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ZeroGear
2013-05-28, 07:06 PM
There's something I've been wondering recently:
How do your characters carry their weapons?
Now this has nothing to do with mechanics, and I respect the fact that everyone has their own opinions as to how gear is carries, but I was wondering what your personal preference for various weapons was.
Do you carry your sword on your back? Near the hip? In your shield?
How about your axe? Or your bow?
What about oddly shaped weapons like double-bladed swords or scythes?
Dow your wizard carry his wands up his sleeve or on a belt?

I'm interested in what most people do with their character (doesn't have to be every character, you're free to mention which ever one you like).

Ozfer
2013-05-28, 07:16 PM
One thing I learned from my favorite history-oriented youtube channel (lindybeige) is that carrying weapons on your back is almost never a good idea. Look up the channel if you are interested in this sort of thing. He has some interesting thoughts on the usage and stratagems of medieval weapons.

TheCountAlucard
2013-05-28, 07:21 PM
My hands are my weapons. Anyone expecting me to be at a disadvantage because he's got a saber will be sorely surprised when I snap his weapon in half and then hurl him into the sun! :smallfurious:

Though I'm looking to play a character who stores his weapons Elsewhere. :smalltongue:

Not my fault you didn't specify the game.

Slipperychicken
2013-05-28, 07:38 PM
How do your characters carry their weapons?

In their inventory slots :smalltongue:

Talyn
2013-05-28, 07:45 PM
Shoulder holster for a medium-caliber manstopper handgun. Gun is under the left armpit, two extra magazines under the right, standard right-handed cop carry. Smaller holdout weapon in an ankle holster. Everything heavier is kept disassembled in a locked gun case at home. (Hunter: the Vigil)


If I'm not actively in a battle or a dungeon, dagger on my left hip, with a spare kept in the boot. Shield slung across the back of my horse. Sword and lance are carried by my squire to be handed to me when necessary. A crossbow is kept unstrung in a holster attached to the saddlebags on the spare pack horse. If I'm actively looking for trouble, sword and shield are in hand, and the squire carries the crossbow. (Dungeons and Dragons)


The energy gauntlets are built into a suit of powered armor. They (and the rest of the armor) are kept in n-dimensional space until summoned by activating the teleporter built into the wrist gauntlets, which causes the armor and the gauntlets to materialize around me. (Champions)

Water_Bear
2013-05-28, 08:07 PM
How do your characters carry their weapons?

In the hands of their cronies. Why dirty your hands fighting when there are so many people much more expendable than you? :smallcool:

Big Fau
2013-05-28, 09:44 PM
Depends on the weapon. Guns/wands are stored in a hip pouch on the belt, light weapons in various sheathes on/in/near the boots/gauntlets, and one-handed ones are on the back, parallel to the character's hips (so the handle of the weapon is perpendicular to the character's body).

Two-handed ones are usually stowed in a movement-friendly back-mounted sheathe, designed so the character can draw the weapon in cramped corridors (by aiming the front-end of the sheathe at the enemy he intends to attack).

Natural weapons are stored in various articles of clothing, like the pants. :smallwink:

OverdrivePrime
2013-05-28, 09:55 PM
In my hammerspace trench coat, of course! :smallbiggrin:

The Fury
2013-05-29, 12:24 AM
My fighter carries her sword at her left hip and her knife horizontally at the back of her belt. She also uses a small shield which has a hook for attaching it to her belt. I hadn't really thought about how she'd carry her sling when she's not using it though-- maybe she ties it around her waist?
Other than weapons I imagine that she carries her map case on a shoulder-strap so she can get out maps and parchment fairly easily.

The Rose Dragon
2013-05-29, 12:20 PM
There is a very thin metaphysical line between Nowhere and Now Here. So thin that, if the aura of the weapon resonates with your spirit sufficiently, you can take the weapon that is Now Here, and put it Nowhere with no effort at all, where it will reside non-existently, until you need it and it suddenly becomes Now Here once more.

So, hammerspace.

Alejandro
2013-05-29, 12:25 PM
A bag of holding, each one in a sheath or other covering if necessary if it might rip the bag.

Jay R
2013-05-29, 01:05 PM
The primary weapon is in a scabbard on his left hip, if it's small enough. Otherwise, it's probably in his hands. (There's no better way to carry a pole arm.) The dagger or other secondary weapon is on his right hip.

If we are in a dangerous location, of course, it's in his hand(s).

The "obvious" hidden weapon is in his boot. The real holdout is inside his shirt, right below the collar in back.

Radar
2013-05-29, 01:43 PM
In my hammerspace trench coat, of course! :smallbiggrin:
I wanted to say this, so now I'll go with the second option: traditional dwarven walking stick (http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=922). :smalltongue:

Seriously though, it just didn't come up in any of my games.

Exediron
2013-05-29, 01:55 PM
I have too many characters to poll all of them, but I'm pretty sure it's almost always the belt if the weapon is short enough and the back if it's not. Seeing as I play at epic level, a fair portion of them also have weapons they summon to hand or can blink into existence when called.

At lower levels I have always wondered how you carry a polearm around all day and still do everything else an adventurer needs to do.

Badgerish
2013-05-29, 02:08 PM
4ed Sentinel-Druid|Cleric (mostly Druid)
Staff held in hand (It's a walking stick and part of the Druidic image as well as a weapon/implement) or put into bag of holding if I need both hands.
Dagger on belt.
Spare daggers, staff, club, sling and ammo are in the bag of holding.

4ed Fighter (Dwarven Battlerager)
Dwarven-Thrower Craghammer is tied to a (dwarf-made) sturdy belt by leather straps. It's head-upwards and can be untied and lifted up or just pulled sideways (breaks the straps, but I have spares).
Handaxe on belt, with a leather cover.
Dagger (Bowie knife style) in boot.
Spare craghammer and throwing hammers in backpack.

4ed Pixie Executioner-Assassin (I'm a Ninja!)
Two shortswords in scabbards that cross over on the small of her back, covered with a bow made from silk ribbon.
Endless supply of darts (1 magic shuriken) in a thigh-holster.
Daggers: on belt, in hair and in both boots.
Shortbow, arrows, spare darts, daggers and shortsword in bag of holding.

Amaril
2013-05-29, 02:36 PM
My 4e Avenger for an upcoming PbP game carries his silvered bastard sword across his back, set up to draw over the shoulder. Crossbow goes horizontally on the back of the belt, with the bolt case on the right hip. Silver chain goes on the left hip--its value as an improvised weapon should never be underestimated. All other gear is carried in or attached to the backpack, which goes over the bastard sword's scabbard.

SiuiS
2013-05-29, 03:05 PM
My hands are my weapons. Anyone expecting me to be at a disadvantage because he's got a saber will be sorely surprised when I snap his weapon in half and then hurl him into the sun! :smallfurious:

Though I'm looking to play a character who stores his weapons Elsewhere. :smalltongue:


"I don't always holster my weapons, but when I do, I do so in my enemies' corpses."


It depends on the character involved. In fantasy settings, based on various levels of gear expected, usually on a depending frog or chain strap, from the waist. Hidden daggers Re somewhat of an art, and are different based on whether they are for quick draws or for survive an thorough search; the generalist wizard carried a poisoned dagger like most detectives, nestled on a swivel under the armpit (and covered by a cloak), where the necromancer had a throat cutter wrapped in a thick leather edge cover, secreted in the loincloth.

Knight got clever, and had each different weapon readied in a handy haversack so he could retrieve an appropriate weapon at a moment's notice.

Barbarian types usually have weapons in hand or at the belt.

In non-fantasy games, it is usually "weapon in room/base/vehicle, with a single back-up weapon on person". Much less requirement to be armed and ready to hurt people in those games, without it being a 'blaster in hand at the ready' every time.

Raimun
2013-05-29, 03:37 PM
Swords are carried on hand, resting against a shoulder.

Guns are carried under trenchcoat, on a shoulder holster.

Oh... and I like to have a weapon grade glove, just in case.

Admiral Squish
2013-05-29, 05:21 PM
Hmm... Well, one of my changeling: the lost characters carries a shotgun and a machete inside his gator-skin trenchcoat. Actually, he kinda keeps everything in there. He carried around a dead metal bird in there for a while, actually.

The other one's got a custom merit that says his hands don't get damaged from punching hard things and deal damage like brass knuckles. He also has a pretty big handgun, but he doesn't carry it most of the time. It's a shoulder-holster.

In D&D, my goliath crusader wears full plate, carries a tower shield, and wields a warhammer. The hammer hangs in a leather loop on her hip, but the shield has a pair of hooks instead of straps. There's a pair of loops on her back, built into her breastplate, that the shield hangs on most of the time. When she's wielding it, it hooks to a couple loops on her bracers.

Vixsor Lumin
2013-05-29, 05:28 PM
My current character? Longsword on his left hip with his wand of whirling blade in the hilt, shortsword horizontal (hilt to the left), and his whip dagger wrapped from left shoulder to right hip. I know the last one isn't practical, but in my imagination it looks cooler :smalltongue:

The Fury
2013-05-29, 08:07 PM
The "obvious" hidden weapon is in his boot. The real holdout is inside his shirt, right below the collar in back.

Out of curiosity how does that stay in place? Is he wearing some sort of custom harness under his shirt? Is his dagger sewn to the inside of his shirt or something like that? A nitpicky sort of question I'll admit.


I have too many characters to poll all of them, but I'm pretty sure it's almost always the belt if the weapon is short enough and the back if it's not. Seeing as I play at epic level, a fair portion of them also have weapons they summon to hand or can blink into existence when called.

Pfft! Epic Level characters don't need weapons! That's just silly.



At lower levels I have always wondered how you carry a polearm around all day and still do everything else an adventurer needs to do.

Yeah, whenever it comes up that a character needs both hands for something I guess they'd just set their polearm down for a bit. In other cases, like when they need to climb a ladder, maybe they'd stick the polearm in the space between their backpack and their back?

Anderlith
2013-05-29, 08:25 PM
I have a character that's an Artificer. He wears six different wands at any given time in holsters on his hips (three to a side), a Rod on a lanyard sling on his right hip, & a Rod in a holster over his left shoulder. He also has a wand held in a docker's clutch under his arm, & a staff in his hand or held in a rig on his back.

Any extra combat gear my character has is in a Handy Haversack in the shape of a small dufflebag.

In other words he outfits himself like a gunslinger...

Jay R
2013-05-29, 09:20 PM
The "obvious" hidden weapon is in his boot. The real holdout is inside his shirt, right below the collar in back.

Out of curiosity how does that stay in place? Is he wearing some sort of custom harness under his shirt? Is his dagger sewn to the inside of his shirt or something like that? A nitpicky sort of question I'll admit.

Yes, it's a knife sheath, on a harness. In front, he has a couple of hidden spell components worked into it as well. (He has the Leatherworking NWP.)

Pricewashere
2013-05-29, 10:16 PM
I made a character that had a "thing," for weapons. By a thing for weapons, I mean he carried (at the least) a falchion, 2 spears, 2 swords, a mace, and 4-6 daggers at all times... That character was awesome.... Anywho, he carried the falchion and spears on his back, the swords and mace on his hips, and the daggers across his chest and strapped to his arms. I really loved how he looked, just thinking about it makes me really happy that I made him!

HuskyBoi
2013-05-29, 11:20 PM
Similarly, I had a character who carried a LOT of weapons- and because I had so many, the DM and I agreed it be important we know where they were at any given point. So, in total...


Two-bladed sword across the back
Heavy crossbow, also across the back
Two hand crossbows in pouches over his bum
A rapier at the hip
And a sap on the other hip
Six daggers in a pair of pandoliers
A shuriken pouch just under the sap
A wrist dagger (for emergencies)
A boot dagger (for other emergencies)
A blowpipe just above the rapier, with darts in a tiny pouch
And a series of pre-poisoned darts strapped to the thigh.


