Animals used as improvised 'Hand Weapons' ?

[The Colonel]

Originally Posted by Racer

In fictional examples Captain Vimes using a Swamp Dragon as a firearm in Guards! Guards! (DiscWorld) & Doxies etc in some Harry Potter fanfics & that's about it .
Until above Seagull incident , I never thought to see a real life example - obviously setting a dog on someone is different .

I think Magrat also used Greebo as a weapon in Lords & Ladies didn't she?

[WingedKagouti]

Originally Posted by The Colonel

I think Magrat also used Greebo as a weapon in Lords & Ladies didn't she?

She put him in a box and told her adversaries not to open the box. Not exactly the same as wielding him as a weapon.

[zoncxs]

If you read the manga called Baki The Grappler, Baki's grandfather used a special technique and Baki's father used it on him. That technique was to use a person as nunchucks.

So yeah, skill to use is flail or two handed flail. At -2 for improvised weapon plus more penalties for size, weight, and unwilling host!

[Donny Brook]

Trust me on this -- animals small enough to be wielded are not really durable enough for sustained combat.

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by Donny Brook

Trust me on this -- animals small enough to be wielded are not really durable enough for sustained combat.

Snapping turtles, maybe, but they're kind of awkward. Most small animals would not survive being wielded, I certainly agree, but if you need a weapon and a critter that you don't care about and can use is close at hand, well, you do what you need to to survive.

Also, you may be a giant in a fantasy game, a super-strong character in a supers or cinematic game, or just about anyone in a silly game, where it would make sense as an option. It's just that outside of weird circumstances, you're not going to use the same critter/person in multiple combats.

One example where you might is a (possibly silly) supers game where the invulnerable (or high-DR, or whatever) character isn't heavy and isn't good at fighting, and thus keeps getting used as a flail by allies and enemies.

EDIT: A snake (or other serpentine creature, like an eel or some types of lizard) could possibly be used as a whip rather than a flail, but again will probably not survive.

[The Colonel]

Originally Posted by Donny Brook

Trust me on this -- animals small enough to be wielded are not really durable enough for sustained combat.

You may not need to sustain it - slap someone with a stonefish once and you may have already won. A porcupine may be only slightly less decisive as a weapon.

Presumably jamming a scruffed and furious cat into someone's face and letting go could also be quite effective without requiring an impact effect.

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

Also, you may be a giant in a fantasy game, a super-strong character in a supers or cinematic game, or just about anyone in a silly game….

"Puny god!"

[Polkageist]

When in doubt, use 'club', but a critter is floppy so yeah maybe flail.

Perfect for the Nethack Cockatrice as a weapon.

Kill a cockatrice. Wield it. Hit monsters to one-shot kill by turning them to stone. Trip and fall down the stairs to log YASD.

[Antiquation!]

Perhaps not an 'animal' in the conventional sense, but one of my brother's beefhead characters once tied a goblin to the end of a rope and used it as a blunt kusari...

[Sorenant]

Originally Posted by Plane

HE CAN DO BETTER

Is this what Animal Friend 4 looks like?

Originally Posted by Donny Brook

Trust me on this -- animals small enough to be wielded are not really durable enough for sustained combat.

Sounds perfect for the Lethal Weapon ability of DF Ninjas!

Originally Posted by Agemegos

"Puny god!"

Would Loki have minST with ‡ notation?