Pickaxe tool damage value

Luke Bunyip · 10-11-2009, 05:20 PM

One of my players wishes to use a pickaxe as a weapon. Whilst it could be considered akin to a warhammer, I am concerned that as a melee weapon a pickaxe is rather unbalanced, as well as blunt.

I am after some damage values etc. Thanks in advance.

Gizensha · 10-11-2009, 06:51 PM

Call it a cheap pick, based on what Wikipedia's telling me about the difference between a pickaxe and a pick, and assuming we're just taking one into battle without modifying it beyond it being a tool. I'll be interested to see what Low Tech has to say on the topic, though.

Polydamas · 10-11-2009, 08:43 PM

I think Low Tech has stats for a mining pick as an improvised weapon. I'd treat as a Warhammer (p. B274) with a penalty to hit, since most picks meant as tools are too large for one-handed use. A pick light enough to count as a Pick would be something like an ice axe.

Luke Bunyip · 10-11-2009, 11:08 PM

Unless Greenneck pipes up and states something other than the following...

Tis basically a pick, as per pg271 in GURPS Characters, but with a horizontal axe like blade ( aka a large flattened adze) on the front. Should give the cutting damage of a twohanded axe, but the imp damage of a pick, as well as the later's unreadiness status when swung.

Post script. Greenneck has just pointed out to me that the pick entry on pg271 is onehanded. I am going with a Warhammer with a Great Axe combo.

SuedodeuS · 10-12-2009, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luke Bunyip

Unless Greenneck pipes up and states something other than the following...

Tis basically a pick, as per pg271 in GURPS Characters, but with a horizontal axe like blade ( aka a large flattened adze) on the front. Should give the cutting damage of a twohanded axe, but the imp damage of a pick, as well as the later's unreadiness status when swung.

Post script. Greenneck has just pointed out to me that the pick entry on pg271 is onehanded. I am going with a Warhammer with a Great Axe combo.

For making the weapon's complete stats (weight, ST, etc), you might want to consider taking a look at the Combination Weapons guidelines in Martial Arts. I think adding a pick is covered there.

Marking the adze/mattock head as an axe is probably the way to go, statwise. I think the only real difference between the two is the kinds of jobs they can be used for as a tool - an axe is good for chopping down trees, a mattock is good for loosening dirt and cutting through roots. I'd expect the mattock head to be a bit duller, however - maybe a -1 to cutting damage (at least until the character sharpens it to axe standards). I remember using a two-handed cutting mattock (axe head on one side, mattock head on the other) when I was helping my dad with a house he was fixing up. I remember the axe head was kept a good deal sharper than the mattock head, as the latter was used to move through dirt and cut roots (although there was one particularly thick root that I ended up using the axe head on).

Anthony · 10-12-2009, 12:27 PM

It would be a lot harder to chop off limbs with the adze blade than with an axe blade, due to it being prone to strike so the cut will go lengthwise on the limb. It would also have a problem of getting stuck, much like a pick. Finally, many pickaxes have relatively long and thin picks and would be poorly suited to weapons (due to being prone to break), though you could find one that's as solid as a military pick (anything intended mostly for breaking up stone, rather than breaking up dirt).

Cid SilverWing · 10-12-2009, 03:23 PM

By pickaxe I'm assuming you're referring to this. Treat it as an Axe, swinging pierce/thrust damage, with Crushing for hitting with the blunt sides.

SuedodeuS · 10-12-2009, 03:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cid SilverWing

By pickaxe I'm assuming you're referring to this. Treat it as an Axe, swinging pierce/thrust damage, with Crushing for hitting with the blunt sides.

A pickaxe doesn't really have a blunt side. The part closest to the camera in that picture is what we've been referring to as the adze/mattock, and is functionally basically a sideways axe blade.

Luke Bunyip · 10-12-2009, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cid SilverWing

By pickaxe I'm assuming you're referring to this. Treat it as an Axe, swinging pierce/thrust damage, with Crushing for hitting with the blunt sides.

Yep, but Greenneck is offering this as his reference image.

10-11-2009, 05:20 PM	#1
Luke Bunyip Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: The Kingdom of Insignificance	Pickaxe tool damage value One of my players wishes to use a pickaxe as a weapon. Whilst it could be considered akin to a warhammer, I am concerned that as a melee weapon a pickaxe is rather unbalanced, as well as blunt. I am after some damage values etc. Thanks in advance. __________________ It's all very well to be told to act my age, but I've never been this old before...

10-11-2009, 06:51 PM	#2
Gizensha Join Date: Jan 2008	Re: Pickaxe tool damage value Call it a cheap pick, based on what Wikipedia's telling me about the difference between a pickaxe and a pick, and assuming we're just taking one into battle without modifying it beyond it being a tool. I'll be interested to see what Low Tech has to say on the topic, though.

10-11-2009, 08:43 PM	#3
Polydamas Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Central Europe	Re: Pickaxe tool damage value I think Low Tech has stats for a mining pick as an improvised weapon. I'd treat as a Warhammer (p. B274) with a penalty to hit, since most picks meant as tools are too large for one-handed use. A pick light enough to count as a Pick would be something like an ice axe. __________________ "It is easier to banish a habit of thought than a piece of knowledge." H. Beam Piper This forum got less aggravating when I started using the ignore feature

10-11-2009, 11:08 PM	#4
Luke Bunyip Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: The Kingdom of Insignificance	Re: Pickaxe tool damage value Unless Greenneck pipes up and states something other than the following... Tis basically a pick, as per pg271 in GURPS Characters, but with a horizontal axe like blade ( aka a large flattened adze) on the front. Should give the cutting damage of a twohanded axe, but the imp damage of a pick, as well as the later's unreadiness status when swung. Post script. Greenneck has just pointed out to me that the pick entry on pg271 is onehanded. I am going with a Warhammer with a Great Axe combo. __________________ It's all very well to be told to act my age, but I've never been this old before... Last edited by Luke Bunyip; 10-11-2009 at 11:22 PM.

10-12-2009, 12:27 PM	#6
Anthony Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Berkeley, CA	Re: Pickaxe tool damage value It would be a lot harder to chop off limbs with the adze blade than with an axe blade, due to it being prone to strike so the cut will go lengthwise on the limb. It would also have a problem of getting stuck, much like a pick. Finally, many pickaxes have relatively long and thin picks and would be poorly suited to weapons (due to being prone to break), though you could find one that's as solid as a military pick (anything intended mostly for breaking up stone, rather than breaking up dirt).

10-12-2009, 03:23 PM	#7
Cid SilverWing Join Date: Jul 2008	Re: Pickaxe tool damage value By pickaxe I'm assuming you're referring to this. Treat it as an Axe, swinging pierce/thrust damage, with Crushing for hitting with the blunt sides.