[PFS-Specific Rules Question] 'Weapon Cords'


Rules Questions


Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Can a weapon cord be added to a flag?

Is that a legitimate use of the item in PFS play?

I tried researching in the messagboards but didn't see anything in particular.

Liberty's Edge

Wei Ji the Learner wrote:


Can a weapon cord be added to a flag?

Is that a legitimate use of the item in PFS play?

I tried researching in the messagboards but didn't see anything in particular.

Doesn't a flag or banner need to be attached to a lance, spear, or something else long that makes it fly overhead for all to see?

Scarab Sages

So by that... Attach flag/banner to a spear, then weapon cord the spear :)

Liberty's Edge

Nizari wrote:
So by that... Attach flag/banner to a spear, then weapon cord the spear :)

As ridiculous as that would be, thinking about having an 6 foot pole with a pointy end waving about on the end of a 2-1/2' cord at your feet while you are trying to dexterously dance around and fight and stuff, is quite a hilarious thought.

Technically you can do this, as ridiculous as it might realistically be.


Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

I was thinking more from *this* angle.

Flagbearer allows someone to carry a flag in 'off-hand' for specific morale bonuses.

If that someone drops, as long as the flag remains within a certain radius there aren't penalties.

If it goes out of said radius, they become penalties.

Is this a gross conceptual error?

Liberty's Edge

I think a flag dropped on a weapon cord would cease to work.


Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Cease to work for the positive aspect? Yes.

Cease to work for the negative aspect is what I'm going after for the clarification.

If an opponent casts something like 'Sleep' or uses 'Stunning Fist' on my Flagbearing character and causes them to drop all held items, it's the difference between the opponent now debuffing the party and it simply being 'a wash'?

Silver Crusade

Why not use a locking gauntlet?


Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
The Fox wrote:
Why not use a locking gauntlet?

Character in question is a Bard and might need the 'off-hand' free for something faster than a Locking Gauntlet would allow?

Grand Lodge

Not really PFS specific in any way.

This should really be in the rules forum.


Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Jared Thaler wrote:

Not really PFS specific in any way.

This should really be in the rules forum.

I'm asking for FPS-Specific rules on Weapon Cord, Flagbearer, Flags, and their interaction.

If it were a home campaign, a GM could house-rule it however, and it really wouldn't be an issue.

I'm looking for something that I can use (or not).


Well, you're asking how the rules interact. Since PFS doesn't "make" rules, it's a developer question, not a PFS staff question. (PFS staff's likely answer would probably be, "Expect table variation.")


Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

"Expect Table Variation" is a better answer than "These things were never designed to work with each other."

Developers are incredibly busy people making new developments for the shared universe, so this should probably just be flagged to be deleted, then.

Apologies for the distraction, have a great evening and a great New Year.

Thanks to everyone that offered insight.


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Wei Ji the Learner wrote:


Cease to work for the positive aspect? Yes.

Cease to work for the negative aspect is what I'm going after for the clarification.

If an opponent casts something like 'Sleep' or uses 'Stunning Fist' on my Flagbearing character and causes them to drop all held items, it's the difference between the opponent now debuffing the party and it simply being 'a wash'?

If you drop the flag, it no longer grants a bonus. If the flag is taken by your opponent, then it imparts a negative to the group that would have been inspired by the flag. In effect, the weapon cord would make it more difficult to steal the flag and would make recovering the flag easier.

Falgbearer:

Benefit: As long as you hold your clan, house, or party’s flag, members of that allegiance within 30 feet who can see the flag (including yourself ) gain a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, and saving throws against fear and charm effects. You must hold the flag in one hand in order to grant this bonus. If the standard is taken by the enemy or destroyed, this bonus becomes a penalty, affecting all creatures that the bonus previously affected for 1 hour (or until you reclaim the lost flag).


What you are really looking at is ownership of the flag which is defined by "possession" (the holding kind, not the funky spiritual kind of possession). IMO I don't think a weapon cord overcomes having the item in hand (possession).
The weapon cord doesn't prevent another character from gaining possession so long as he's within 5ft of the original possessor.
See CMB Disarm & Steal manoeuvres. That "adjacent square" allows the taker to be adjacent to the corded character even though the description names a "2 ft cord".

What it does do is make it harder to run away with it (STR Check to break the cord or std action to cut it(or the description implies a mov action to cut it)).

It would also allow the original owner to attempt to retrieve it, but at that point if someone else "possesses" it you are looking at a CMB check or STR check & cord check to regain possession. If the taker drops it then the cord would let you retrieve it as usual.

So the cord essentially drags out the process of having the flag move beyond an adjacent square adding a standard action to the sequence.

For me, cording the flag to your wrist makes it an improvised weapon. Remember that you can't use a(another) weapon in the corded hand (without some GM ruling (aka penalty) if at all).

PRD {bolding mine} wrote:
Weapon cords are 2-foot-long leather straps that attach your weapon to your wrist. If you drop your weapon or are disarmed, you can recover it as a move action*, and it never moves any further away from you than an adjacent square. However, you cannot switch to a different weapon without first untying the cord (a full-round action) or cutting it (a move action or an attack, hardness 0, 0 hp). Unlike a locked gauntlet, you can still use a hand with a weapon cord, though a dangling weapon may interfere with finer actions.

by finer actions, I think they mean spellcasting or picking locks when the weapon isn't in hand. It's a free action to pass the weapon off to the other hand and back again... but I take the previous line as a prohibition to using another non-corded weapon in the corded hand. YMMV.

{some edits for clarity}

Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder First Edition / Rules Questions / [PFS-Specific Rules Question] 'Weapon Cords' All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.