Staff Swords, and jabbing people with scabbards Options

[FXcalibur]

Hi, I'm new to SR and looking for stats for a thin blade concealed in a staff. My character is a bit of a pacifist, and I want the staff to be his foci. The staff would be slightly rectangular, all wood and probably around 1.5 metres in length. The sword would be around 1 metre long with a thin, straight blade and no hilt, because the hilt is part of the staff and blends in.

Can anybody provide me with stats? :)

Another question: If the staff is a foci or bonded weapon, will both parts of the staff (staff itself and the sword) count as foci if they are seperated?

Also, what would damage would jabbing someone with the tip of a sword scabbard do?

[Neon Tiger]

Make it a spear, Conceal N/A, Damage (Str+4) L, Reach 2, and be done with it.

[kevyn668]

1) welcome!!

2)same stats as a sword, I would assume. Conceal 8 or better for detecting its a sword-cane.

3) (Str)M Stun? maybe (str+1)M Stun?

Are you making the "Blind Fury" guy? 8)

This post has been edited by kevyn668: Apr 20 2004, 04:52 PM

[RangerJoe]

I'd only give (Str + 1) L for poking someone with a scabbard. Yes, it's metal/wood, but you're _poking_ them. That requires some serious talent to do damage.

[Smiley]

If you look in Cannon Companion, you'll find the gun cane has a concealability of 9 (to detect that it's anything more than a cane). A sword staff would probably have comparable concealability stats, except that the actual cane has a conc. of 2 and i doubt you could hide a staff (non-telescoping) anyplace.

Wacking someone with the staff would do (str+2)M stun and getting stabby with the sword would do (str+2)M physical, although for a rapier, i'd probably say (str+1) or just (str)M.

[kevyn668]

[Austere Emancipa...]

For the staff/sword: How much handle would it have? Exactly how thin and light do you want it to be? It could be just a "Sword", or it could even be a Claymore, or if it's of extremely good workmanship it might count as "Katana" *shudder*. With your description I'd go with Sword if you want it to be a one-handed weapon.

A Sword in Shadowrun has these stats: Concealability 4, Reach 1, (STR + 2)M, Weight 1kg, Availability 3/24hrs, Cost 500 :nuyen:, Street Index 1, Legality 4-B. Check SR3 p. 275.

I'd say you'd have to make the sword the focus. Then when you've got it all together as the staff, you're still holding the sword as well. If you want a Weapon Focus, you'd have to decide whether you want the staff or the sword -- if you had the sword as a Weapon Focus, the staff would not count as one, at least not while I'd be GMing.

If this is a completely rigid, hard scabbard, use the stats of a club. (STR + 1)M Stun.

[Lantzer]

I think there's a sword-cane in the Cannon Companion. The stats should work.

Jabbing with a sword-scabbard is much like jabbing with any other improvised club.

Now, that taken care of;
Um, why does a pacifist make a point of carrying a concealed sword?
Heck, even a staff is a big weapon to cart around.

sword = large device for chopping people into bits.
staff = large device for smashing people into pulp.
pacifist = Somebody who doesn't like people hurting other people, i.e. not turning people into bits/pulp.

May I suggest a taser, shock wand, shock gloves, sap, narcojet, or Drug-a-Thug (basically a melee narcojet)?
---------
I'm not saying anything about you personally - I just find it funny how many pacifists in SR are such nasty monsters in combat.

[Smiley]

[FXcalibur]

[Austere Emancipa...]

[Connor]

[Herald of Verjig...]

[gknoy]

[Backgammon]

[Austere Emancipa...]

As far as RL and logic is concerned, Backgammon is absolutely right. Rules do say otherwise, however. The Pacifist-flaw is described so that someone with it can kill someone in self defense and not feel too bad about it. It might be really silly, but that's how it's written.

The Total Pacifist is really what the RL word "pacifist" refers to. The Pacifist flaw is simply someone somewhat pincipled.

[Grey]

While you are right with that, you are not right by the Shadowrun flaw.

There are two different flaws in Shadowrun for pacifism.

Pacifist (2 points) - Character never kills, save in self-defense. (ie: won't do wetwork)

Total Pacifist (5 points) - Character cannot kill any living being. If he does so, he suffers depression for 2d6 weeks.

[broho_pcp]

T.P. -> like Batman (on the depression and not killing thing)

[Blades]

I would make it into a Stacked foci as by MiTS page 44.
Never thourght about combining two weapon foci before but.... everything got to have a first.

In general I like the idea, and would probaly rule that, when you have drawn the sword, you got two foci with a combined rating equal to the stacked foci.

While not fitting the rules of stacked foci completely (not being one all the time), I would probaly rule that the two parts can only be apart a number of days equal to the rating of the stacked foci, thereafter they loose one point of rating, any additional extension of the period equal to the new rating would mean an additional loose of rating ...... This might give the GM some "fun" plot lines to compensate for the twisting of the Stacked foci rules.

But as a note I would probaly only rule a combination of either rapier/Club or sword/Club possible, and not a telescoping staff.

[Moon-Hawk]

Does Batman still get depressed if Van Helsing kills the moon on which Batman is riding?

p.s. My apologies to anyone who doesn't get this reference.
p.p.s. Come to think of it, my apologies to everyone else, as well. :P

[Arethusa]

I'm quite surprised people are suggesting that a staff should be (Str)L or (Str+1)L. Come on. If it's (Str)L, why don't you just punch for (Str)M?

(Str+1)M, at least. Maybe +2.

Of course, hand to hand should be base L, but that's another matter entirely.

[Lantzer]

[Austere Emancipa...]

SR3 already gives (STR + 2)M Stun for a Staff.

The (STR + 1)L Stun was for poking with the scabbard. Which is about right, because no sane human being would poke someone with a scabbard instead of beating them barehanded. Wacking someone with the scabbard, however, could be equated to an improvised Club, as was mentioned, thus (STR + 1)M Stun.

And yes, that's another matter entirely, and one which should probably be polled about so that it gets changed in a few years when SR4 comes out. :)

[kevyn668]

[Arethusa]

Eh. One can have strong issues with unnecessary bloodshed but still be willing to kill. Though staff swords, in the traditional sense, were only intended to visually hide the swords after they were made illegal after the Bakufu period by the new emperor, Meiji.