may be armed and armored as fits during their duels and within the arena only. Stage actors must use fake weaponry and armor. Guards for foreign diginitaries are expected to follow these laws as well.


Given that even a peacebond is not enough. If you have a sword you put it away into your saddlebags or packs before entering town. If you have a bow or crossbow you unstring it first and put away your quivers.

 

[Asmor]

On a side note, just because you're in the middle of town doesn't mean you can't have a weapon... Canes with concealed swords, garotte shoelaces, wine bottles filled with alchemists fire...

Ah, the fun one could have...

 

[Sigma]

I've been running a thief guild campaign and all weapons and armor are illegal unless you are a knight. That's the law as written, but in practice, you can usually get away with wearing light armor and carrying weapons of size Small or smaller. Adventurers (which is not what my PC's are, they're low on magic, low on cash, and making a living in the shadows of the law) are treated a bit different. They're basically larger than life figures that come through town, make a fuss, and leave. They're required to peace bond their weapons, but at the end of the day, it's more trouble to try and control them than it's worth. Magical weapons/armor are very valuable items, and it doesn't always make sense to just leave those with the town guard/back at the inn. Acknowledging the reality of the situation, the local law enforcement is leniant on adventurers provided they don't cause too much trouble and obey the law. Kinda like ninja rock stars.

 

[Someguy]

We usually Carry around our weapons...we just mainly have it in peace knots...

 

[barsoomcore]

On Barsoom, pretty much everyone goes around armed to the teeth at all times. You never know when a member of a rival family is going to send a gang of thugs after you, or when a long-forgotten enemy will suddenly emerge and challenge you to duel. In most cities, it's taken for granted that everyone is familiar with weapons and violence and will not turn down a challenge. People don't run from fights on Barsoom, they start them.

Wearing a sword on Barsoom is like wearing shoes here. You just wouldn't go outside without one.

 

[Christian]

I have it in the back of my mind that composite bows were more susceptible to being strung for long periods than self-bows. I think this notion comes from some distant recollection of Parthians having carried an extra bow so they could always have one strung while the other was allowed to "rest".

Dunno about the Parthians, but the general principle is exactly correct. Self bows get their power from the tension of the 'warping' of the bow from it's normal straight position. If you keep it strung, it tends to permanently warp towards the (strung but undrawn) curve. (Wood does that, you know, under pressure ...) This can drastically reduce both power and accuracy. Such bows were thus generally left unstrung-in a game, I would rule that under ordinary conditions, it would take a full-round action to ready a longbow or shortbow for combat.

Composite bows get their power from the difference in compressibility between the two materials that make up the bow. This is unaffected by the time the bow spends strung-the materials don't get more compressible from being compressed. So there's no reason to store a composite bow (or a crossbow, which works by the same principle) unstrung.

 

[Avantgeek]

Whaddabout wizards?

Right then, so you've got all the beefy fightery kinda peoples disarmed (and armored). Which makes sense to a point, though how a typical watchman (1st, maybe 2nd level) is going to enforce that on a mid-level party, I dunno (and, yes, I realize that if the party thumps a grunt guardsman, they're going to have to answer for it).

Anywho...

How do you go about putting a peace knot on a wizard, or making sure their spells stay in a scabbard?

Just curious.

 

[Deadguy]

Peace-bonding Wizards?

Avantgeek:
How do you go about putting a peace knot on a wizard, or making sure their spells stay in a scabbard?

Well, about the only real option you have is to use magic. I would suggest that a spell like Geas is the ideal one, since you can stipulate what exactly you don'y want them to do. But considering the level of the spell, I can't imagine its use except in large communities and against significant Wizards (not just a poxy newbie who's just out of apprenticeship!).

Now how you recognise said Wizard in the first place, if he doesn't want to co-operate is a challenge in itself.

Since peacbinding is itself largely symbolic, and I guess often backed by a sworn oath to cause no trouble, I guess you could just ask/i] the Wizard and the Sorcerer to behave!

 

[Imperialus]

one important thing to realize is that nearly everyone was, and should be armed back in the day. Knives and daggers were about as common as pesants and larger weapons were definatly not unknown either. In fact the first recorded limitation put on weapons in a city was London during the reign of Elizabeth the first, and all she did was say that swords over the length of 3 feet were illigal in the city. If you were caught with something longer the guards would simply break off the tip untill it was less than 3 feet before giveing it back.

 

[CRGreathouse]

Re: Whaddabout wizards?

How do you go about putting a peace knot on a wizard, or making sure their spells stay in a scabbard?

It has been suggested that their middle and index fingers are bound to prevent casting of spells with somatic components.