Not Just for DIY Freaks

[Ymir]

Warhammer !

Armour Piercing 7 with a x3 crit !! ? :shock: okay, 1d6 damage is low but come on!

Whats the next novel then, Conan the Carpenter.

No Bloody Wonder! If you ask me he should've got himself one of those years ago.

I will probably make it a d8 damage, x3 crit AP 4 weapon (maybe 5 vs more pliable armour).

Anyone out there with thoughts on this

 

[Anonymous]

The high Armor Piercing value is why real warhammers exist. I think it sounds spot-on.

 

[Malkaline]

Not to mention it it listed as a piercing weapon as well. In comparison the heavy mace is pictured with spikes and only lists bludgeoning as type and only a AP of 4. When you read through a new book you miss little things like that. Thanks for heads up.

 

[JamesMishler]

I think the armor piercing on the maces and other bludgeoning weapons might be too low. Historically late medieval knights chose maces over swords, as the heavier armors could not be pierced or slashed through, but the bludgeoning power of a mace got through plate quite easily.

I'm thinking of adding a new rule...

When using a bludgeoning weapon (and only a bludgeoning weapon)against an armored opponent, if all your weapon damage is blocked by DR, you instead deal your Strength bonus (if any) in non-lethal damage. However, if any damage gets through the DR, this does not apply (as your Strength was used for the extra "oomph" to pierce that armor and do real damage).

So if a bandit (Strength 14, +2) is hammering with a club (damage 1d8) on a plate armored knight with great helm (DR 12) he can never get through the armor, except on a critical hit. Instead, on a successful hit he deals 2 points of non-lethal damage to the knight.

This is one reason why knights were often captured unconscious on the battlefield; they were knocked unconscious rather than killed outright.

 

[Judge Walker]

It would have to be an iron shod club, other wise I would say no. Wood alone would not be enough to cause any concussive damage through heavy iron armour.

I'm not really up on medieval weapons, but the weapon described under "warhammer" sounds alot like a mattock to me. The warhammer was designed to drive people into the ground, the mattock was designed to pierce armour.

 

[JamesMishler]

I dunno Judge, have you ever seen what those SCA weekend-warriors can do to each other with rattan swords? And most of them wear honest to gods full steel plate, with padding real knights only dreamed of having. What a real thug or warrior would do with a stout oaken staff or club could be murderous. And still, remember also, that non-lethal damage is just that, non-lethal, a stunning type of damage. Check non-lethal damage in Conan (pages 173-174). Sounds about right to me.

As to the warhammer, it is definitely depicted as a classic warhammer in the illustration, though the description states and the stats indicate that it has a flat end and a spiked end like a mattock. I'd say that if you buy one with two bludgeoning ends, you have a warhammer; buy one with a spiked end, you have a mattock; buy one with two spiked ends, and you've got yourself a war pick. Either way the stats would be the same, save for the type of damage dealt depending on which type of head you used. I'd also bump the costs up a bit, by a factor of 3 or more (same with the battleaxe, too).

 

[Judge Walker]

I haven't bought the book, yet. What is the heaviest armour that is listed in it? Are there Kingdoms in Hyborea that use full plate? Against the light armours chain mail, splint, etc. I could see a solid club being useful.

 

[Mayhem]

I think the problem is that people seem to picture warhammers as being like modern Lump-hammers or Sledge-hammers. (I blame GW )

Where as, in fact, they had much smaller heads that were specifically designed to concentrate the force of the impact on one small point, thus penetrating armour much better than many other weapons, and very often they did include a spike on teh reverse side of the head.

Type:

medieval war hammer -game

into google's image search and you will come up with plenty more examples similar to the one above.

 

[MightyCthulhu]

...Armour Piercing 7 with a x3 crit !! ?...

Thanks for point that out. Also thanks to whoever mentioned that it was also a piercing weapon! Initially I was sad that I could not find a "pick" in the weapon list. Sigh, if only there were a "light" version for my character's off hand. :?

"To the Hilt!" :twisted: