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Old 01-06-2020, 07:39 PM   #1
Racer
 
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Default Animals used as improvised 'Hand Weapons' ?

News item on BBC & elsewhere :

Man, 26, 'used seagull as weapon in cafe attack'

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-51013458

Not very nice for the seagull , but pretty amusing when you read the headline unexpectedly !

Just wondering if others have used animals in a similar way ?
I recall an AD&D game where Big Mac's Knight scooped up an enraged Badger from a Baiting Ring , & used it in one (Mailed) hand & his backup Dagger in the other set about the thugs who had organised the baiting .
Having metal armour & his hand & forearm covered in it , saved him from any collateral Badger attacks , his non armoured opponents had no such luck .
A fifteen pound Badger in the face is no laughing matter ...

Otherwise I can't really remember many . Someone doing a Crocodile Dundee & chucking venomous snakes at unsuspecting foes perhaps ?

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 .
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Old 01-06-2020, 09:52 PM   #2
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Default Re: Animals used as improvised 'Hand Weapons' ?

Just last month, a fellow in the UK used a narwhal tusk to help fend off a knife attacker. (Useful things, those narwhal tusks, if you happen to have one nearby.)

But as for using an actual animal as a hand weapon: The only case that comes to my mind is a rather grisly one I read a few years back involving - no surprise - chimpanzees. (The scariest animals out there, IMO.) Skip the following paragraph if you prefer your forum posts free of unappetizing imagery.

So a male chimp in the wild was observed snatching an infant chimp. For lunch. The infant's mother gave chase. The male decided to bludgeon her with the weapon he had at hand: the baby. He drove her off with his "club" and then ate it.

GURPS/DFRPG offer stats for chimps, carnivorous/gladiator gorillas, and the like, but I don't think I've ever used apes as monsters in a game. Some monsters are just too disturbing.
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Old 01-06-2020, 10:04 PM   #3
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Default Re: Animals used as improvised 'Hand Weapons' ?

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Originally Posted by Racer View Post
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 .
There was a Gary Larson comic that involved a catapult that threw live dobermans.
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Old 01-07-2020, 12:15 AM   #4
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Default Re: Animals used as improvised 'Hand Weapons' ?

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used seagull as weapon
HE CAN DO BETTER
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Old 01-07-2020, 03:20 AM   #5
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Default Re: Animals used as improvised 'Hand Weapons' ?

Well, if you count sapient creatures as animals and shields as weapons, there was that one time when my gnome just couldn't resist covering my half-orc friend. Because I didn't have enough Strength.
This campaign was very far from RAW, but it was so memorable it left me a nickname for eternity.
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Old 01-07-2020, 03:51 AM   #6
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Default Re: Animals used as improvised 'Hand Weapons' ?

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Well, if you count sapient creatures as animals and shields as weapons, there was that one time when my gnome just couldn't resist covering my half-orc friend. Because I didn't have enough Strength.
This campaign was very far from RAW, but it was so memorable it left me a nickname for eternity.
There are a number of stories out there where a strong character uses other people as melee or thrown weapons, usually unwillingly (just grab a nearby enemy and take a swing). I'm not really sure what the skill would be, for someone who made a habit of doing that. Whip, with the Improvised Weapons perk? Whip (or Throwing) with a required specialization in (Humanoids)?
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Old 01-07-2020, 03:54 AM   #7
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Default Re: Animals used as improvised 'Hand Weapons' ?

I'd say it's a flail or two-handed flail.
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Old 01-07-2020, 10:17 AM   #8
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Default Re: Animals used as improvised 'Hand Weapons' ?

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Lmao ! Never seen that one before ! X-D
Snapping Turtle Bolas might be an extension of this idea ?

In AD&D's Dark Sun setting , metal was incredibly scarce & people would often improvise with organic natural materials : Bronze Wood = super tough hard wood as strong as Bronze ; Shed scales/Hide from Armoured Monsters and yes Tortoise/Turtle materials .
One of these were a pair of Tortoise Shells with bone blades extending forward strapped to the forearms . They could be used as a pair of short blades & a pair of Bucklers at same time & also a favorite of Druids as it used wholly non metal components .

Could easily imagine a largish live Tortoise in a fantasy setting with a ultra tough (spiked?) shell , EASILY being used as both a Shield AND a weapon ... Alligator Snapping Turtles can sever whole hands !! 8-|
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Old 01-07-2020, 06:27 PM   #9
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Default Re: Animals used as improvised 'Hand Weapons' ?

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I'd say it's a flail or two-handed flail.
That fits. With the Improvised Weapons perk, the specialization, or both? Maybe some kind of 'uncooperative weapon' perk?
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Old 01-08-2020, 12:49 AM   #10
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Default Re: Animals used as improvised 'Hand Weapons' ?

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That fits. With the Improvised Weapons perk, the specialization, or both? Maybe some kind of 'uncooperative weapon' perk?
'Uncooperative Weapon' somehow puts me in mind of the infamous 'Laser Guided BEES' !!! :-D
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