The half-orc chainfighter archetype?
- Thread starter Dykstrav
- Start date
In the RW, there are 2 main chain-weapon types- long and short.
Long chains are more typified by the martial arts weapons like the chijiririki, manriki-gusari, and even the plain-jane weighted chain (all in OA)- having all the characteristics of the spiked chain of the PHB- except spikes.
Short chain weapons are typified by flails, nunchaku, and 3 sectional staves...and the "improvised" use of heavy chains by dockworkers all over the world, or bicycle chains by US gangs in the 1950s.
The guys using the short-chains tended to be big bruisers, much like the archetypal Orc. The reason was that a swing with a 1-2' length of chain hit hard- adding reach and power to blows that already had reach and power- almost like a mace. And close in, a chain wrapped around the hand and forearm worked as one part brass knuckle and one part bracer. It was also just as handy at disarming those shifty little guys with knives and guns (if they weren't careful, of course).
So, while there is no true archetype for the chain-wielding Orc, there is an archetypal thug who strongly resembles that PC design.
Long chains are more typified by the martial arts weapons like the chijiririki, manriki-gusari, and even the plain-jane weighted chain (all in OA)- having all the characteristics of the spiked chain of the PHB- except spikes.
Short chain weapons are typified by flails, nunchaku, and 3 sectional staves...and the "improvised" use of heavy chains by dockworkers all over the world, or bicycle chains by US gangs in the 1950s.
The guys using the short-chains tended to be big bruisers, much like the archetypal Orc. The reason was that a swing with a 1-2' length of chain hit hard- adding reach and power to blows that already had reach and power- almost like a mace. And close in, a chain wrapped around the hand and forearm worked as one part brass knuckle and one part bracer. It was also just as handy at disarming those shifty little guys with knives and guns (if they weren't careful, of course).
So, while there is no true archetype for the chain-wielding Orc, there is an archetypal thug who strongly resembles that PC design.
Matt Black
First Post
Actually, the half-OGRE chainfighter is the archetype from popular fiction/
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0216.html
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0216.html
Darklone
Registered User
One thing about why half-orcs with spiked chains are somewhere common and somewhere not to be seen: Point buy or rolling stats. If you use low point buy character generation, the +2 to strength of the half-orc rocks and the race is not as weak as many are often complaining.
As mentioned above, strength is mandatory for the spiked chain build...
And no, I don't think the "archetype" existed before D&D 3rd edition.
As mentioned above, strength is mandatory for the spiked chain build...
And no, I don't think the "archetype" existed before D&D 3rd edition.
The_Gneech
Explorer
One miniature and an illustration does not an archetype make. 
-The Gneech
-The Gneech
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