Impossible weapons

[sjmiller]

Too bad people don't die from mercury poisoning from just touching the stuff. This is the type of ignorance that you get from gov't schooling. When I was a kid, I'd roll it around in my hand. Nothing happened. Only from longterm exposure to vapors or from getting it actually IN you (through a cut or through swallowing it) is it going to do any serious damage.

Working in the environmental engineering field I never thought I would quote from a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) when talking about gaming, but here I go. This is taken from a MSDS dealing with Mercury.

Danger! Corrosive. Harmful if inhaled. May be absorbed through intact skin. Causes eye and skin irritation and possible burns. May cause severe respiratory tract irritation with possible burns. May cause severe digestive tract irritation with possible burns. May cause central nervous system effects. Inhalation of fumes may cause metal-fume fever. May cause liver and kidney damage. Possible sensitizer. This substance has caused adverse reproductive and fetal effects in animals.
Target Organs: Blood, kidneys, central nervous system, liver, brain.

Potential Health Effects
Eye: Exposure to mercury or mercury compounds can cause discoloration on the front surface of the lens, which does not interfere with vision. Causes eye irritation and possible burns. Contact with mercury or mercury compounds can cause ulceration of the conjunctiva and cornea.
Skin: May be absorbed through the skin in harmful amounts. May cause skin sensitization, an allergic reaction, which becomes evident upon re-exposure to this material. Causes skin irritation and possible burns. May cause skin rash (in milder cases), and cold and clammy skin with cyanosis or pale color.
Ingestion: May cause severe and permanent damage to the digestive tract. May cause perforation of the digestive tract. May cause effects similar to those for inhalation exposure. May cause systemic effects.
Inhalation: Causes chemical burns to the respiratory tract. Inhalation of fumes may cause metal fume fever, which is characterized by flu-like symptoms with metallic taste, fever, chills, cough, weakness, chest pain, muscle pain and increased white blood cell count. May cause central nervous system effects including vertigo, anxiety, depression, muscle incoordination, and emotional instability. Aspiration may lead to pulmonary edema. May cause systemic effects. May cause respiratory sensitization.
Chronic: May cause liver and kidney damage. May cause reproductive and fetal effects. Effects may be delayed. Chronic exposure to mercury may cause permanent central nervous system damage, fatigue, weight loss, tremors, personality changes. Chronic ingestion may cause accumulation of mercury in body tissues. Prolonged or repeated exposure may cause inflammation of the mouth and gums, excessive salivation, and loosening of the teeth.

As you can see, this stuff is just plain nasty. The term "Mad as a hatter" is because hat makers used to use mercury in the shaping of the felt used in hats, among other uses. This stuff will kill you, given time.

 

[Storm Raven]

Unless the length of spiked chain from the ring is 10', it isn't going to have reach.

If there are two rings, it could work. I'm not saying the weapon is realistic. I'm just saying I could think of ways to make it seem to make sense.

Mercurial weapons have a tube running down their length. That is going to make them look a lot different than a normal sword for example. You might hide the fact a mace was Mercurial more easily. But I think a trained warrior might still notice it.

No they don't. They have a well inside the blade. I suppose you could posit that mercurial weapons are thicker in girth than their non-mercurial counterparts, but that is by no means a given.

They are made of tubes remember. Which would be easier to Sunder than a sword with a solid blade.

Only if you assume, for example, that no form of supernatural dwarven/elven crafting technique has been perfected to make this sort of thing possible.

 

[Andor]

Working in the environmental engineering field I never thought I would quote from a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) when talking about gaming, but here I go. This is taken from a MSDS dealing with Mercury.

As you can see, this stuff is just plain nasty. The term "Mad as a hatter" is because hat makers used to use mercury in the shaping of the felt used in hats, among other uses. This stuff will kill you, given time.

Sure it's nasty, no one is pretending otherwise. OTOH Thaniels point is that you could be dipped in a vat of the stuff and while it might take a year or two off you life it isn't going to kill you on the spot. That's why all the entries about chronic effects are there. Heck there's a cult in NYC that insists on eating mercury filled gelcaps. Stupid? Yep. Long term effects? Yep. Instantly lethal? Nope. Mad as a hatter is indeed a phrase coined from the negative effects of long term mercury exposure. Nevertheless it was slow enough that hatters kept getting apprentices, and it remained a profession. If the stuff killed instantly on contact it probably wouldn't be inside the thermostat in all of our houses.