The first time we entered the king's palace and were instructed to leave our weapons at the door was hilarious. And I still got the emergency daggers in!

ZeroGear
2013-05-29, 11:30 PM
The first time we entered the king's palace and were instructed to leave our weapons at the door was hilarious. And I still got the emergency daggers in!

Now I'm picturing the scene from Police Academy II where Tackleberry and Kirkland are making out...and taking out all the hidden guns.

Averis Vol
2013-05-30, 02:03 AM
Currently my "knight" carries his glaive across his lap while on horseback with a pair of handaxes strapped to his thighs. His warhammer is either lashed to a loop on his belt or kept wrapped with his equipment on previously mentioned horse, and his kite shield is hung over his shoulder. (Dnd)

Doctor collins keeps his scalpals in small sheathes behind his back, and his great crossbow tightly strapped to his back, or locked in his chest in his room while in Aereth castle. (Dnd)

Hawkins carries his collapsible longblade strapped to his left wrist and his carbine in a rotating gun belt that goes over a shoulder, with his grenade launcher bouncing around at stomach level. (GURPS)

And lastly Vincent hawthorn carries his cavalry saber openly on his right hip, as its a symbol of his station among the warriors of waterdeep. He carries his main gauche strapped to his thigh with his heavily armored sleeve generally hanging slightly limp. (Dnd)

NikitaDarkstar
2013-05-30, 03:11 AM
My rogues usually have their daggers/shortswords/sharp pointy objects at their hips, with backups just about everywhere (my high level rogue usually had two shortswords at her hips. hidden blades at wrists, elbows, knees, and bootblades, several daggers hidden and non-hidden as backups and throwing weapons, and a light crossbow. Usually people only saw the crossbow, or short swords.)

My fighters tend to go with the utterly unrealistic back-sheathe approach for their great-swords.

My barbarian has her Earthbreaker (two-handed hammer) resting on her shoulder all the time, again not really practical, but hey, who cares?

My wizards stick their wands in their belts, and one tended to also attach his spellbooks to said belt with chains. Mainly for effect really. Also he didn't trust bags of holding worth a damn (long story short, pocket-dimension incident made him nervous).

And my current bard/rogue gestalt carries her sword-whips (think indian urumi and not silly anime weapon) wrapped around her waist, hidden under a light, but somewhat fluffy, sash.

HuskyBoi
2013-05-30, 04:01 AM
My fighters tend to go with the utterly unrealistic back-sheathe approach for their great-swords.

Funny enough, I read a source once that said two-handed swords WERE carried on the back, but were unsheathed long before going into battle. It couldn't be unsheathed in a hurry (so is unsuited for use by, say, a PC in a fantasy roleplaying game who might be ambushed by a random encounter at any point), but as a simple system for carrying it is was the easiest. Just meant you had to know in advance when you needed to unsheathe it, at which point you'd undo the belt, take the scabbard off your back, and then get the sword out.

CRtwenty
2013-05-30, 04:09 AM
My current character carries his swords in sheathes attached to his waist, and has his bow attached to his back. Seems the typical way to do it imo.

GnomeFighter
2013-05-30, 05:40 AM
Depends on the character. how they carry weapons is down to that characters style and personality. A few examples.

4e Halfling Rogue: He has at least 6 knives (hidden in various places), 2 short swords (one each side on the hip. Different powers on each), a crossbow (slung low across his back), a hand crossbow (on the left waist), lock picks (hidden in cloak), a hammer or axe (for when lockpicks fail, high on back), a billy club (for when slight of hand fails, on right waist) and two sunrods (tied to his belt), and 5 crossbow bolts for each bow, tied to the stock of each bow, on him at any one time. When out adventuring he only carries a small bed roll, a square of wax cloth, a blanket, 4 large nails, a flint and tinder, 10 extra of each bolt all rolled up in the bed roll with 10' of twine to make a covering with. Anything in the way of other items "finds its way" in to others packs...

D20 modern sharp shooter (I forget the class): He carries his rifle in a case and a pistol at his hip as a side arm, or in a shoulder holster when needing to be desecrate.

4e cleric: Carries only a staff (In hand) and holy symbol (round neck). The occasional other items are held in a small shoulder bag unless needed.

Jay R
2013-05-30, 08:40 AM
Funny enough, I read a source once that said two-handed swords WERE carried on the back, but were unsheathed long before going into battle. It couldn't be unsheathed in a hurry (so is unsuited for use by, say, a PC in a fantasy roleplaying game who might be ambushed by a random encounter at any point), but as a simple system for carrying it is was the easiest. Just meant you had to know in advance when you needed to unsheathe it, at which point you'd undo the belt, take the scabbard off your back, and then get the sword out.

In fact, it can be unsheathed pretty quickly, but not while continuing to wear the scabbard. You take the sword and scabbard off together, and then drop the scabbard. If you then have to run away, you'll lose your scabbard.

Scow2
2013-05-30, 10:50 AM
My characters that wear two-handed weapons across the back don't use a full scabbard. Instead, they just use a hilt-hook and complementary belt-hook to hold the blade. Just needs to be lifted up less than six inches before it can be brought around the head and into the enemy. If I can get away with it, I use a magnetic strip inside my character's cape to hold the blade at a somewhat-fixed angle.

In fact, a hook is used instead of a full scabbard for a lot of my characters, because they use flared, curved swords.

NikitaDarkstar
2013-05-30, 04:25 PM
Funny enough, I read a source once that said two-handed swords WERE carried on the back, but were unsheathed long before going into battle. It couldn't be unsheathed in a hurry (so is unsuited for use by, say, a PC in a fantasy roleplaying game who might be ambushed by a random encounter at any point), but as a simple system for carrying it is was the easiest. Just meant you had to know in advance when you needed to unsheathe it, at which point you'd undo the belt, take the scabbard off your back, and then get the sword out.

I was not aware of this... but it is an interesting fact. But really, I just go with what seems to make the most sense/awesome at the time, I mean we play games with magic and dragons in it, a thing like how I carry my weapons will rarely come up. (Unless I'm playing rogues, cause my DM has stopped trusting my rogues.)

HuskyBoi
2013-05-30, 10:06 PM
Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm not for a minute suggesting DnD should stick to reality, particularly if it slows down mechanics- this is, after all, a game about fighting dragons and hurling fireballs, we don't want to get bogged down in the minutiae of how riding a horse actually works, or how weapons are sheathed (I'm still a little bitter that I've spent six years becoming fluent in Chinese, but apparently all I need to do in DnD is put one rank into speak language!). I was simply countering the point someone made that a sword carried across the back is not realistic, whereas actually it was done historically.

imaloony
2013-05-30, 11:47 PM
Bows and Quivers go on the back.
Swords and Maces go on the hip.
Larger melee weapons go on the back (Just not practical to keep them at the hip, it'll end up tripping you up)
Daggers and such go on the belt, in a boot, hidden up the sleeve, ect.
And I never worry about wands because I never play mages because magic-users are giant cowards.

Anderlith
2013-05-31, 12:35 AM
Bows and Quivers go on the back.

Quivers shouldn't be on your back. They should be on your hip. Drawing an arrow from over your shoulder is time consuming & a good way to spill your quiver. Historically hip quivers are more prevalent.

Waspinator
2013-05-31, 06:02 PM
Easy: Ring of Arming.

Henshin!

Vknight
2013-06-01, 12:32 AM
Extending Shock Baton along left leg.
Hold-out pistol in right leg with phosphorous rounds.
Belt with, holy water, garlic, silver shavings, silver knife, flares, cat nip, flash bangs, stingers, flare gun, flash light, ritual knife, knife coated in mages blood, vial of mages blood(werewolf, vampire, and human).
Satchel with shotgun, flechette, dragons breath, silver magnum rounds. Also holds a hand-cannon loaded with hollow points. A small axe. Second flash-light, silver rounds for the hand-cannon. Throwing knives(5), bamboo knife(2).
Under jacket along back is a pair of short swords. Also hides extending staff.
In the sleeves a magazine for the hand cannon and one for the hold-out.
Spring knives under bracers worn on arms.
Small purse holding taser. Third Hand-gun armor-piercing rounds.

