RE: More to spew on.

[Lyle H Janney <lhjanney@adpc.purdue.edu>]

-----Original Message-----
From:	Wright Frazier [SMTP:khelek@ns1.cioe.com]

...

Now we come to the shuriken..this one is a pisser.  If its going
	to be at all realistic, its gonna require a special skill and
	won't follow the normal one for missile weapons.  In RL the
	shuriken does piss poor damage, its benefit is that you can
	toss a shitload of'em.  Here is what I came up with for it.

	Base 300 or so skill(throwing multiple things is a powerful
	ability), then you can throw 1 additional shuriken per
	die you make against your skill. Standard multi attack so far.
	The differenec ist hat you only apply your missile mod to
	the 1st one thrown.  The subsequent ones may be effected by
	skill or natural elven abilities(this is if we go with Steve's
	split dice pool thing).  Or if we don't go with it just add
	the elven mod.

	Also note that shurikens are more than just the throwing stars,
	but are also small spikes and darts(not the war darts different
	weapon there).  Opinions?

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Well, Wright, it sounds okay except what you suggest is completely counter
to existing rules on the use of weapons skill.  I fully support Steve's idea to
allow splitting of the "weapon's dice pool" (hmmm, sounds more and more
like Shadowrun) with the understanding that bonuses to hit and/or damage
should _only_ affect the first roll to hit/strike damage.  That being the case,
and the rule already existing that CM applies to all attacks in a multi-attack,
I suggest we stay _consistent_ with the rules and have the MM apply to all
shuriken throws.  Those things only do a d2, right?  Okay, so I make 4 dice
against my Shuriken skill (a tough one anyway, considering I've probably
spent about 10 ratings on the skill by now) and hit with all 5 stars, I get to
do 5-10 points of damage.  Not too bad in my book.
-----------------------

Lastly we have the Pike.  I personally LOVE the pike.  Its a beautiful
	weapon system.  And to do it right I had to essentially outline
	how to properly use'em.  Here is what I have for it.  Sorry for
	the bad formatting, doing a straight C/P on this.  Also there
	is a party in it on the weapon having DP.  This is the only
	way other than making the pike have to make a strength check.

Pike
The pike is the dominant military weapon for foot soldiers.  It is an eighteen to twenty-two foot long pole onto which a spearhead has been attached.  The weapon is only useful when used by large numbers of men simultaneously, as it is very easy to get inside of the weapon's range.  However if employed properly by groups of men, it is lethal.  In proper formation the pikemen, or pikes, are lined up in a classical phalanx formation, but more spread out.  The front rank kneels to fight, the second rank leans forward, and the third rank fights over handed.  This allows as many as nine pikes to be brought against a single target.

Other benefits of the pike hedge formation.  First, if an opponent is charging a pike formation, the pikemen will impale the target and stop him at the pike's melee range.  Secondly, when used to impale in this fashion, the pikemen may apply their full combat modifier to hit.  Next, the opponent may not advance on the pike hedge until he meets certain conditions.  He must either win initiative and advance, this will bring him inside the range of the first row of pikeman, but not the second, third, or fourth.  Or he must destroy the pikes being brought against him.  This is not as easy as it sounds.  While the long pike is quite unwieldy and fairly easy to hit physically, the wood is quite flexible and hard to damage sufficiently.  It has a CDV of 12 + the weapon skill of the wielder, and takes 8 + 1d6 pts of edged damage to break.

The disadvantages of the pike are also fairly great.  To be used properly, the weapon must be used in groups of greater than 20.  Next the pike hedge formation makes it a natrual target of area effect spells.  Lastly, when in formation, pikemen may only move at up one half of their normal movement and remain in formation.  It requires 1 round per member of the formation to form a pike hedge, with a modifier of minus 2 rounds per die of Land Tactics that the unit commander makes
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Hmmm, pikes.  Not for the adventuring party, to be certain.  But, if a group
of adventurers is going to get the chance to be pin-cushioned against a
pike hedge, then I suppose we need some rules on their use.  Sounds
okay to me, if a bit too complicated.  As a moderator, I will probably shy
away from having to deal with the extra mechanics and kill the party the
old-fashioned way, by being smarter than they are.    ;-)

Lyle