So, a mercurial weapon is not a deathtrap waiting to happen, it's merely stupid. And in any event it wasn't invented by or for DnD, it's from The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe where the torturer Sevarian uses one for ritual executions. With proper technique for a single designed stroke it helps him sever heads in one blow. It was never a weapon designed for combat, and when he does have to fight with it, it does indeed shatter, although that might have had something to do with the other guy having a sonic mace.

Hijack done now?

 

[sjmiller]

Getting back to the subject at hand, one could always add in that "killer, returning, boomarang-like, bladed thing" from Krull, just as long as I do not have to watch the damned thing again.

Or perhaps a weapon where the head and haft are connected by a magical field, or where the pieces move around on their own, or even the Sun Sword from Thundaar the Barbarian.

Just a few thoughts off the top of my head.

 

[Tetsubo]

Getting back to the subject at hand, one could always add in that "killer, returning, boomarang-like, bladed thing" from Krull, just as long as I do not have to watch the damned thing again.

Or perhaps a weapon where the head and haft are connected by a magical field, or where the pieces move around on their own, or even the Sun Sword from Thundaar the Barbarian.

Just a few thoughts off the top of my head.

Good ideas all.

But these sort of weapons make an anti-magic field even more powerful. I want a weapon that will work all the time.

As Grimjack says,"Sometimes magic doesn't work. Sometimes guns don't work. But a sword always works."

 

[Tetsubo]

If there are two rings, it could work. I'm not saying the weapon is realistic. I'm just saying I could think of ways to make it seem to make sense.

[/i]

No they don't. They have a well inside the blade. I suppose you could posit that mercurial weapons are thicker in girth than their non-mercurial counterparts, but that is by no means a given.

[/i]

Only if you assume, for example, that no form of supernatural dwarven/elven crafting technique has been perfected to make this sort of thing possible.

OK, how about another angle. The virtue (?) of a Mercurial weapon is that it is suppose to hit harder, correct? It concentrates the energy onto one spot more efficiently. Do you know what they call a sword that does that in real life? An axe.

Mercurial weapons could only exist in a fantasy setting. So they belong in this thread.

 

[Storm Raven]

OK, how about another angle. The virtue (?) of a Mercurial weapon is that it is suppose to hit harder, correct? It concentrates the energy onto one spot more efficiently. Do you know what they call a sword that does that in real life? An axe.

Sure, but it doesn't have the same "cool fantasy weapon" cachet.

Mercurial weapons could only exist in a fantasy setting. So they belong in this thread.

That is certainly true. When I want mundane physics and equipment, I just walk around my house.

 

[Tetsubo]

Sure, but it doesn't have the same "cool fantasy weapon" cachet.

[/i]

That is certainly true. When I want mundane physics and equipment, I just walk around my house.

I love me some axes, "cool" factor be darned!

I would argue that cats are exempt from Physics...

 

[DreadPirateMurphy]

Re: Mercury, National Geographic had an issue this past year on poisons. Certain types of mercury are actually lethal in a relatively short time. In any event, it isn't exactly something I would want to use to fill my swimming pool.

As for weapons that depend on magic:

Blades that float and follow mental commands. IIRC, the "glaive" from Krull was sort of like this. One of the Monster Manuals had something called a Shardswarm, or a swarm of bladed constructs. Imagine something like that as a cloud that moves around the character, providing attacks and defensive bonuses.

How about a mirror or crystal ball that allows the user to cast Destruction or Disintegrate on the target? Kind of like the device in the old Star Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror."

What about rods that only cause damage to one type of creature? It would be fairly safe to arm a whole hoard of conscripts with things that only damage the undead, or goblinoids, or what have you.

What about a disease that polymorphs into a new disease on a daily basis?

How about adaptive armor that provides damage resistance based upon the last attack to hit it?

How about force nets or whips that cannot be broken or cut?

You could create a line of Swiss Army Knives, with different lengths and types of blades that magically fold out.

How about arrows or bolts that phase out when fired and phase back in inside the target? They would basically provide a ranged touch attack with no benefit from cover.

New spell: Teleporting Fireball.

Create a negative energy cannon that inflicts negative levels on targets. Victims who die rise as undead.

How about arrows that are carved to make a howling noise that results in a magical fear effect in a line to the target?

BTW, this is my 100th post. Whoo!

 

[ARandomGod]

Re: Mercury, National Geographic had an issue this past year on poisons. Certain types of mercury are actually lethal in a relatively short time. In any event, it isn't exactly something I would want to use to fill my swimming pool.

Oddly enough, this is defintely something I want to use to fill my swimming pool*. I do agree that I wouldn't then want to ever go swimming in it... but come ON!


*Note: Only if I wasn't paying for it myself. And I could sell it later. Quite a profit there.