Car is armor plated. Tricked out engine to maximize performance. Repairing tires.
Trunk holds two more shotguns. Silver Katana. Spear of Destiny. Silver Axe. Syringes with Mage's blood. M-16 with reflex scope and folding stock. Anti-Material Rifle with all the works. 4 Desert Eagles each designated with a clip of ammo(Ghost, Phorsphorous, Silver, Hollow Point). Phosphorous Grenades. Frag Grenades. RPG. 25pounds of C-4. 5, 1 pound blocks of C-4 prepped. Triggers needing my thumb print. 2 Claymore mines. Shovel. Spade. Silver Rapier. Normal Rapier. Tasers(5). Flamethrower with tank.
Hunter game with a Character that had 4 resources. And a 3 reputation in the FBI.

Briefcase with armor plates, Weighted Net-launcher, Grenade Launcher with smoke grenades. C-4 packet to detonate in case of emergency.
Over the shoulder bag with compartments. Design too fool X-ray's and thermal. Ammo for Anti-Material Rifle. Parts for rifle. Stingers, Smoke, and Nets. Razor wire. Grappling gun with high tension wire. Glider. Thermal Goggles. Night Vision Goggles. Small detonators too put holes in walls.
Coat with circuitry built into it connecting too a pair of insulated gloves to take down targets. Coat does not activate until snaps fingers.
Soft Felt Boots
All clothing has small scale style steel plates wrapped and stitched together with kevlar.
Assassin in Wild Talents

Straybow
2013-06-01, 01:32 AM
Some of these characters (or perhaps the DM) must operate under the motto:

Encumbrance? I don't even know the meaning of the word!

imaloony
2013-06-01, 10:29 AM
Quivers shouldn't be on your back. They should be on your hip. Drawing an arrow from over your shoulder is time consuming & a good way to spill your quiver. Historically hip quivers are more prevalent.

If you release your bow after pulling back towards your shoulder/cheek for a normal shot, your hand will be closer to your back to draw an arrow than it will be to your hip.
To avoid spilling arrows, you use a double-harness quiver that allows it to rest straight down your back, which will also allow your head to protect the feathers of the arrow from any kind of brush.

Vknight
2013-06-01, 12:31 PM
Some of these characters (or perhaps the DM) must operate under the motto:

Encumbrance? I don't even know the meaning of the word!

I think most can carry whatever there equipment is

Either being strong enough or the equipment being light enough

Straybow
2013-06-01, 01:26 PM
"Encumbrance" is not only weight, it is things sticking out to snag clothing and catch branches. It is things that may shift awkwardly as you move. It is things that make it difficult for you to duck and roll for a reflex save, or otherwise interfere with movement and function.

Anderlith
2013-06-01, 03:33 PM
If you release your bow after pulling back towards your shoulder/cheek for a normal shot, your hand will be closer to your back to draw an arrow than it will be to your hip.
To avoid spilling arrows, you use a double-harness quiver that allows it to rest straight down your back, which will also allow your head to protect the feathers of the arrow from any kind of brush.

I'm talking about when you go to pull an arrow out of your quiver, the arrow will catch on the others & pull them out as well. Bundle a bunch of sticks together & then try to pull just one out without the others catching, it's actually harder than you'd think. Especially if you take into account broadheads.

Also, you'd be a hell of a strong man to pull a real bow back to your cheek, most archers only pulled a bow back a little bit because of the tension & strain on cord. Most people don't understand how old wars were fought & how their weaponry was used

TuggyNE
2013-06-01, 05:17 PM
Also, you'd be a hell of a strong man to pull a real bow back to your cheek, most archers only pulled a bow back a little bit because of the tension & strain on cord. Most people don't understand how old wars were fought & how their weaponry was used

The what now? English archers actually were stupidly strong for precisely that reason, and the combination of 140+lb bows and decades of constant training made them very dangerous.

Straybow
2013-06-01, 05:57 PM
Drawing to the jaw/ear allows the right shoulder to straighten. It takes less strength to hold the bend and aim in that position.

Scow2
2013-06-01, 08:37 PM
I'm talking about when you go to pull an arrow out of your quiver, the arrow will catch on the others & pull them out as well. Bundle a bunch of sticks together & then try to pull just one out without the others catching, it's actually harder than you'd think. Especially if you take into account broadheads.

Also, you'd be a hell of a strong man to pull a real bow back to your cheek, most archers only pulled a bow back a little bit because of the tension & strain on cord. Most people don't understand how old wars were fought & how their weaponry was used

Arrows, especially Bodkins, are much straighter and smoother than sticks. It's easy to pull a stick out without others catching if it's free of any burrs, branches, or other things that snag. Even broadhead arrows don't snag because of the shape of their heads.

And yes, archers WERE a hell of a strong man, trained and conditioned from youth to fully draw bows with 140-200 lbs pulls fully. Some bows were to the cheek, others to the ear. In fact, at the battle of Agincourt, the English Longbow men couldn't effectively penetrate the french knight armor - but those bogged down knights didn't stand a chance against the archer's mallets when they closed to melee. The "Weak but dextrous Archer" is a myth.

warty goblin
2013-06-01, 08:45 PM
And yes, archers WERE a hell of a strong man, trained and conditioned from youth to fully draw bows with 140-200 lbs pulls fully. Some bows were to the cheek, others to the ear. In fact, at the battle of Agincourt, the English Longbow men couldn't effectively penetrate the french knight armor - but those bogged down knights didn't stand a chance against the archer's mallets when they closed to melee. The "Weak but dextrous Archer" is a myth.
I've always figured that games which tie DEX to archery and STR to melee have it closer to backwards than correct.

Although I believe many peoples favored much lighter draw bows for hunting, since it allowed for a more accurate, faster and quieter shot. Since deer don't usually wear body armor, but do run like the dickens when shot, it's worth the loss in power to reliably put the arrow someplace quickly lethal. Otherwise it charges off across half the township, and you lose the trail, the arrow, and supper.

imaloony
2013-06-01, 10:38 PM
I'm talking about when you go to pull an arrow out of your quiver, the arrow will catch on the others & pull them out as well. Bundle a bunch of sticks together & then try to pull just one out without the others catching, it's actually harder than you'd think. Especially if you take into account broadheads.

Also, you'd be a hell of a strong man to pull a real bow back to your cheek, most archers only pulled a bow back a little bit because of the tension & strain on cord. Most people don't understand how old wars were fought & how their weaponry was used

I don't understand how a hip-quiver would help keep arrows from catching on each other. Also keep into consideration that any D&D Archer worth his salt has a magical quiver, which probably eliminates any issue with broadheads catching.

As the others said, archers could be pretty burly guys and have no trouble pulling the arrow all the way back. I took an archery class once and while the bows I used had pretty low pull strengths, I pulled them all the way back. Increase my muscles, increase the pull strength, boom, archer.

Also, I tend to disagree with the others that D&D got archers wrong. Dexterity doesn't determine how much damage your arrows do, it just determines how accurate your shots are. For more damaging shots, you either need to invest in a higher pull strength (requiring more Strength, hence the burly archers), get a magic bow/arrows, or do some sort of Rogue/Scout/Order of the Bow thing. Either way, the functionality works quite well.

dukeofwolfsgate
2013-06-01, 10:53 PM
Both parts of my daisho (katana and wakizashi) are sheathed and tucked into my obi (silk sash that does over my kimono). (Legend of the Five Rings)

Amidus Drexel
2013-06-01, 11:15 PM
Neither of my characters really need to use weapons very often (as they're casters), but they both keep a loaded crossbow on their belts. The cleric just carries his morningstar in hand; the amount of people that could actually stop him from doing so in that setting are incredibly small.

