If you're a player in my real life game, please stay out of this thread.
For everyone else...
In Classic Monsters Revisited, it is written that one pastime that ogres like to indulge in is a good game of "man-swords" -- where each ogre grabs a man (or other humanoid) that they then utilize as a "sword." The two "swords" are whacked against one another until they are reduced to a bloody pulp.
Has anyone ever incorporated a game of "man-swords" in their game? If yes, would you be willing to share things such as:
a) How much damage each "man-sword" did to its target (i.e., variations by size)?
b) How you determined the AC of the man-sword... would it be the character's actual AC (minus penalty for being prone, and/or Dex penalty)?
c) How a man-sword could free himself from its wielder's grip (assuming the man-sword is being held by the feet)? Somehow, the grapple rules don't seem adequate to me, but I might be overlooking something...
d) How far an ogre might be able to throw various humanoids (range increments), and how much damage the man-sword would take over a given distance, or if it was struck against a hard surface (e.g., rock wall)? The man-swords weight likely would be a factor in throwing... what about in damage? Could they throw further if they had momentum (e.g., spinning in place before letting go)?
e) Any other mechanical tips to make the horror of this pastime come to life?
Thanks in advance for your tips and suggestions. If these questions have been answered elsewhere, I would be grateful if you would point me to the right thread.
Cheers!
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I've never actually had them used in any mechanics sense. My players have only seen the aftermath of those duels.
(they were enraged)
I'm not real big on adding will saves against fear due to purely mundane sources I figure a vivid description of the sheer insanity of the situation will be far more effective than any negative modifiers.
Bear in mind that it's been a long time since I've seen the actual description for "manswords", and I'm working from the idea that they're tied to bracing pieces of wood, so what I said might not even be applicable.
I'd threat them as improvised weapons, with damage accordingly :)
My "start of new term" fried brain didn't click that you were on about the ogre's game - my mind was heading down a whole other Loguesque chain of thought ;)
I'd likely treat the unfortunate souls as Imporvised Weapons as well, with some bonuses or scaling thrown in depending on their corresponding size... Small characters = Small weapons, perhaps heavy armoured grants a +2 to damage, Medium armoured a +1, Light = no bonus... Agree the damage should be on target and weapon [unless of course those Ogres are Sundering...]
An Ogre using a +1 Spiked Full Plate "man sword" suddenly becomes a far more scary propostion!
My 2 runes worth
Mikaze, Are, Black Dow, thanks for the suggestions.
As a man, I like to think that I have an "Ogre sword". I would imagine that an Ogre with a "man sword" would get made fun of in the locker room.
Yeah, I saw that one coming (no pun intended)... but I still laughed out loud when I read your post. :-)
There was a 3.5 feat that allowed critters like Ogres to grab peoople and use them so...
I ran a 2E Dark Sun game once where the Half-Giant in the party used people as weapons and I had to come up with rules for it. He only did it after his weapon broke on a fumble and he was carrying an unconscious guard to question later. He failed any weapon attack, unless he used a person, then he would consistently roll 15's or higher. It even became a joke amongst the group that if you were low on HP move away from him or you would be used as a weapon when you dropped.
I treated it as non-proficient (later he took the Weapon proficiency: Person)
It did damage as a club, except it had to be used 2-handed, because of how awkward a limp body would be to wield.
He could throw small races only (short distance, low damage 1d3 I think)
They could only be used for a number of attacks equal to their Con score, each hit took a point away, and each day took another (rot compromising the body, not to mention the party complaining about the smell).
There was a 3.5 feat that allowed critters like Ogres to grab peoople and use them so...
Do you know what book that was in? I'm assuming Savage Species, which is one of the few 3.0/3.5 books I did not get.
I ran a 2E Dark Sun game once where the Half-Giant in the party used people as weapons and I had to come up with rules for it. He only did it after his weapon broke on a fumble and he was carrying an unconscious guard to question later. He failed any weapon attack, unless he used a person, then he would consistently roll 15's or higher. It even became a joke amongst the group that if you were low on HP move away from him or you would be used as a weapon when you dropped.
I treated it as non-proficient (later he took the Weapon proficiency: Person)
It did damage as a club, except it had to be used 2-handed, because of how awkward a limp body would be to wield.
He could throw small races only (short distance, low damage 1d3 I think)
They could only be used for a number of attacks equal to their Con score, each hit took a point away, and each day took another (rot compromising the body, not to mention the party complaining about the smell).
My game is set in FFG's Midnight, which is just as bleak as Dark Sun. I'll give your rules some thought, and may combine them with some of the other suggestions posted above.
Again, thanks for the ideas, everyone! Keep 'em coming, if you have more!
As a man, I like to think that I have an "Ogre sword". I would imagine that an Ogre with a "man sword" would get made fun of in the locker room.Yeah, I saw that one coming (no pun intended)... but I still laughed out loud when I read your post. :-)
Even so, it still sounds ... uplifting.