I always assumed that a flail was both, but after going to the CRB for the exact stats I noticed it was only Bludgeoning. This kind of strikes me as odd. Since a morningstar is both how is a flail not also? Is it just depending on the size of the spikes?
Morningstar Pics: A Morningstar is a spiked metal ball, affixed to end of a long handle.
Flail Pic: A flail consists of a spiked metal ball connected to a handle by a sturdy chain.
I see this as a simple house rule fix. Was there a reason for the omission? Since the flail is also a trip and disarm was making it B and P to much of a benefit? Is a morningstar only considered Piercing if you stab with the spike at the top of the weapon? No then it would be B or P not B and P... It just caught me as being a lil off and wanted to check with people who might know. Any info or thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
While I'm sure some flails had spikes on them (like the one with Witch King used in LotR- geez, that thing was nasty) I'm sure many of them were like the ones Abraham Spaling posted. At least, I'm sure the one statted in the CRB is based off the ones in the post above.
Yeah the 'basic' flail is simply a club with another (typically smaller) club attached with a single loop -- chains weren't particularly easy to make so the shorter they were the better.
weird is however that the flail from the pics of Abraham spalding is mostly the tool used by farmers (useable as a weapon of course), but the flail is not a simple weapon.
the description of being spiked is also misleading, but that is the more weaponized version, which would make rightfully martial, but also piercing.
Perhaps it's just a balance thing back in 3.5 and it got used as is in PF.
Anyhow, not really something I would worry about, but you've got a solid case if you want to ask a GM to houserule it.
I totally understand that not ALL flails were B and P some were just B... However, the description in the book is a spiked metal ball connected to a handle by a sturdy chain.
You posted alot of old farm equipment. I understand that this is where the flail got its start, but it wasn't primarily used as a weapon. Like say
This
This
This
This
This
I was just curious if there was an actual reason to call it a spiked ball on a chain and not give it spikes... and then if you look at the picture in the CRB it looks just as spiked as the picture of the morningstar they have. Yet, the morningstar is B and P while the flail was just B. I am fine with a house ruling I was just coming to see if there was a specific reason it wasn't both.
At this point, the flail/morningstar/mace debacle is such an intrinsic tradition in D&D and its derivatives that I'd have been disappointed if something like this didn't come up. Maybe the devs felt the same way. : D