Kymme
2013-06-01, 11:19 PM
My current character dual wields two Dragonfire-Forged Handaxes, which transform into dragon-themed cufflinks. He wears them as part of his three piece suit, when not actually using them to hack monsters into tiny bits.

Also, for one of my past characters, he sheathed his katana in his chest.
He was basically an Abyssal Exalted Jack Noir.

ZeroGear
2013-06-02, 12:03 AM
Easy: Ring of Arming.

Henshin!

...Dude, you just made my day. I've been wondering how to pull something Kamen Rider like in D&D/Pathfinder.

As to the whole thing with archers and strength: both sides are correct, to a point. While many archers were indeed quite strong, there were an equal number that relied more on their accuracy than their strength. D&D tries to mimic this as closely as possible, although it can never live up to reality.
In the game, all bows have a base damage value, representing the bare minimum amount of tension of the string needed to make an arrow fly the full range increment. For those who want more, bows can be made with more tightly strung strings (composite bows) that require a higher strength to use properly. If I'm not mistaken, most archers in the game usually have at least a 10 in strength due to the fact that strength penalties are applied to damage rolls of any bow.

Interesting fact: English longbow men were considered the most dangerous combatants of their time. So dangerous, in fact, that when French knights captured one, they would cut off his draw fingers (index and middle fingers). This became such a common practice that the English archers would taunt their enemies by holding up both fingers in a reverse-vitory sign as an expression of "I still got them! Pluck you!". Eventually someone decided to drop the index finger from this taunt, changing the "Pluck you!" into today's "F*** you!" expression that we all have used at some time or another.

Xuc Xac
2013-06-02, 10:30 PM
Interesting fact: English longbow men were considered the most dangerous combatants of their time.

Only according to the English in the Victorian era. Have you ever wondered why the histories written in English always talk about Agincourt and Crecy, which were only two days in a war that lasted 130 years? If that war had been a football match, the English headlines would all be about how the French goalie tripped twice and allowed England to score two easy goals, but there would be no mention of the fact that England didn't have many other goals and France won with an obscenely high score.

At the time, archers were a necessary but lowly type of soldier. They suddenly became really popular in the Victorian era when so-called "historians" started to propagate the myth that medieval swords were massive, knife-shaped clubs like slightly sharpened crowbars and armor was so heavy that knights were immobile on foot. The longbow was the katana of Victorian nerds. Real historians are still trying to undo the ignorance of the Victorians.

This link (http://www.snopes.com/language/apocryph/pluckyew.asp) does a fairly thorough deconstruction of the "pluck yew" myth.

Coidzor
2013-06-02, 10:38 PM
My characters that use polearms generally travel with them at hand, propped over their shoulder, sort of like how infantry marched with them, IIRC.

Axes, it depends on how humorously oversized they are. If it's actually somewhat analogous to a real-life axe, it's either strapped on top of their pack or carried like a polearm, with smaller axes being carried on the belt.

Swords are usually worn on the hip or with the sheath secured to the backpack so that the sword can be unsheathed at about the same time the pack is put down/dropped.

Spiked chains are worn coiled on top of armor or as a sort of belt.

Two-bladed swords have their sheaths set up so that they double as an iron-shod staff when sheathed. Anything that can't be slung on top of the frame of a hiking back pack or carried on a baggage animal is carried in hand if no magical means of transport is available, like a bag of holding or those gauntlets that store weapons in them.

Delvin Darkwood
2013-06-02, 10:51 PM
Oh boy, lets see... Kris longsword strapped across the back, flametougne shortsword on the left hip, rapier on the right, a dagger of throwing and one forged out of dragon bone on the belt as well, along with a dagger of venom, a dagger against undead, a dagger against reptiles, and an ancestral dagger all on a bandaleer, and then eight more daggers placed around the rest of my body.

Did i mention i like daggers?