Improvised weapons....

[Mayhem1979]

Simple enough topic, and for the most part it's pretty simple to figure out I guess... but what, for example, would be the damage rating for a thrown chicken? (live)

[Thirsty Viking]

ROFLMAO

Thown chicken live would have a damage rating of crushing str -3 at 1 yard...  and  Damage rating would drop by a 2 damage ratings per yard after that as the poor beast tried to fly.  Default skill would be other thrown weapon -3.

i'd give it STR -2  as a swung melee weapon though it probably would be dead after a swing or two :-)

But this is one of those instant on the spot rulings  to keep the game flowing when it happens....  Jakes the combat specialist...  i await his SAGE answer.

Don't tell the SPCA when Jake takes chickes to his next duel to figure out the accuracy of my numbers  :-)

[Mokkurkalfe]

I'd say it'd work as a Toss, unless the claws or the beak hits first.
Why can't you use chair legs, like normal people? ;-)

[Jake Norwood]

Chicken, huh...I'll have to bring one out and train with it...

Jake,
who scares people enough as it is...

[Mike Holmes]

Hee hee..

OK, seriously folks, are there any guidelines other than "choose a similar weapon and downgrade appropriately"? That's what I'd do.

Mike

[Mayhem1979]

Actually I was being serious about the chicken bit... threw two of 'em at someone during a game :)  hit 'em in the face with the second.  We didn't bother doing damage because I was just trying to piss the target off, but anyhow...

[Mike Holmes]

Actually I was being serious about the chicken bit... threw two of 'em at someone during a game :)  hit 'em in the face with the second.  We didn't bother doing damage because I was just trying to piss the target off, but anyhow...

Right, I get that. But posting what we think are the stats for chicken doesn't answer the much larger and more important question that I'd like answered, which is how do people determne these things themselves for whatever improvised weapons. People must have some ideas on the subject.

Or hasn't it come up enough yet in play?

Mike

[Bladesinger]

Mike , thrown objects does come up but the senechal currently should rule on a case by case basis using his vast  knowledge and near bottomless well of wisdom and experience...also known as the Wing-o-meter or wingometer....depending on ones particular bent.

[Vanguard]

Hehehe.

Hmm, yeah, regarding the chicken, I like the idea of applying Toss to it.

That is, unless the PC states he is deliberatly aiming to injure their opponent through the use of a chucked poultry. In which case go with Thirsty.  Or create modified stats on the fly in keeping with Thirsty.

Regarding Improvised weapons; I say it is all easily covered within the rules. Basically all weapon types and uses thereof are all catered for. Rake or broom? Then use Hook rules or as a crappy club. A thrown anything? Then as a Toss, or as a crappy missile weapon derided from standard profficiencies (thrown chicken, thrown knife - 3 ; wielded chicken, as a reduced flail which can only inflict shock (no BL or pain); marbles - number of successes equals to increase in terrain modifiers.)

Any other ideas?

Take care

[Draigh]

heh, funny you should ask...

a few weeks ago a troll threw a half eaten pig at one of my former players, i estimated that seventy pounds of pig would do about ST+2b at any kind of range

[Valamir]

In the now somewhat famous Origins Game I participated in (which evolved into Jake's standard con demo game), I played a woodsman caught poaching.  

A pair of guards commanded by a local noble came to collect their tax on it.  They demanded 20% of the value of deer.

Soooo.....hefting my axe I prompty hacked 1/5 of the deer carcass off and dumped in in the nobleman's lap.

When the guards inevitably attacked me, I threw the remaining half of the deer at one of them.

Point to all of this...rather than try to ascribe any sort of funky damage to it...we just treated it as a Terrain roll.  The effect was to take the target guard out of action for a turn.

I imagine such creative interpretations of terrain rolls would make alot of these improvised "weapon" tactics much easier...

[Lyrax]

Just thought I'd put in my 2 bits here:

I was the Seneschal at the time.  I think I assigned a TN of 9 or 10 to the toss.  Success meant that the person was... busy, and failure meant he missed.

In case anyone wonders, the second chicken did hit.