fantasy crafting

[Anthony]

As for time, a simplified generic system is to take the value added when creating the object (i.e. the cost of the finished good, less the cost of raw materials), divide by twice the typical wages for someone with that job, and that's the base time to craft the item (the factor of 2 is to cover merchant overhead and failed skill rolls). A TL 3 standard job is about $4/hr using the wage rules in Basic (I disagree with those rules, but that's a separate issue). An ordinary woodcarver is probably a status -1 job.

[(E)]

Heart timber most likely be what is required for a high quality staff. Timber selection would be a big thing as well. Just the right combination of density, durability, finish, flexibility and strength.

[The Colonel]

Originally Posted by simply Nathan

I heard it was because they used to be longer than 6 feet and held at the quarter.

I've heard various etymologies - and IIRC George Silver called it the "short staff" anyway. To be honest, I find it hard to imagine a staff much over six foot being a practical weapon for most of the traditional techniques.

The great fount of more or less reliable knowledge appears to go with the "quarter of a log" position and has the "held at the quarter" being a later artefact. That said, they also seem to go up to 9' long ... which still seems silly to me.

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by The Colonel

The great fount of more or less reliable knowledge appears to go with the "quarter of a log" position and has the "held at the quarter" being a later artefact. That said, they also seem to go up to 9' long ... which still seems silly to me.

The OED calls it ambiguous, but one of the early citations is "quarter ashe staff" which certainly suggests a quantity rather than how you are holding it.

The other reasonable interpretation is that it's a quarter of a rod long, a rod being a medieval French and English unit of land measurement somewhere around 20 or 25 feet - yeah it's 16.5 now, but it was "standardized" by Henry VIII when he selling off all that church property, so it's perhaps not so amazing he set it a bit lower than traditionally understood to make the parcels sound larger.

[GodBeastX]

Balanced*: +1 to skill with any melee weapon, thrown
weapon, or projectile; +1 Acc for a missile weapon. All
weapons but sticks and improvised weapons: +4 CF.

You can balance staffs, not sticks.

[The Colonel]

All this reminds me of the (possibly apocryphal) D&D module in which the first print run had some NPC (?monks) wielding 6" sticks as their primary weapons...

[RogerWilco]

Lindybeige on Quarterstaff
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4bXBDvN9Wc
and Matt Easton on Quarterstaff
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gazqRUohG8s

[evileeyore]

Originally Posted by brianfb

Reference?

Godbeast with the reference...

Originally Posted by GodBeastX

You can balance staffs, not sticks.

I take 'sticks' to be: Any weapon made entirely (baring shodding) of wood.

Otherwise.... which weapon on the Weapon's Lists counts as a 'stick'?

Originally Posted by Culture20

The question then, is "does the extra balance to a weapon already designed to be mostly balanced offer any extra benefit?"

And that's the rub. Balancing a weapon which is inherently already balanced, where both ends weigh the same... I don't see the benefit.

[brianfb]

Originally Posted by evileeyore

Godbeast with the reference...


I take 'sticks' to be: Any weapon made entirely (baring shodding) of wood.

Otherwise.... which weapon on the Weapon's Lists counts as a 'stick'?


And that's the rub. Balancing a weapon which is inherently already balanced, where both ends weigh the same... I don't see the benefit.

I see, I guess I dont share that interpretation of the word stick. Thanks though. I believe even a sword has a point of balance, the cf balanced factor means its well balanced.

[Anders]

Originally Posted by evileeyore

Otherwise.... which weapon on the Weapon's Lists counts as a 'stick'?

Presumably the ones that are called Throwing Sticks.