Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 6280539" data-attributes="member: 27780">Dragon Compendiumpart 5/10EQUIPMENT AND MAGIC ITEMS: Similarly, the gear chapter has too many little entries for them to label them all individually in the contents page. Still, at least it has some subdivisions of type to break up the monotony. That should make it easier to feel my progress than the previous chapter. Weapons: Ankus are blunt hooks on the end of poles, which has a fair number of comic applications. Since they had a lot of love for polearms in the feats chapter, I'm guessing the same will apply here, including several weapons that were core in previous editions, but left out of 3e. Erik does love his old school, after all, otherwise we wouldn't be seeing this collection in the first place. Blunt Arrows aren't from an old corebook, but they also feel very familiar, and also have interesting applications. I can see why they'd want more people to try them out. Flight Arrows remind me that they did a whole article on alternate types of arrows, and like the polearms, they're probably going to reprint them all. Anyway, these are the long-range ones. If you have the extra money, there's no drawback to investing in them. Signal Arrows aren't very good at combat, but still handy until you can set up telepathy between the party members. Wheeeeeeeeee. Smoke Arrows probably get launched just before <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> gets real. It's all about the right timing for every bit of equipment. Thunder Arrows are also for causing panic and confusion as much, if not more than actual damage. Just make sure you use the ones that obscure your vision for further shots afterwards. Awl Pikes have huge hafts to hit things 3 squares away, no more, no less. Unless you take those handy feats that let you shift that one way or the other, which seems particularly useful here, especially when combined with AoO enhancers. None shall pass! Bardiche are another ex-core weapon turning up in your back like a jilted ex. But not wielded BY Bards, weirdly enough. Linguistics is a funny business. Bec Du Corbin have slightly shorter hafts to hit things two squares away, no more, no less. Which will work better in an actual battle will depend how much breathing room you have. Bladed Flails are extra good at Cleaves, trips and disarms. Another one that you'll need to take a fair few feats to really reach 100% potential with. Bladed Staves give you a range of lethal or nonlethal attack styles to play with, plus the usual support walking. If you can make the blades retractable, even better. Shatter Bolts are still a better idea than breaking bottles in your hand to use in a barroom brawl, but not entirely without risk. Make sure you pad your equipment bags heavily, because trekking through the wilderness is not kind to them. Broad-bladed Shortspears really aren't worth an exotic weapon proficiency slot. Next! Disguised Daggers are ever popular with groups who want to appear civilised, but don't want to leave themselves vulnerable. Good to see them again. Duom are an interesting one that might hurt you if you're not careful with it, but seem a good solution to the problem of not being able to fight in close quarters with polearms. Fauchards are another ex-core one that are inconvenient to use close-up under the new rules. Well, it certainly doesn't help their slow slide into unfashionability. Folding Bows are another one for the folks who value surprise over raw damage. They still take a little more work to get out or hide than daggers though. Garrotte Rings require the reprinting of a whole bunch of special rules, as strangling is a form of grappling, and therefore annoying in D&D. If you know an enemy likes wielding one of these, be very afraid indeed. Greatspears are another long, awkward to use one. Lest we forget, there are a lot of polearms, and we're still only 7 letters through the alphabet. Hydraflails are somewhere between singular flails and a cat o' nine tails. They're not more damaging, as you can still only apply the same amount of force, but are considerably better at disarming than most weapons. That's worth considering when you're mostly fighting other people. Lochaber Axes are another polearm with a little extra, this time a hook for tripping as well as a blade for slicing. Sounds like fun to me, even if immobilising them for a coup de grace seems unlikely. Longstaves are Quarterstaves big brother. They're similar enough that a specialisation in one is a specialisation in the other, and they're good at fending off sneaky rogues trying to gang up on you. Perfect for a travelling cleric. Lucerne Hammers are another polearm with a different set of hurty things on the end. Its amazing how inventive people can be when adapting farm implements into weapons. Modular Weapons, on the other hand, take careful creation and designing so their individual pieces look as innocuous as possible, but they can still be quickly and easily assembled and dissassembled. This requires a skilled craftsman and a lot of cash. Panther Claws are like tiger claws, only blacker. Exactly which branding sells better and what this says about our subconscious prejudices is worth investigating. Partisans are another reach one that help you keep the foes from getting too near, especially if used in formation. Those little side spikes make things that little extra bit trickier to get past. Pilum are extra long, thin spears designed to punch straight through an enemy's shield and rip it out of their grip. The kind of thing you use as a secondary weapon, as it'll spend a fair amount of time out of commission. Poison Rings are yet another one for the sneaky guy who wants to look stylish while also being practical. Cha-Ching! Heavy Poleaxes are another long, bulky one you can set for a charge, Question then becomes how you goad enemies into charging when you have a big obvious weapon ready to deal with it. It's a puzzler. Razor Nets are a particularly nasty and effective idea, making any attempts at escaping exceedingly painful. Of course, putting little bits of barbed metal into your net is not great for it's structural integrity, so they don't have a lot of reuseability. What you need is monowire, and a way to keep those wires from cutting each other. Spetum are another one designed for disarming. It's a good way to win fights without fighting to the death, so why not specialise in it. You might even make some friends if you fight with honor and style, which you definitely can't say if you kill everyone you fight. Spring Dart Boots are a particularly cool concealed weapon, and the space could also be used to hide other things once you've fired them. Another one for the rogue who wants everything they wear to be pimpin'.Swordbreakers are pretty self-explanatory. Have fun with your sundering, and hope you don't ruin anything too valuable that you might have wanted to use yourself. Voulge are just cleavers with a polarm haft, another one that's easily adapted from farmyard tools. You too can go from killing chickens and pigs to horrible monstrosities from other worlds. Vulcanian Thunder Clubs are a very interesting bit of alchemy that gives fighters an explosive AoE attack once a battle. Risky, but definitely pretty cool looking. Dwarven Warpikes have counterweights on the other end to make them easier to balance. After all, when you have stubby arms, you have to adjust your fighting style accordingly to be effective, especially when fighting giants. Armor:Retarius is barely armor at all, just protection on one arm & shoulder. Well, gladiatorial fights are all about the beefcake, so they have to show plenty of skin. Otherwise you won't get the groupie denarius and have to downsize colosseums, which doesn't sound good at all. Samnite is only slightly more covering, adding a bit of protection for your head and legs, while still leaving all those important chest muscles exposed. Rawr. Secutor at least gives you a half decent AC bonus, but still leaves a fair amount exposed, and cuts down your max dex bonus more than many heavier armours. Remember, nonprotective stuff can be awkward and inconvenient to move in too, which is why no adventurer should wear high heels on the job. Silk Armor is the odd one out here, costing far more, yet with it's primary goal to not look particularly obtrusive or hinder movement. Once again, it's the quiet ones you've really got to watch out for, as the flashy ones are just there to distract you. Thracian is just a helmet and leg armor. I hope that covers the groin too, because I don't want the other gladiators making cheap shots.</blockquote>

Verification