Chains?

[FireFox]

Hi, are there any stats in DnD for a chain? Like a metal chain used as a whip. I have an idea on how to mkae one if there are no rules for it, but is it already in a book? Thanks.

[dman11235]

Uhhh, seriously? Look in your PhB. Go ahead, try it. Weapon called the Spiked Chain. Have fun.

[Collin152]

Uhhh, seriously? Look in your PhB. Go ahead, try it. Weapon called the Spiked Chain. Have fun.

Perhaps he wanted something less broken?

[FireFox]

No, I meant like a chain, no spikes. Uh, like Sheik in SSB melee/brawl, you know?

[Crow]

The spiked chain isn't broken. It's just one of the few weapons worth spending an entire feat on.

[Zincorium]

Hi, are there any stats in DnD for a chain? Like a metal chain used as a whip. I have an idea on how to mkae one if there are no rules for it, but is it already in a book? Thanks.

Armor spikes are 1d4, piercing.

A spiked chain is 2d4, piercing.

Theoretically, a chain would then be around 1d4, bludgeoning, and otherwise identical to a spiked chain.

YMMV.

[Collin152]

The spiked chain isn't broken. It's just one of the few weapons worth spending an entire feat on.

Suppose you got it without spending a feat.
Broken?

[dman11235]

How about taking a whip and saying it's made of metal? Same dif. And I never really got why something whip-like (spiked chain) did piercing damage. Change it to slashing.

EDIT: And how would you go about doing that Collins?

[FireFox]

I was thinking making a whip deal bludgeoning, lethal damage as opposed to nonlethal. So just like a whip, except it can kill people... Would that work?

[Iku Rex]

It's in Savage Species and Oriental Adventures.

Same as spiked chain, except 5 gp, 5lbs, 1d6/1d6 damage, bludgeoning, and can be used as double weapon as well as reach weapon.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

Do not make it a whip. Whips are some of the most useless weapons in DnD. Change Spiked Chain to Chain, follow the advice about reducing the damage, though I would say 1d6, not 1d4, and you should be good. But yes, it still requires a feat, because 10 ft of reach without a gap is overpowered. Sorry.

[FireFox]

okay, that sounds good... call it "exotic weap. prof. (chain)"?

[dman11235]

Well, the whip exists. And does non-lethal. You do the math. There is however the Mighty Whip (AaEG I believe) that is stronger than the whip. Still though, it doesn't make sense that a whip can hurt a guy in full plate. It'll just bounce off. Heavier things (SC, mace, etc.) can actually impart their force through the armor to cause pain. And lighter things (dagger, dart, etc) can get into smaller areas and "bypass" armor or pierce the armor in the case of daggers and rapiers and darts.

Just use the SC and have it deal slashing damage. It should work if run by your DM.

[LibraryOgre]

In 2nd edition's Complete Fighter's Handbook, chains did 1D4+1 damage to S/M, and 1D4 to large (bludgeoning). This assumed a 20' chain. Combat and Tactics had the same damage, and added notes h and s; h noted that the chain required two hands to use properly, and s noted that you could perform martial arts maneuvers with it (which in 3.x I would interpret as meaning it was a monk weapon). The text mentioned a +4 to pull/trip maneuvers.

[Crow]

Suppose you got it without spending a feat.
Broken?

In that case, I would consider it unbalanced, in that there would really be not much reason to not use one.

[Wooter]

Okay, you take the Spiked Chain and de-spike it. It does 1d6 bludgeoning 20 x2 with a 10' inclusive reach. But, we take away its bonus to trip, and make it a martial weapon. Is that (somewhat) balanced?

[Smiley_]

Nah, tripping and disarming is inherent of each and every chain weapon. Flails and spiked chains and gyrspikes.

Try this. 10ft range, but -2 penalty for attacking adjacent foes (because you have no spikes to help you and the momentum of the chain does most of the damage when not adjacent to a target).

1d6 damage.

This reminds me of the Duom, a spear that one could use with a back thrust at a -2 penalty. Exotic 1d8 but it did to x3 damage on criticals.

[Brawls]

My current character wound up using chains that were attached to his manacles as an improvised weapon (he had broken a link in the chains to escape, but had no way to remove the manacles). We played it as 10' reach weapon, 1d6 budgeoning, +4 to trip attempts. We included the standard penalty for an improvised weapon. That seemed to make it an acceptable weapon compared to unarmed fighting, but not worth taking a feat to become proficient with.

Have fun.

[Collin152]

How about taking a whip and saying it's made of metal? Same dif. And I never really got why something whip-like (spiked chain) did piercing damage. Change it to slashing.

EDIT: And how would you go about doing that Collins?

Collins sounds like a last name, which it aint. But that's okay.

I don't know. Racial proficiency? Bizzare class feature?
It's a strange world!

[mabriss lethe]

Well, the whip exists. And does non-lethal. You do the math. There is however the Mighty Whip (AaEG I believe) that is stronger than the whip. Still though, it doesn't make sense that a whip can hurt a guy in full plate. It'll just bounce off. Heavier things (SC, mace, etc.) can actually impart their force through the armor to cause pain. And lighter things (dagger, dart, etc) can get into smaller areas and "bypass" armor or pierce the armor in the case of daggers and rapiers and darts

there's also a weapon in Sword and Fist called a whip dagger. Anyone proficient with a whip can use it, follows the same rules as a whip, except it deals lethal damage and isn't hindered by armor. Sure it's a 3.0 sourcebook, but it should be able to convert pretty much as is to 3.5. If you wanted to make a whip-like chain weapon, use the whip dagger as a base and convert the damage type to bludgeoning... assuming you don't want to use the OA or Savage species chain.

[Ascension]

But yes, it still requires a feat, because 10 ft of reach without a gap is overpowered. Sorry.

So every Large creature ever is overpowered? I guess the larger-than-large creatures are TOTALLY broken, then.

Seriously, I think the game balance issue isn't that the spiked chain is overpowered, it's that every other reach weapon is underpowered. I seldom if ever hear of anybody playing with any other reach weapon, and that's a crying shame. If it were up to me every reach weapon would be able to threaten and attack within a five foot radius, just at a penalty (maybe a -2 to attack).

Keep the reach weapon damage dice lower than the non-reach weapons so there's still an incentive to use a sword or axe if you so desire, but throw the reach weapons a bone. There's a reason why spears and pikes were the weapons of choice for armies for centuries. They really are that good. And D&D fails to reflect that properly. True, spearmen would usually drop the spear and switch to a shortsword if their enemies got too close or their spear was broken, but most didn't survive that long in the first place.

[Chronicled]

Seriously, I think the game balance issue isn't that the spiked chain is overpowered, it's that every other reach weapon is underpowered. I seldom if ever hear of anybody playing with any other reach weapon, and that's a crying shame. If it were up to me every reach weapon would be able to threaten and attack within a five foot radius, just at a penalty (maybe a -2 to attack).

I do! I only use glaives and guisarmes for reach weapons. Then I have a (spiked) gauntlet for close range, or if the DM doesn't like me letting go of my spear to punch enemies, I use spiked armor. And I use that feat for something a lot more fun than EWP (Spiked Chain) or Short Haft.