Ironworks Gaming Forum - View Single Post

Butterfingers · 01-01-2003, 04:35 PM

You have obviously never seen a war dart.

I did a long stint with the SCA. (Society for Creative Anachronisms - think about a group that plays D&D with real life weapons and armor)

A war dart is about a foot long or so, has a wicked barbed tip, and, a short feathered wooden shaft. The tip is designed to break off. They are somewhat heavy, I have used some that weigh upwards of a half a pound. When thrown properly, with a lot of force put behind them, they are utterly painful and lethal. Don't believe me? Go back in time and ask the Romans. They faced entire hoards of Celts armed with darts and slings. A well made and well thrown dart could punture almost any wooden shield, leaving about 3 to 4 inches of jagged metal jutting through. Using the shield, you would rip your self to pieces if that sharp pointy spike rubbed you the wrong way. Worse, a well aimed dart could not only pierce your shield, but, dig deep into the arm holding the shield. Even during later times, the dark ages, a dart thrower was feared. Moors used highly poisonous darts, war darts, and, all it took was a slight nick and you were going to have a real bad day, mind you though, a short one. At close range, a strong man could fling a dart and could pierce even thick heavy plated field mails.

You have to be fairly strong to fling a war dart weighing a half a pound or so with any sort of accuracy, meaning, a war dart really is not an ideal weapon for a mage so to speak. Heck, the entire AD&D weapon system is pretty screwed if you study these sorts of things.

As for the question posed to me about bows. Archery is about 50% skill, 50% strength. A well skilled archer could do the job with a smaller lighter bow, however, a moderately skilled brute could also do the job with a massive war bow. Take the Mongols... They shot from horseback, meaning most of their shots missed. However, they used long war bows that had a resistance of 120 to 150 pounds or even more in some cases. They did not hit as often as they would have liked I am sure, but, when they did, said arrow was probably instantly lethal. Mongols were feared not because they were excelent marksmen, but, because they were fiercely strong and frightfully mobile. And yes, the stronger you are the more damage you can do. The more you pull on a bow, the more resistance you encounter. Stronger people can pull back further. The further you pull back, the more energy you can build. All that stored up energy gets released when you let go. Yeah, some folks might be strong enough to pull a 100 pound bow, but, a real strong person can pull the bow all the way to it's full potential, causing a massive increase of damage in the process. Pulling that string back even an inch or so can cause unbelieveable differences in how much damage a shot can do.

01-01-2003, 04:35 PM	#13
Butterfingers Drizzt Do'Urden Join Date: November 30, 2002 Location: Five Flagons Inn Posts: 633	You have obviously never seen a war dart. I did a long stint with the SCA. (Society for Creative Anachronisms - think about a group that plays D&D with real life weapons and armor) A war dart is about a foot long or so, has a wicked barbed tip, and, a short feathered wooden shaft. The tip is designed to break off. They are somewhat heavy, I have used some that weigh upwards of a half a pound. When thrown properly, with a lot of force put behind them, they are utterly painful and lethal. Don't believe me? Go back in time and ask the Romans. They faced entire hoards of Celts armed with darts and slings. A well made and well thrown dart could punture almost any wooden shield, leaving about 3 to 4 inches of jagged metal jutting through. Using the shield, you would rip your self to pieces if that sharp pointy spike rubbed you the wrong way. Worse, a well aimed dart could not only pierce your shield, but, dig deep into the arm holding the shield. Even during later times, the dark ages, a dart thrower was feared. Moors used highly poisonous darts, war darts, and, all it took was a slight nick and you were going to have a real bad day, mind you though, a short one. At close range, a strong man could fling a dart and could pierce even thick heavy plated field mails. You have to be fairly strong to fling a war dart weighing a half a pound or so with any sort of accuracy, meaning, a war dart really is not an ideal weapon for a mage so to speak. Heck, the entire AD&D weapon system is pretty screwed if you study these sorts of things. As for the question posed to me about bows. Archery is about 50% skill, 50% strength. A well skilled archer could do the job with a smaller lighter bow, however, a moderately skilled brute could also do the job with a massive war bow. Take the Mongols... They shot from horseback, meaning most of their shots missed. However, they used long war bows that had a resistance of 120 to 150 pounds or even more in some cases. They did not hit as often as they would have liked I am sure, but, when they did, said arrow was probably instantly lethal. Mongols were feared not because they were excelent marksmen, but, because they were fiercely strong and frightfully mobile. And yes, the stronger you are the more damage you can do. The more you pull on a bow, the more resistance you encounter. Stronger people can pull back further. The further you pull back, the more energy you can build. All that stored up energy gets released when you let go. Yeah, some folks might be strong enough to pull a 100 pound bow, but, a real strong person can pull the bow all the way to it's full potential, causing a massive increase of damage in the process. Pulling that string back even an inch or so can cause unbelieveable differences in how much damage a shot can do.