Flails, Maces & MorningStars Questions

[sjmiller]

I was flipping through this, having purchased it solely because it contained information on the Godentag, and I am rather surprised and disappointed about a few things. I am so puzzled I figured I should come here and ask about some things.

Flipping to the Godentag on page 9, it says the overall weapon length is 5 1/2 feet and that it weighs 8 pounds. That's cool, I guess, based on the interpretation you are using. Then I see that it is a One-Handed weapon. One-handed?! Doesn't anyone realize that holding a end-heavy weapon of that size and weight in one hand is not only impractical, but absurd. The godentag is too big and too heavy to be wielded one-handed. It was never designed to be used that way. It was designed to knock guys in heavy plate armor off a horse and then crush them or drive the spike through their visor. This is not something that one does one-handed.

So, I guess my question is, at the start, why was this weapon made a one-handed weapon?

Also, looking at the one-handed melee weapons on page 3, why are they all heavier than is practical? Historically, even a heavy mace never came close to weighing 8 pounds. One would definitely not want to attempt to wield that one handed, that's for sure!

I am just curious as to why these particular decisions were made. Being that I am going to have to convert this back to 3.0 anyway, I figured getting into the minds of the designers wouldn't hurt.

 

[sjmiller]

Okay, a guilty confession regarding the previous post. It's been awhile since I actually looked at the weapon weights in a D&D book, and after looking at the 3.0 PH I remember why that is so. My former career in archaeology and post-Roman English history studies means I know more about ancient weapons than is good for a gamer. Just about every game I see, D&D (in all its versions) included, have obscenely heavy weapons. I don't understand why they do this, or what references they are using. So, when I see 10 pound swords, 12 pound maces, and other overweight weapons it drives me a bit crazy.

The largest functional (usable in combat) swords should top out at about 9 pounds. Most swords, regardless of type, should be around 2 to 3 pounds. Maces should run, surprisingly, around 2 to 4 pounds, even all metal ones. A longbow that weighs more than a pound or two is just not practical. I could go on, but I think you see where I am coming from.

So, while I am disappointed by some of the descriptions/weights given for weapons in FM&MS, I am not terribly surprised.

 

[ElectricDragon]

While I have not received my copy of FM&M yet; I will try to answer your questions. Yes, I used weights comparable to those in the PHB; mainly because few of the references I found actually listed weights. A second reason is because weapon weights are a hold-over from earlier editions where "weight" was actually "encumbrance value" or a combination of actual weight and how unwieldy the thing is to store and carry. This lead to much higher weights for many things and if I recall correctly even different weights for some things according to how they were carried (a set of clothes weighed 3 lbs. worn and 6 lbs. carried in the backpack, I believe).

As to the length of the godentag at 5.5 feet; remember that it is topped by a 1 ft. long spike. That leaves 4.5 feet for the handle and head of the weapon. I figure 4 inches for the head; leaving 4 ft. 2 inches for the handle. Yeah, that may be a little long; but I wanted the weapon to have the ability to be set against a charge; consider that when used one-handed; the wielder must "choke up" a bit on the handle.

Ciao
Dave