Moving Silently w. a Spike Chain

[Ridley's Cohort]

It's just that I remember the Spiked Chain being both *thick* AND 10' in length. Perhaps I'm incorrect (I don't have the PHB in front of me). But if it is, I think it's going to be tough to carry silently, unless it's packed away in silk or cotton.

No, it is more like ~7'. Your fist has zero length and you can use that to hit an enemy 5' away. A weapon with 10' does not need to be 10' long.

A 7' chain could be carefully looped over the left forearm, both ends held in the right hand, pulled just tight enough to prevent the links and pointy bits from rattling.

Drop the nastys end and use a gentle swoop with the left to swing it outwards as a free action. Then pound away.

Actually I think the spiked chain is two ~7' lengths. The same principle holds.

Carrying and deploying that way (above) makes more sense than dragging it on the ground.

 

[Ghile Morduk]

Move Silently with a spiked chain ?

Ok all,

Ok, by definition thw akill move silently imparts the ability to 'move silently'. Now that is not a far stretch but consider this, you are skilled at sneaking, and happen to be carrying a pouch of coins, you wrap it tight and stick it in a safe cozy spot. Is it quiet ? well if i did it, HELL YA. The point is this, you are SKILLED at moving silently. Unless you want to start saying you thief forgot his training or how to make himself silent. Which makes no sense. He would know how to place anything he is carrying in an unobtrusive and hopefully silent spot, thus the roll you make when rolling for move silently.

Now as far as a noisy spiked chain. I believe in one of the old books, thieves handbook, it once explained how to make a suit of chain mail silent. To me this works quite nicely with any chain type weapon as well. What is done is thus : weave cloth in between the links making a buffer for the links if they strike one another, thus muffling (not silencing) the movement of the chains. Now do this with a spiked chain, a flial, whipping chain, etc. and you effectively have a quieter than normal chain weapon.

But thats just me... what do i know... 8)

 

[Artoomis]

Right:

You take the rolls as given in the book IF you've taken the time to muffle your equipment properly.

If not (like stuff you just found), a penalty is perfectly reasonable.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

Artoomis, Ghile Morduk,

I agree.

That is why I think the DM should forget about it and that is the best solution 99.9999% of the time.

When the Rogue with a +15 Hide picks up a weapon and considers using it, one of the first things he thinks about is how/whether it affects his stealth skills. The character knows what to do even if the player does not. The Rogue will figure out how to quiet that chain the first 5 minute rest stop he gets.

 

[Artoomis]

Artoomis, Ghile Morduk,

I agree.

That is why I think the DM should forget about it and that is the best solution 99.9999% of the time.

When the Rogue with a +15 Hide picks up a weapon and considers using it, one of the first things he thinks about is how/whether it affects his stealth skills. The character knows what to do even if the player does not. The Rogue will figure out how to quiet that chain the first 5 minute rest stop he gets.

For the most part, yes. I know (from experience) that a 5 minute rest stop is not enough, but, given time - about half an hour or more, depending upon items and experience, you can muffle your equipment. It takes time to do it well, but, most of the time, let it go. Only use a circumstance penalty if it adds to your game.