Underwater Weaponry

[Devour]

So, yes, I need help designing weaponry for an underwater civilization. Hunting equipment, fighting weapons etc.

Obviously, due to the fact that they're mainly underwater, a few considerations will have to be taken into account:
- Things can be fairly weighty and taken along the sea floor.
- Moving stuff along the sea floor requires tank-like tracks.
- Things cannot REALLY be swung.

The two weapon ideas I've had are fairly obvious: Spears and pressure propelled weapons. But, honestly, everyone gets confronted with these, so it'd be nice to have something a bit new for my players to face up against.

Thank you in advance.

[Melayl]

Heavy objects would not necessarily require tank-like treads to be moved. Inflated bladders of some type could be used to make them more bouyant (and therefore more easily moved).

As far as types of weaponry... I'm really not sure what else would work, beyond what you have already stated. Rapiers or other piercing-style swords, perhaps. Crossbows, also. Perhaps some variant on tangle-foot bags (although they'd still be hard to throw). Good luck with your project. I'll see if I can come up with any other ideas for you.

[The Grue]

Giant scissors of doom.

Seriously, crushing-type weapons. It gets around the whole water-density-so-you-can't-swing-a-sword problem quite nicely.

Also claws. Basically, look to sea creatures for inspiration.

[Knaight]

Obviously there are the restrictions on personal weapons, but the sea opens up a lot of opportunities for bigger stuff.

Examples:

Air bladder rockets that fly straight up, covered with a fast drying adhesive as soon as they contact something solid.

Steam Vent Cannons, small turrets that usually point with the steam vent, but can be moved to send boiling water at people nearby.

Crushers, floating rocks near the surface that are dense, heavy, and one cut rope away from falling and taking down anything under them. Bonus points for a concave "point", as that accelerates it and just traps people underwater, pinned against sand and rock.

Coral bolts, for that poisonous fun.

Water Pump Blow Guns, like the original kind but way powered up.

Floating nets, dropped from below that move up.

Sinking nets, dropped from above that move down.

Harpoon launchers, with lightweight darts made of a floating material. They curve upward upon firing.

[Debihuman]

Being underwater has its own obstacles. Metal rusts and wood rots underwater so you'll want to reinforce those materials or use materials that aren't adversely affected by water. Waterproofing is essential for normal weapons.

I'm thinking of things like a coral weapons or vent-tempered metals (dangerous because those underwater smoking vents tend to be poisonous).

Debby

[Zen Monkey]

You'll want to avoid blunt weapons, because they rely on weight and speed. In the water, their weight wouldn't mean as much and speed is significantly reduced as things like clubs aren't very aero(hydro?)dynamic. Piercing weapons would be best, and maybe slashing weapons secondary. A nice pole-weapon would be handy, as it gives you reach with stabbing and slashing options. Nets could be good too, as they're handy for messing up movement.

And of course, a shark launcher, just because.

[The-Mage-King]

And of course, a shark launcher, just because.

Because of this?

[Iferus]

How about a weapon related to the pistol shrimp's claw?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpheidae
The University of Twente link is way cool (for me, at least) - there are pictures of my professors when they were ten years younger :P

Here's a short, sensationalist documentary: www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKPrGxB1Kzc

[Lysander]

How about razor edged flippers? Strap them on your feet and kick people in the face for slashing damage.

Tiny sharp weapons might not have much resistance underwater either. I could see a dagger still being useful where a sword would be too slow.

Perhaps grappling would play a bigger role? I could see people wearing shark-leather armor studded with spikes to deal extra damage during grapples.

[Devour]

Ah, thank you all very much, I hadn't really considered materials, but that's definitely something to consider.

Poison barbed spears, here we go.

[Warpwolf16]

how about some chaositech style grafts.Artifcial gills, fins, spines, poison barbs/tentacles. Maybe a bio organic poison tentacle whip of some sort, or coral shields and and poison spines from bottom dwellers for darts.

[Suleman]

Rope, barbed or not, in net form or not. How are you going to fight people who swim arounds, attempting to entangle you and/or rip you to shreds?
Dust, sand and other vision-obstructing weapons, possibly poisoned.
Steam.
Grappling claws for hands and/or feet. It's pretty much needed in order to fight someone, since you need to push from somewhere to get real force, and the only surface around is your opponent. Grab onto him with your feet, stab him to death.

[Triaxx]

Where are we on the scale of tech/magic? Because a Steampunk Shark towing magnetic mines is really an awesome way to deal with enemies in metal armor.

Schools of druids are also great underwater weapons.

[imp_fireball]

- Things cannot REALLY be swung.

Under the SRD, you can attack with regular weapons underwater.

Most of this suggests techno-innovation.

Off the top of my head, there's barbed nets, rake like devices, perhaps a metal claw bear-trap like weapon, claws, brass knuckles. Funky stuff that allows decent mobility. A melee conflict in water would realistically involve lots of grappling.

Also underwater martial arts. :P

[CTLC]

weighted nets work really, really well underwater. Pistol shrimp!
Spears do fairly well, as dodging is hard, and they have reach. Poison is always good, as being unable to breathe is fatal. Well shaped projectiles can be spring loaded as amazing traps. And spells involving ice can be fun.
imagine what wall of iron would do underwater...

[Zexion]

Have you ever thrown a punch underwater? There's considerable resistance, but it sends out a ripple that can slam people into the side of the swimming pool (I speak from experience, as in I slammed the other person into... yeah, you get the idea)
Perhaps some sort of thing that makes the fist bigger and pumps water at the enemy for a powerful blow.
Have you seen Zoom? Kind of like that Concussion guy, but underwater.

[Temotei]

Have you ever thrown a punch underwater? There's considerable resistance, but it sends out a ripple that can slam people into the side of the swimming pool (I speak from experience, as in I slammed the other person into... yeah, you get the idea)
Perhaps some sort of thing that makes the fist bigger and pumps water at the enemy for a powerful blow.
Have you seen Zoom? Kind of like that Concussion guy, but underwater.

Punches still hurt underwater as well, but mostly because you aim for the diaphragm and you run out of air when hit there.