New Weapon: Mace

[Terisonen]

A common weapon, cheap and available almost anywhere: The Mace.



Mace:
Damage: 6
Edge: G
Injury: 16
Encumbrance: 2
Group: Club / Crush Weapon

1h Weapon.

Notes: Best weapon to give damage at heavy armored opponent, and cheap, available even for Frugal Culturs.

Morgoth have one, Grond. So it is Tolkiennish

[Deadmanwalking]

II definitely agree with your basic assumptions regarding what mace stats should be like. I don't think Mattock actually fits in the same group, though.

I'd be inclined to a do a 'Clubs' weapon group, with a Club (short sword equivalent), mace, warhammer (one would be the 'default' the other the long sword equivalent), and maul (two-handed version). Base them all on swords, but with +1 damage, +1 Edge.

Seems pretty simple and workable.

I'd actually be inclined to makes Mace the longsword equivalent, and then make it available to hobbits, purely to represent Bullroarer Took's giant club and give hobbits something resembling a two-handed option.

[Terisonen]

Agree with the 'Clubs' weapon group. I also will put the Warhammer in this group for the sake of simplicity, with less Damage and more Edge. It's a weapon designed for puncturing.

Bullroarer was a giant among Hobbit, barely representative of his kind.

[Deadmanwalking]

Agree with the 'Clubs' weapon group. I also will put the Warhammer in this group for the sake of simplicity, with less Damage and more Edge. It's a weapon designed for puncturing.

Seems a reasonable way to go.

Bullroarer was a giant among Hobbit, barely representative of his kind.

Well, with Body 7 you're playing a giant among men (or at least can be). Why can't you play a giant among hobbits with Body 4? Seems totally reasonable to me.

[Angelalex242]

Heh. Dunedain can be true giants among men, with potential Body of 8.

But as hobbits go...Merry and Pippin grew to unusual size...possibly even dwarf sized...after drinking too many entwashes. Which means they should both be body 4 when they're done...except brandybuck and took are specific hobbit subtypes and they must both conform.

[Deadmanwalking]

Heh. Dunedain can be true giants among men, with potential Body of 8.

Well, true.

But as hobbits go...Merry and Pippin grew to unusual size...possibly even dwarf sized...after drinking too many entwashes. Which means they should both be body 4 when they're done...except brandybuck and took are specific hobbit subtypes and they must both conform.

Well, the Bucklander Background actually starts with Body 4.

Besides, I don't see any restriction on having a different background but still being a Took or Brandybuck. After all, you don't need one of those names to take those Backgrounds, and Hobbits intermarry a fair bit.

[Rich H]

But as hobbits go...Merry and Pippin grew to unusual size...possibly even dwarf sized...after drinking too many entwashes. Which means they should both be body 4 when they're done...except brandybuck and took are specific hobbit subtypes and they must both conform.

Well, the Bucklander Background actually starts with Body 4.

Besides, I don't see any restriction on having a different background but still being a Took or Brandybuck. After all, you don't need one of those names to take those Backgrounds, and Hobbits intermarry a fair bit.

And a Dwarf can have a Body of 7; 10 for Favoured. With that in mind, I'd suggest that Body doesn't really directly equate to height, there's a bit more to it than just that; I'd prefer to use traits like Tall and Small to describe such elements when they are important to the narrative. So, the way I'd handle Merry and Pippin growing due to drinking the Ent Draught is by either (a) applying a new trait not by increasing their Body; something like "Tall for Hobbit Folk" or if you want to apply more mechanical options then (b) some kind of Virtue.

[Glorelendil]

Or even just "Tall"?

As for the proposed mace, it doesn't sit right with me that it does more base damage than a "comparable" sword or axe. I understand that it has the Edge of an axe but the Injury of a sword, so it does need something to compensate, but it doesn't feel logical (to me) that it does more damage than all other 1H weapons. Maybe in real life, against some types of armor, that would be true, but this game doesn't really model/simulate that. (Remind me again what the hit modifier is for a Guisarme-Voulge against AC 2...)

That said, I'm not sure how you fit a new weapon category into the existing design space without just duplicating the stats of an existing weapon type, or creating rules that don't have any precedent.

I'd probably just give it identical stats to a sword, but make a nifty cultural reward that reduces Protection against mail armors.

Also...why Mattock for a family group? Not a remotely similar weapon, and the Mattock actually does less damage compared to other two-handed weapons.

[Rich H]

Or even just "Tall"?

Yeah, f*ck it, why not.

[Terisonen]

Or even just "Tall"?

As for the proposed mace, it doesn't sit right with me that it does more base damage than a "comparable" sword or axe. I understand that it has the Edge of an axe but the Injury of a sword, so it does need something to compensate, but it doesn't feel logical (to me) that it does more damage than all other 1H weapons. Maybe in real life, against some types of armor, that would be true, but this game doesn't really model/simulate that. (Remind me again what the hit modifier is for a Guisarme-Voulge against AC 2...)

That said, I'm not sure how you fit a new weapon category into the existing design space without just duplicating the stats of an existing weapon type, or creating rules that don't have any precedent.

I'd probably just give it identical stats to a sword, but make a nifty cultural reward that reduces Protection against mail armors.

Also...why Mattock for a family group? Not a remotely similar weapon, and the Mattock actually does less damage compared to other two-handed weapons.

I'm just making proposition for a weapon more akin to be used by villain, BTW. You can also say that it as less Edge than sword and less Injury than axe, if you want. It's Edge and Injury that kill you. And when an axe bite, she's bite more than an mace. And to add, it's not a cultural weapon for anybody, save the Naugrim who might have some cultural skill in it.