Umbrella as an Improvised Weapon

[Anders]

Originally Posted by Varyon

I have no idea why the latter costs twice as much despite being half the weight of the former, however.

Craftsmanship. One is made with love, the other is not.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Dalillama

Smallsword is a Fencing skill and gets an improved Parry, Escrima is represented as having good defense techniques, Escrima gets a Fencing Parry. If it weren't a legacy build, it would probably be represented as a Style Perk in 4e.

What legacy? Escrima used Short Staff skill in 3e. Jamming it into Fencing is a purely 4e thing.

[acrosome]

So, no, no umbrella stats anywhere I guess...

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by acrosome

So, no, no umbrella stats anywhere I guess...

Not as such. The stats on p. 225 of Martial Arts for a car's antenna as an improvised weapon look as if you could use them, but both the umbrella and the antenna are likely to break on a full-force blow, or a parry against such a blow.

[Pursuivant]

It might not be what you're looking for, but the nearest thing to official stats for an umbrella are in GURPS 3E Steam-Tech for a weaponized umbrella called "The Defensible Brolly."

It can use Spear or Shield skill, doing thr+1 imp with a thrust. As a shield it has DB 2, DR2, 4/22 HP. Min ST 11 (one-handed)/10 (two-handed). Max dmg 1d-1 hp. 5 lbs. $125+

The stats don't give the option of using the handle to Hook or just swinging the umbrella to thwack someone, but those could be improvised from stats for a Large Knife (for a folded mini-umbrella) to a Cane or Baton for more serviceable weapons.

The Bulgarian spy umbrella would just do ~1d-3 HP of pi- damage with a thrust, but delivers pellets of highly lethal poison/radioactives.

FWIW, there are also real-life tactical umbrellas which can parry edged weapons, for people who want to channel their inner John Steed or Oswald Cobblepot.

[pawsplay]

An umbrella is probably a lot more dangerous than a car antenna, although a car antenna is mean. I would have no problem using an umbrella as a weapon. As improvised weapons go, it's one of those things that is already halfway there to being as effective as a dedicated weapon. Some of the cheap ones obviously have a weight issue, but a proper umbrella is a cane with a metal spike at the tip.

[SRoach]

That said, a car antenna is designed to survive in "winds" of around 100mph or more. An umbrella frequently inverts at a mere fraction of that, and generally isn't built to survive very much. It's too easily bent and the joints are too fragile.
Of course, it also depends upon the car antenna. A permanent, fixed, type, is probably a lot more durable than a telescoping one, whether it's manually extended or hydraulic.
I could see making an umbrella durable enough to use as a weapon, but the resulting thing would be heavy, which would probably discourage its use as an umbrella, or carrying it around on the chance of rain. Modern umbrellas, in my experience, are flimsy, but at least they're handy. Until they come apart, anyway.

[Agemegos]

For what it’s worth, there is a scene in Once Upon A Time In China in which Jet Li uses an umbrella as an improvised weapon in an extended fight.

[pawsplay]

Originally Posted by SRoach

That said, a car antenna is designed to survive in "winds" of around 100mph or more. An umbrella frequently inverts at a mere fraction of that, and generally isn't built to survive very much. It's too easily bent and the joints are too fragile.

I'm not proposing it will be fine as an umbrella after. They tend to be heavier than a car antenna, though, and hence more generally suitable as a weapon.

[ehrbar]

There's a lot of difference in construction between a your-logo-here corporate giveaway $9 telescoping umbrella and a premium brand $160 stick umbrella, so there's going to be at least some variance in the appropriate stats.