Monofilament "cyberpunk" whip rules

[Iron_Chef]

Are there any d20 rules for monofilament whips ala William Gibson style "cyberpunk"? These are whips made of a monofilament material that slices through flesh and armor. It doesn't entangle so much as dissect whatever object it wraps itself around... nasty stuff, perfect for bad guys. I'd like a bounty hunter to use one in my Star Wars d20 game, so if you know of any rules or want to post your own house rules for 'em, let me know! Thanks.

 

[Alzrius]

A monomolecular whip just never made sense to me. Atoms and molecules are mostly empty space to begin with (a good example being that of a golf ball at the center of a football field. The golf ball is the nucleus, the electrons orbit at the edges of the field). Given that, swinging a monomolecular whip at someone means that it's likely to just go through their component atoms without touching them, inflicting no damage (it'd be like throwing more golf balls into that same field, trying to hit the one at the center).

 

[DnDChick]

Are there any d20 rules for monofilament whips ala William Gibson style "cyberpunk"? These are whips made of a monofilament material that slices through flesh and armor. It doesn't entangle so much as dissect whatever object it wraps itself around... nasty stuff, perfect for bad guys. I'd like a bounty hunter to use one in my Star Wars d20 game, so if you know of any rules or want to post your own house rules for 'em, let me know! Thanks.

I'd say ...

-- Exotic Weapon Proficiency to use it effectively, definately.

-- Attacking with a monofilament is a ranged touch attack. The range of the weapon would be at least 10-15 feet (3-5 meters in Star Wars).

-- Since you want to use it in Star Wars, have it ignore DR.

-- 3d6 damage.

-- If you have the Galactic Campaign Guide, use the rules for losing limbs on critical hits.

-- You could even make use of the Multifire and Autofire rules for it. Imagine someone standing still just whipping their monofilament all around. Anyone surrounding that person would be subject to the attack.

As it stands, its a pretty powerful weapon. As soon as the PCs encounter one, the players will likely start trying to figure out how to get one of their own. You might want to add some negative factor to the monofilament to help balance it out.

 

[Iron_Chef]

Hmm... Thanks for the rules advice, much better than I got on the Star Wars boards (which was a big zero, just saying there shouldn't be one). Illegality, EWP and high cost would be two balancing factors. Another idea would be if you roll a natural 1 with the whip and fail a DC 15 Reflex save, you accidentally strike yourself with the whip and suffer damage. My players are forever rolling natural 1s, LOL. It is supposed to be a very powerful, deadly weapon that strikes fear into the hearts of your foes.

I remember reading Gibson's Burning Chrome (or whatever, I never really got into him as an author despite the hype back in the day) and there was this big fight scene on a rooftop or building site with two assassins (IIRC) with monofilament whips trying to slice and dice the hero. That's the only scene that I can remember, LOL. Scary stuff!

 

[DnDChick]

Glad I could help. I figure it's none of my business to tell anyone how to run their game, or what to include. You asked for ideas on how a monofilament might work in d20 and I had some ideas.

 

[Tinner]

This kind of weapon just begs for some kind of critical fumble table.
In Shadowrun, if you ever missed with the whip, you have to make a DEX check or be attacked by your own weapon.
This fits the way Gibson described the weapon in the first place. The assassin in Johnny Mnemonic lops of his own head when he misses an attack and can't evade the backlash of his own monowhip.
I'd say that a miss, or at least a critical miss (roll of 1) should require some sort of REF save to avoid being hit by your own whip.
That gives your players something to think about before they all start wanting one of their own.

 

[DnDChick]

Another idea --

If you want to use the Autofire idea I had earlier to represent a whirling monofilament death-zone, that should be a full-attack action.

 

[arwink]

This is what I'm using for a d20 future one-shot

Mono-filament Whip
Damage: 2d4
Threat Range: 19-20
Critical: x3

When striking an inaminate object, the mono-filament whip ignores half the objects hardness when determining damage. When striking a living being, the monofilament whip halves the defense bonuses due to armor or natural armor.

If the user of a monofilament whip is knocked prone, grappled, disarmed, bull rushed or suffers any effect that moves his position against his will, he must make a Reflex save (DC 15) to avoid hitting himself with the whip. Additionally, if the wielder is not proficient with the whip, he must make a Reflex save (DC 15) after each missed attack to avoid hitting himself. Failure means the wielder takes normal damage from the weapon.

The monofilmant whip can be used with weapon finesse. The wielder does not add their Strength bonus to their damage.

 

[Chaldfont]

You could give this thing the vorpal weapon quality from D&D. If I did this, I would also make it "inverse-vorpal" -- roll low and the same thing happens to the wielder!

 

[lukelightning]

Remember that the end of the whip needs to be weighted somehow... a whip with virtually no mass would be impossible to use. Plus you'd need to see where the end is.

And logically, if a monomolecular whip is possible to make, there must be something that it can't cut (after all, what is the handle made of?).

Don't make it too uber; in Star Wars it should definitely not be better than a lightsaber.