How are spiked chains carried?

[Farland]

There are alot of cheesey weapons that don't exist in my world. Topping the list is the double flail and after that the double axe, closely followed by the double sword. Completely inefficient weapons for obvious reasons, I think.

 

[Farland]

Attack of the double post.

 

[Voadam]

Hmmm. The monk I'm playing in my current game uses one. If you've ever watched Jet Li or Jackie Chan use a rope, belt, chain, or other similar weapon, that's how I envision carrying and wielding it. If you've ever seen Shanghai Noon, Jackie fights a bunch of gunfighters with a rope and a horseshoe and there are times when he carries it wrapped up around his arms and torso in such a way that he can disengage it and attack really fast, without entangling himself.

I was thinking of the same image from that movie, but there are not many spikes on that chain.

 

[Voadam]

Hmmm. The monk I'm playing in my current game uses one. If you've ever watched Jet Li or Jackie Chan use a rope, belt, chain, or other similar weapon, that's how I envision carrying and wielding it. If you've ever seen Shanghai Noon, Jackie fights a bunch of gunfighters with a rope and a horseshoe and there are times when he carries it wrapped up around his arms and torso in such a way that he can disengage it and attack really fast, without entangling himself.

I was thinking of the same image from that movie, but I don't think that would be feasible if there were spikes on the rope.

 

[Umbran]

The last character I played that wielded a spiked chain used it for suspenders.

Okay, so what was the offensive tactic - hitting the enemy with the chain, or having your pants fall down at the begining of combat?

 

[Thanee]

I guess the best bet is to drop the image as shown in the PHB and think of something you can actually carry and even moreso fight with!

Bye
Thanee

 

[MeepoTheMighty]

There are alot of cheesey weapons that don't exist in my world. Topping the list is the double flail and after that the double axe, closely followed by the double sword. Completely inefficient weapons for obvious reasons, I think.

Cheesy? Maybe, though I don't know how to define cheese in a world where people fly around and throw fireballs at each other. But what's inefficient about them?

And what do any of them have to do with the spiked chain?

 

[Gnome Berzerker]

I'd think they wouldn't be as hard to use as swordchucks

LOL


The pic reapersaurus posted makes the spiked chain look like a double weapon. Too bad to have to take a PrC for that.

 

[Farland]

Cheesy? Maybe, though I don't know how to define cheese in a world where people fly around and throw fireballs at each other. But what's inefficient about them?

And what do any of them have to do with the spiked chain?

They are inefficient for many reasons. There are reasons that these weapons only existed as anomalies in history and enjoyed little use and no military success. As pictured, the double axe is completely preposterous. What are the back blades for, for one thing? Second, how do you hold it, like a quarterstaff and try to chop with it? The blades would turn when they hit resistance. Plus the reason that axes and swords were invented (minus the cutting power) is that they provided leverage. The double axe and sword take a perfectly good example of axes and swords and quarter their damage and cutting power by quartering the leverage with the weapon.

A double flail is simply entirely too unwieldy and dangerous, plus it suffers from the same mechanical issues as the other weapons.

That's why they are inefficient.

 

[HellHound]

I've actually just written a section of the fortcomng E.N.Arsenal - Spiked Chain about how to carry a spiked chain.

The base assumption here is that the full length of the chain is nearly 14 feet to allow for 10 reach with tripping and disarming.

The standard in our games is as follows - you pull the centre link up behind your kneck with the chains draped over your shoulders and down to the ground. Then you pull up the two heads at the same time until the weight is nearly evenly divided between front and back... about 3 feet on each side in front, and a four-foot long loop of unspiked chain on your back with the centre link effectively hanging between and behind your knees.

There are a few alternate carrying methods suggested in that section.

Not to mention actually STOWING the chain in a bag or box when not in use, but this makes pulling it out for combat a lot more of a chore.