D&D 3E/3.5 The 3.5 sai - a piercing and/or bludgeoning weapon?

[takyris]

As for what they were designed for, somebody above already noted that what they were originally "designed for" was weeding and breaking up clumps of ground.

I train with long sticks. Some of my moves involve stabbing motions with the long sticks, poking somebody in the face or solar plexus. Somebody could bleed because of it, because of the stabbing motion I made. And yet, I manage to refrain from calling for sticks to gain piercing damage. Just because you see a technique that shows somebody bending over in pain after getting poked in the gut does not mean that the sai should be a piercing weapon.

Heck, you could make the same argument for unarmed attacks getting to become piercing, too, since I use "spear-hand" attacks and key strikes that are designed to strike at soft-tissue points.

 

[reapersaurus]

So I guess it's just a choice of whether you want to go historical, or fantasy.

Personally, I don't play D&D as a historical re-enactment game, but as a heroic fantasy game, so the choice is very simple to me.

 

[Skinwalker]

Just because you see a technique that shows somebody bending over in pain after getting poked in the gut does not mean that the sai should be a piercing weapon.

That's all according to which end of the sai is used in the strike.
With the sai flipped in, a strike with the pommel (using English terminology for clarity) would likely do exactly what you described. With the sai flipped out, however, a stabbing strike with the *pointy bit of metal* would leave the person with a hole in their gut...and maybe still bending over in pain as well.

IMHO, and all that.

 

[Caliban]

That's all according to which end of the sai is used in the strike.
With the sai flipped in, a strike with the pommel (using English terminology for clarity) would likely do exactly what you described. With the sai flipped out, however, a stabbing strike with the *pointy bit of metal* would leave the person with a hole in their gut...and maybe still bending over in pain as well.

IMHO, and all that.

*shrug* I've never seen a historical Sai that was actually pointed. All the tips were rounded and blunt.

In the real world you can use a blunt weapon to pierce flesh. That doesn't mean it qualifies as a piercing weapon in D&D terms.

 

[Klaatu B. Nikto]

A boxer doesn't get cut above his eye because he is pierced but rather because the force tears the skin. That's why they wipe down boxers faces with vaseline to try and minimze that from happening and have the glove slide more easily off the head from glancing hits.

Oops. After some rethinking, laceration would be a better description for a boxer's wound since they're being 'cut' not stabbed. However that opens another can of worms since by that logic, maces and other bludgeoning weapons also should be slashing weapons.

 

[Tellerve]

no reason to not weild a siagham or numchaku...well, they do more damage than a sai for one?

Ok, so then morningstars should be just bludegoning right? I mean, they have to be by your all's designations of what it does and is used. Sure it has little protrusions on it and if you hit someone in the head they'll probably bleed, but it is mainly a big ball of steel, so totally bludegoning. Wait, wait, no it is both, well i'll be! shiz, how'd that happen!? Gotta love hold overs from previous editions.

Yes, a sai has a blunt end, but that blunt end has a really small surface area, so much so that it looks downright pointy in fact. Sneaky, sneaky!!

Tellerve

p.s. yep the boxer's glove is sticking to the flesh a bit and then being yanked through the punch so fast that the poor skin can't keep up, and rip. Reminds me of physics and friction of objects, namely skin, which we had some question about it tearing at a certain point of applied force.

 

[Caliban]

no reason to not weild a siagham or numchaku...well, they do more damage than a sai for one?

Ok, so then morningstars should be just bludegoning right? I mean, they have to be by your all's designations of what it does and is used. Sure it has little protrusions on it and if you hit someone in the head they'll probably bleed, but it is mainly a big ball of steel, so totally bludegoning. Wait, wait, no it is both, well i'll be! shiz, how'd that happen!? Gotta love hold overs from previous editions.

Yes, a sai has a blunt end, but that blunt end has a really small surface area, so much so that it looks downright pointy in fact. Sneaky, sneaky!!

Tellerve

Last I check looking pointy and actually being pointy were two different things.

 

[Iku Rex]

As for what they were designed for, somebody above already noted that what they were originally "designed for" was weeding and breaking up clumps of ground.

(That's most likely a myth.)

 

[Iku Rex]

*shrug* I've never seen a historical Sai that was actually pointed. All the tips were rounded and blunt.

You've actually seen a "historical sai" (that wasn't used as a police club or a training tool)? That's pretty amazing given the discussion among martial artists over how the "historical" sai was used and looked... Where did you see this "historical sai"?

 

[Caliban]

You've actually seen a "historical sai" (that wasn't used as a police club or a training tool)? That's pretty amazing given the discussion among martial artists over how the "historical" sai was used and looked... Where did you see this "historical sai"?

Period martial art films, the history channel, the discovery channel, and old hong kong kunf fu flicks.