Hey gang

My PCs will soon have what is likely to be a violent encounter with primitive tribesmen on Socorro that eschew all technology. Since metal is scarce most will be armed with wooden truncheons (stats in the basic book). I would like some to be armed with spears and others with small bows.

Has anyone come across primitive weapons in something official? Or made up some stats for them?

I am currently thinking a bow would have short range, damage +2 and crit 4 with Inaccurate 1.

Flint-tipped spears would then have damage +2, crit 4 and Inferior 2 (for the flint-tip)

Cllubs will use traditional Truncheon-stats.

Use the improvised weapon rules.

I used that as baseline for the damage, but I'm not talking about improvised weapons. Primitive weapons should not have the same rules as hitting someone with a TV

I can't remember which book it's it, but there are stats for a gaffi stick somewhere. That should serve as a baseline for a non-powered melee weapon.

Suns of Fortune has a lot of "primitive" weapons in its pages, including a compound bow and a cutlass .

I'd suggest poking around here to get an idea of what weapons are currently published and what their stats are.

-EF

I used that as baseline for the damage, but I'm not talking about improvised weapons. Primitive weapons should not have the same rules as hitting someone with a TV

Improvised weapons lists rocks and tree branches as examples. Seems appropriate to me.

I'd got with Crit 5 on the bow to bring it line with the Bow that's in SoF.

Also I'd make it an Atlatl... just because bows are so overdone.

Suns of Fortune has some useful entries. I'll tone down the compound bow for the tribesmen, as they will have small-ish regular bows, not compound bows.

To me the difference between an improvised weapon and a primitive weapon can be huge. One is something not meant to be used as a weapon grabbed and used on the bad guy. The other is a weapon designed to hurt or kill but with primitive materials or technology.

Ghostofman's suggestion to use a javelin and atlatl is actually pretty good, I might use that one, to be honest...

Most of the weapons called "primitive" are pretty ingenious and effective. Bows, slings and spears were used for thousands of years for a reason. As for stats, One Shot First (check the forum threads) has stats for a hunting spear, as well as stats for throwing it.

Certainly agree on the primitive bit, hench my aversion to using improvised weapons rules. Thanks for directing me to The One Shot First spears, but it seems to me they are perhaps over-statted just a bit. Certainly I would need to tone them down for a tribe that doesn't use metal tips.

Certainly agree on the primitive bit, hench my aversion to using improvised weapons rules. Thanks for directing me to The One Shot First spears, but it seems to me they are perhaps over-statted just a bit. Certainly I would need to tone them down for a tribe that doesn't use metal tips.

I think the stats were written to pair with the Nelvaanian species, who qualify as a "primitive" culture, so they would be using them. Being stabbed with a sharp, pointy stick is a bad thing, no matter what the tip is made of, although I guess with a game some realism needs to be dropped in favor of balance.

Also I'd make it an Atlatl... just because bows are so overdone.

Would it murder you guys to provide links!?!

Atlatl = Dog Ball Thrower

Also I'd make it an Atlatl... just because bows are so overdone.

Would it murder you guys to provide links!?!

Atlatl = Dog Ball Thrower

I felt it would be more rewarding for readers to look it up themselves...

Also I'm lazy.

Just curious, why would you call an atlatl a dog ball thrower? Wouldn't that be more along the lines of cesta-punta or xistera ?

Just curious, why would you call an atlatl a dog ball thrower? Wouldn't that be more along the lines of cesta-punta or xistera ?

Because Star Wars .

Ahh... that would make more sense... and would have been a better link... though still awkward...

Yeah, I think the Gungan Cesta is a bit more similar to a dog ball thrower...but they all have the same basic application

I've never trusted Gungans, and I never will. I can never forgive them for the death of my sanity.

Just curious, why would you call an atlatl a dog ball thrower? Wouldn't that be more along the lines of cesta-punta or xistera ?

Well not really... those actually allow for travel of the ball inside the "cradle", while a dog ball thrower grips the ball firmly and works alot more like an atlatl in principle.

But then, it depends on the dog ball thrower.

The most common model is this:

But there's also models like this:

(which pretty much IS a xistera)

I've never trusted Gungans, and I never will. I can never forgive them for the death of my sanity.

Never cross the streams universes!!

However, it would have been more dramatic with an ellipsis after 'them'.

Could we please leave the silly aliens that don't exist in my Star Wars game universe out of this thread?

Who would have thought that my aside would completely derail the thread!

Well not really... those actually allow for travel of the ball inside the "cradle", while a dog ball thrower grips the ball firmly and works alot more like an atlatl in principle.

But then, it depends on the dog ball thrower.

The most common model is this:

Yeah, that was the one I was imagining. Cradle at the end, long lever to throw with - zoom goes the Fido!

Who would have thought that my aside would completely derail the thread!

Well not really... those actually allow for travel of the ball inside the "cradle", while a dog ball thrower grips the ball firmly and works alot more like an atlatl in principle.

But then, it depends on the dog ball thrower.

The most common model is this:

Yeah, that was the one I was imagining. Cradle at the end, long lever to throw with - zoom goes the Fido!

Batearedfrogponies aside, that actually could be converted into an interesting primitive weapon with a little work.

The atlatl, or something like it, already exists in the Star Wars universe. The Gungans have one for throwing their hand-held "booms" balls.

Yeah, I think the Gungan Cesta is a bit more similar to a dog ball thrower...but they all have the same basic application

The cesta is actually a larger version of the atlatl .

I know I linked to it earlier, here .