Advice and commentary

[Jasper]

A maul isn't a hammer but a heavy sort of axe used for splitting wood -- not nominally a weapon at all.  Normally the head is angled but not sharp per se.

[Valamir]

Actually a maul has had many meanings.  One of the more common was a two handed hammer with a wooden head used for pounding stakes and driving timber splitting wedges.  In simplest form, a cross section of a trunk can be fit to a handle.

The more modern useage (which many of us may have in the garage or out at the hunting cabin) is basically a sledge hammer with a wedge shaped head.  Or ultimately what amounts to a dull axe.

I don't know how much sense sharpening one would make, since the head is far too wide to actually shear through anything like an axe can.  Better to just use an axe if you want something sharp.  The benefit of a maul vs an axe is you can split hard wood much easier by wedging apart the grain and you don't dull your axe.  Being noticeably heavier it also does some of the work for you meaning you don't have to swing so hard and can last a lot longer out at the wood pile.

As a weapon, it would be pretty pathetic, but if you catch someone helpless it would make a very messy wound.  Hard to say if it would actually chop an arm off, or just shatter it into oblivion.

[Krammer]

well, a warhammer can have a sharp end, so why not do the same thing with a maul. Ouch, that could hurt. the warhammer is mean enough already.

[Draigh]

well, a warhammer can have a sharp end, so why not do the same thing with a maul. Ouch, that could hurt. the warhammer is mean enough already.

Then you just end up with a short bec de corbin, or a long pick, either way, it's sort of silly.  Why not just weild the warhammer two-handed?

I have to agree with Valamir here, whether you're talking about a large heavy sledgehammer type maul, or a splitting maul, sharpening it wouldn't do much good.    

It seems to me that "sharpening" a maul to add extra bloodloss is just a player looking  for a way to tweak a weapon into powergamism.  Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions, but it just seems silly to me, and as a GM I wouldn't allow it.

[Jake Norwood]

weeeeellll a TROS maul is that big fantasy hammer that you see from time to time. Think sledge.

Jake

[ZazielsRephaim]

Watch CONAN THE BARBARIAN! and watch for the big guy with the big wooden hammer... attacking the village.

[Mike Holmes]

We always refered to that guy as "Mallet-man". His weapon seems to me to be more of a mallet like you'd use to pound in circus stakes than a Maul. Not that it matters. That weapon was really unrealistic. You can see the actor struggling to use it and make it look right in the movie.

Sorry, I've seen that film way too many times.

Mike

[Caz]

I remember when I was a kid reading one of those grocery store asian martial arts mags, there was an article on, I forget what they called it, but bsically that same huge wooden sledge hammer.  It was probably a tool, at least primarily, that they decided to get creative with or something.  They were saying it was a japanese ninja weapon and demonstrating techniques with it.  One was where the ninja waits on a roof and when Joe sentry or whoever walks by below, they get it ropped on their head.  Who knows?

[Camillus]

I don't know about ninja but Akira Kurosawa equipped the giant in Yojimbo with a hammer.

He looked a lot more comfortable with it than "mallet man" (who's real name escapes me - didn't he raise the snake that was killed in the temple?).

[MassMartyr]

The bodyguards in Conan the Barbarian are Rexor and Thorgrim - played by Ben Davidson and Sven Ole-Thorson.

I believe Thorgrim (Sven) is "Mallet-man".

As you can see, I retain only the most IMPORTANT details from life...

[Draigh]

Watch CONAN THE BARBARIAN! and watch for the big guy with the big wooden hammer... attacking the village.

His weapon seems to me to be more of a mallet like you'd use to pound in circus stakes than a Maul. Not that it matters. That weapon was really unrealistic. You can see the actor struggling to use it and make it look right in the movie.

The "weapon" is known as a beetle, and was used for pounding pegs and frames together in older timber style "stickbuilt" homes and barns, etc.  They generally weighed about 40 lbs (18 or so kilos).  

I don't know about ninja but Akira Kurosawa equipped the giant in Yojimbo with a hammer.

He looked a lot more comfortable with it than "mallet man" (who's real name escapes me - didn't he raise the snake that was killed in the temple?).

Yup, he raised the snake.  As for being a feasible weapon, I'd never use it in a duel.