09-23-2009, 10:04 PM | #1 |
Join Date: Sep 2008
|
So how exactly do people fight with scythes?
It seems like just about every imaginable medieval or even just vaguely medieval-ish RPG has stats for scythes. When I see 'scythe' I always picture the big two-handed affair used by the Grim Reaper and the Amish, and most secondary stats (weight, strength requirements, et cetera) seem to agree with me. I understand that it's possible to hit someone with such a contraption, but for the life of me I can't understand how it can do as much damage as most books assign to it.
Is there anyone here who can explain to me how a human being would fight with such a thing? If no one here can help me out I may have to reality check it, and I don't even know if Home Depot has a scythe section--and I'd like to keep all my extremities intact, too. So if you can explain how someone would use such a thing to lay the hurt down on anyone but himself, please, please do so. |
09-23-2009, 10:08 PM | #2 |
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Eindhoven, the Netherlands
|
Re: So how exactly do people fight with scythes?
Awesomely, preferably with a black, tattered cloak fluttering around you on a fierce wind, with swift attacks that leave ominous, silvery-or-red-or-black trails of gothic goodness behind them.
I don't think the inclusion of a scythe was ever meant to be, in anyway, realistic, but rather, stylistic. (I'd imagine you'd fight with it something like a two-handed axe or a really awkward glaive. Mind you, there are some martial arts based on scythes, but those are vastly more practical one-handed little things) |
09-23-2009, 10:21 PM | #3 | |
Join Date: Nov 2004
|
Re: So how exactly do people fight with scythes?
Quote:
|
|
09-23-2009, 10:26 PM | #4 |
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Pennsylvania
|
Re: So how exactly do people fight with scythes?
Against an unskilled opponent (and probably many who are skilled) there's probably some amount of psychological warfare that goes along with using a scythe as well.
My thoughts on the subject are similar to Dal's. I could possibly see the scythe working as a tripping weapon of some sort. |
09-23-2009, 10:40 PM | #5 |
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Helsinki, Finland
|
Re: So how exactly do people fight with scythes?
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.
|
09-23-2009, 10:44 PM | #6 |
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Earth, mostly
|
Re: So how exactly do people fight with scythes?
"Although the scythe isn't pre-eminent among weapons of war, anyone who has been on the wrong end of, say, a peasant's revolt will know that in skilled hands it is fearsome. Once its owner gets it weaving and spinning no-one - including the wielder - is quite certain where the blade is now and where it will be next."
- Terry Pratchett, Mort
__________________
If you break the laws of Man, you go to prison. If you break the laws of God, you go to Hell. If you break the laws of Physics, you go to Sweden and receive a Nobel Prize. |
09-23-2009, 10:58 PM | #7 |
Join Date: Sep 2008
|
Re: So how exactly do people fight with scythes?
Thanks, all. "Cool but useless" was kind of what I arrived at too, but I guess some part of the nerd hind-brain was hoping against hope that somewhere out there exist people who kick ass with agricultural implements poorly adapted to fighting.
are we allowed to say 'ass' here? ass ass ass ass ass |
09-23-2009, 11:48 PM | #8 | |
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Pennsylvania
|
Re: So how exactly do people fight with scythes?
Quote:
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. |
|
09-24-2009, 12:26 AM | #9 | |
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Oz
|
Re: So how exactly do people fight with scythes?
Quote:
It's a classic improvised weapon for peasant uprisings, particularly in Poland. Last edited by Agemegos; 09-24-2009 at 07:06 AM. |
|
09-24-2009, 01:43 AM | #10 |
Stick in the Mud
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Rural Utah
|
Re: So how exactly do people fight with scythes?
Having used one in real life, the only possible way I could see it working would be to try and chop the feet out from under the enemy. It is most definitely a cinematic weapon.
__________________
MIB #1457 |
Tags |
agricultural tools, scythes |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|