Quote:
Originally Posted by Tommi_Kovala
In D&D 3e, scythes occupy what I call the Stupid Weapon category. Weapons of the Stupid type (or Bloody Stupid subtype) are exaggerated or fanciful versions of real-life objects or outright fantasy inventions. The spiked chain is another textbook example. Their stats can be all over the place, but as a rule, they all have inexplicably massive critical damage multipliers.
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I used to think that too, but I could actually see a spiked chain being used. I always imagined (contrary to what the artwork showed) that there would be some area of the chain to serve as a handle. The method of using one could be similar to quite a few other weapons such as nunchaku, possibly the lasso, and various others. It would depend upon how it was designed. The way it is portrayed in the artwork -from what I remember- would make it virtually impossible to use without hurting yourself though. As hard as it is to believe, there actually are a few RL weapons which have somewhat of an analogy to the D&D spiked chain, but they're all somewhat obscure and finding someone who actually knows how to use them is more rare than actually finding the weapons.
As for the scythe... I can imagine it being used, but it seems as though it would be difficult to handle. I suppose someone who had a lot of experience with one (possibly via farming and harvesting crops) would have a nasty trick or two to employ during a fight. I still suspect that someone skilled with a sword or another martially designed implement would probably fair better than someone using a scythe though. Still, I could possible see someone with unusual training learning to use a scythe in a manner similar to a quarterstaff or possibly some sort of polearm.
I'm far from an expert on weapons; just spelling out how I imagine it in my head.