About the Morning Star

[Starshadow]

The mace has a shock rating of +(Dam Lvl+1),
the morning star has a shock rating of +(Dam Lvl-1).

Why is this?
Isn't a morning star basically a mace with spikes?
Do the spikes reduce the shock?

Another little one:
Where does soft armors end and hard armors begin?

[Mokkurkalfe]

It could be a game balance issue, but I doubt it.
Perhaps the mass of the mace is a bit bigger, though I thought it was the other way around.
At myarmoury.com, the maces actually does seem a bit bigger than the morning stars, however.

[Muggins]

I have forgotten offhand what version of the morningstar TRoS uses, but there are several differences between a mace and a morningstar if I am right (morningstar is a terribly unclear term). A morningstar is often consider a small weight on the end of a short chain attached to a 2-ft rod and in this form is considerably lighter than a mace. The short chain does allow for a great deal of energy to be delivered to a target. Maces come in all shapes and sizes, some with spikes, some without.

Of course, other people consider a morningstar to simply be a spiky mace.

James

[Tash]

I belive TRoS leans more towards the second definition, mainly because they actually define what you are describing (weight on a chain) as a flail.

I'd always though mace and morning star were essentially equal terms used to describe the same type of weapon in different regions and time periods, though I have also seen morningstar used to describe what to me is a flail.

[Muggins]

I have handled a couple of real 14th century maces, and they all have "spikes", as in large protrusions coming to an acute angle. None have a smooth ball as a weight. The major differences are in handle length and weight, both of which really change the handling characteristics.

I did wander through Swordforum looking for morningstar, and came up with this thread:

http://forums.swordforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=30616&highlight=morning+star

Not really about morningstars, but flails were also mentioned above;)

James

[bergh]

about the hard and soft armours

im our group we have decided that leather/partial chain is soft armour chain and plate is hard.

i think that the rules also defines that chain is hard armour.

but this is what we use and it gives no problems. In game is more easy just to say armour or No armour we think.

[Jake Norwood]

Honestly, I don't remember. I'm sure I had a reason...

Jake

[Tash]

Honestly, I don't remember. I'm sure I had a reason...

Jake

Thats an even better reason than "It'll be in TFoB" :)

[Muggins]

At least he is being honest.

And Jake, your opinion on what a morningstar actually is?

James