Slings

[johnsemlak]

OK, I've started playing D&D 20+ years ago and never once have asked this question seriously, though I've thought about it several times.

How exactly does a sling work? My knowledgeis that historically they were used to heave stones in high arching shots at a long distance. They weren't very accurate, but could hit, say, an army.
Examples included the famous Balaeric slingers.

Are slings really a viable individual, non-masscombat weapon as used in D&D?

 

[Balgus]

Yes they can. David used one to slay Goliath...

how they work: you put a small rock into a flap of leather with two strings attached to either end. You hold both strings, cradling the stone, and whirl it overhead. When you reach the proper place of release, you let go of one of the strings which sends the stone flying out of your hand...

How accurate was it? depends on how much practice you havbe had slinging the thing

 

[johnsemlak]

OK, thanks for the description. I had never pictured it quite that way. Makes more sense.

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

People can get really really accurate with them. Enough to hunt birds with them. They can also become frighteningly fast with them.

Balearic islanders had really sophisticated systems of slings, each slinger would have a light, medium, and heavy sling. I don't know how they varied in construction. I have heard of sling models that had hard handle at one end or could have an end wrapped around one's arm. When the Romans attempted an invasion they had to set up extra shielding on their triremes to avoid taking casualties as they approached the island.

Their were a lot of cultures that prefered slings to bows and very succesful ones at that. Romans and Incans for instance.


Never understood why they suck so much in DnD.

 

[mistergone]

An ewok uses one in Return of the Jedi to take out a stormtrooper. Then another one also tries to use one but ends up wrapping it around his head. Kill me.

 

[johnsemlak]

An ewok uses one in Return of the Jedi to take out a stormtrooper. Then another one also tries to use one but ends up wrapping it around his head. Kill me.

Wasn't the ewok thing not really a sling but more of a bola?

 

[kenjib]

Scouring the internet, almost all sources seem to indicate that the sling is typically fired best with a single overhand motion (like pitching a baseball), and not spinning it around several times. This perhaps creates physics similar to a spear thrower?

 

[RangerWickett]

Well, just tonight I saw a demonstration of chakra, boomerangs, and other whirling weapons (no slings, though). It was amazing how easily the guy with the chakra just spun it for half a second to build up speed for it, then hurled it so it sliced through a watermelon. It would seem that the chakra is at least as efficient at cutting at range as a sword is in melee.

Ever play Final Fantasy X, with Wakka? Sure blitzballs are silly (though I published stats for them in Asgard 7), but imagine a guy who pitched baseballs at his opponents. A 90 mph baseball could break a skull, right? That's gotta be at least 1d6 damage.

 

[Painfully]

Sometimes on the news when you hear that Palestinian kids are throwing rocks at soldiers, they are often using slings.

The weapons can be EXTREMELY accurate, and are just as viable now as they were in ancient times. Nobody I know would volunteer to get hit by one at full force. With a good shot, I have no doubt that they can break bones.

Demonstration of a chakra? Never seen it done, except on Xena.

 

[RangerWickett]

Well, for one thing, the chakra didn't bounce off walls and return to the guy's hand. Since it has a bladed edge, that would be silly.

Also, he threw three different chakra. The two smaller ones he tossed kinda like a frisbee. The third one, he put his fingers on the inside of the ring, and spun it around his fingertips like a hoola-hoop, then just moved his hand in the right direction, and off flew the chakra, slicing a watermelon in half.

It was impressive, but not as impressive as the time I saw a guy on Conan O'Brien's show throw PLAYING CARDS and piece the hide of a watermelon! Now that was damned impressive.