Fantasy Blacksmithing

[Dannyalcatraz]

Just saw this, and agree with the commentator:

 

[niklinna]

This will come in handy for the Stonetop game I'm about to start playing in, my boyfriend is the town blacksmith.

 

[Ryujin]

That's gotta hurt.

 

[Umbran]

That's gotta hurt.

"Let me apply force with half the lever arm everyone else uses. That'll won't be exhausting and muscle-wrenching at all!"

 

[Ryujin]

"Let me apply force with half the lever arm everyone else uses. That'll won't be exhausting and muscle-wrenching at all!"

I was thinking the same. There's a reason why the axe head is at the end of a long stick.

 

[niklinna]

I was thinking the same. There's a reason why the axe head is at the end of a long stick.

So we just do a version that's 5x as big but still strapped to your arm. if Final Fantasy 14 can do impossibly yuge weapons....

 

[Umbran]

So we just do a version that's 5x as big but still strapped to your arm. if Final Fantasy 14 can do impossibly yuge weapons....

Swinging that from the shoulder and elbow, without the finesse of the wrist, doesn't sound great.

 

[niklinna]

Swinging that from the shoulder and elbow, without the finesse of the wrist, doesn't sound great.

It's FANTASY. Gonna make it a reach weapon that can trip too, and do slashing or piercing or bludgeoning damage depending on how you use it. Maybe an integrated rifle in the haft. Or a grenade launcher! Drink bitter tears, Pathfinder 2e Inventors!

 

[Ryujin]

Swinging that from the shoulder and elbow, without the finesse of the wrist, doesn't sound great.

Works for the Indian Patah, but that's a very different use case.View attachment 280658

 

[niklinna]

Works for the Indian Patah, but that's a very different use case.View attachment 280658View attachment 280659

Pata (sword) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The Mughals developed a variation with matchlock pistols adjoining the handle.

Hah! Suck on the lollipop of defeat, Pathfinder 2e Inventors! (Yes I know it also says "citation needed" and I don't care. FANTASY.)

 

[Umbran]

Works for the Indian Patah, but that's a very different use case

Yes. Poking/slashing a guy in the guts is not chopping wood.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Thing is, if you look at the history of weapons, there’s a whole bunch of them that are impractical on some level, but still were made in enough quantities that we know about them. Some even still get used- as in, modern people are trained in the fighting techniques developed to use them.

I could easily see forearm axe/katar as being associated with some kind of institution or religion. Maybe forest ninja elves. A militant gnomish sect. A guild of one-handed thieves.

 

[MGibster]

I can't even tell what I'm supposed to be looking at in the photo.

 

[Mad_Jack]

I can't even tell what I'm supposed to be looking at in the photo.

Same. It's an axe that straps to your forearm?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Sort of. It’s a short, wide punch-dagger- similar to what Ryujin posted, but with blade dimensions more akin to a katar- with a forearm axe as well.

 

[Ryujin]

Sort of. It’s a short, wide punch-dagger- similar to what Ryujin posted, but with blade dimensions more akin to a katar- with a forearm axe as well.

There are Patah that are the length of a European sabre; more than 3 feet.

 

[Mad_Jack]

If you're going to have a forearm blade on a punch dagger, it should run parallel to the entire forearm with (maybe) a short pointy bit going past the elbow - almost like a bearded axe. That way, you could at least get some slashing action while pulling back the dagger after a punch or on a backswing, and use the pointy bit for an elbow strike...

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

There are Patah that are the length of a European sabre; more than 3 feet.

Right. That’s why said it was a punch dagger- that part on the weapon in the video is only a few inches long. Punch daggers rarely exceed a foot in blade length.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

If you're going to have a forearm blade on a punch dagger, it should run parallel to the entire forearm with (maybe) a short pointy bit going past the elbow - almost like a bearded axe. That way, you could at least get some slashing action while pulling back the dagger after a punch or on a backswing, and use the pointy bit for an elbow strike...

View attachment 280718

The smith was clearly more interested in punchy-choppy instead of punchy-slashy.

 

[Zardnaar]

Thing is, if you look at the history of weapons, there’s a whole bunch of them that are impractical on some level, but still were made in enough quantities that we know about them. Some even still get used- as in, modern people are trained in the fighting techniques developed to use them.

I could easily see forearm axe/katar as being associated with some kind of institution or religion. Maybe forest ninja elves. A militant gnomish sect. A guild of one-handed thieves.

That or they weren't designed for the battlefield or the context (execution, decorative, failed designs, fashion etc) has been forgotten.