[MA/HT] Innocuous Improvised Weapons

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by malloyd

I think the issue here isn't so much finding something, as finding a reason to be carrying it. Nothing "everybody" carries around all the time is a useful weapon, because anything big and strong enough to be a weapon is inconveniently large and/or heavy. If it's big and long enough to count as a baton it probably won't fit in your pocket, certainly not comfortably. It has to be longer than your hand so some of it sticks out when you are gripping it, and your clenched fist is usually pretty close to filling the width of even a large pocket. All of this stuff is only innocuous situationally. If you have a reason to be carrying a tool belt (you're at a job site) or a hiking pack (you're somewhere people hike) or a heavy flashlight (it's actually dark), walking around with those is not something you are going to be asked about. If you carry them into city hall, exactly the same items are going to draw suspicions.

Fair enough.

A SHORT BATON need not be a very large item, however. It weighs 0.5 lbs. for a purpose-built weapon, so I'm hoping I can find a flashlight or something that could be used with the same skill and stats.

There are plenty of flashlights that qualify as KNOBBED CLUB or even SMALL MACE, but I want a smaller and lighter one than that. Something that genuinely is just a solidly built flashlight of reasonable size, which a middle-aged fellow who is always prepared, like a good Boy Scout, might always have handy.

He'll have a full-range of tools in the car which can be used with Axe/Mace and Shortsword skills, but nobody is going to put a tire iron in a pocket and even wrenches or steering wheel lock bars are pretty suspicious if you conceal them on you.

Mind you, the character has a Licence to Carry issued in Texas and legally carries a handgun. He also owns several electroshock weapons, including a TASER. He's just traveling to other states and wants to avoid legal trouble.

He knows where his LTC is honored and intends to stick to those states. But he doesn't have enough Law skill to be certain how those various states might view purpose-made self-defense weapons like TASERs, ASP batons or the like. Ideally, he'd want to carry a selection from his arms locker, but he's aware that TASERs are illegal for civilians in some jurisdictions, but doesn't know exactly where they are legal and what restrictions there might be on their carry, possession or use in certain states.

So he's not going to have anything on him that could land him in legal trouble, but he still wants to be able to subdue a person without killing them. And he wants to be able to turn that person over to the police while having a legal self-defense claim, because while if the occasion comes up, he plans to strike first, the potential threat would probably be a wanted criminal illegally armed. So, as long as he doesn't use an illegal weapon, he figures he can get away with hitting them from surprise, if he happens to notice anyone following him.

The character is a former cop, but not in the US, and while he is a professional security consultant, he doesn't have perfect information on self-defense laws in all US states. I mean, he can look them up, but driving through multiple states in a day, there's room for some error there and he wants to avoid risking arrest.