Spear in NA version

[knightkrawler]

Same for my game but when you throw it you roll 4 dice.

Oooh, that's a shiny idea. There's always need of provoking the heroes to get rid of weapons or make them lose them in various ways. There's the inclination right there. Brilliant. Will have to think about implementing this.

[mitchiemasha]

Now you mention this

There's always need of provoking the heroes to get rid of weapons or make them lose them in various ways.

I like the idea.

Make the spear a powerful 1 shot weapon or weak use all the time. Now it's worth buying.

[knightkrawler]

Sotiris is a genius when it comes to HQ, I knew that before. This idea is one of the indicators.

[cynthialee]

It makes them expend gear I like it. But it is very unreal so I don't like it. I can throw a spear into a target and get it to partially stick into it, or I can walk up to the target and with two hands bury the thing. (real life experience once again interferes with my ability to suspend disbelief in HQ, like that is a press release...)

4 Dice is a strong attack, but it sure isn't worth the pile of gold that is being thrown away (literally) to buy the thing in the first place. Then with super rich hero they can walk into the dungeon with a stack of spears and just throw them at stuff all day.

{Also it rubs against my feeling that thrown weapons being lost is stupid. Especially if the weapon hits and kills an enemy. Just go dig the weapon out of the corpse. If the knife, spear or arrow hits the wall due to a miss...then sure it might get ruined, but even then that is not a for sure thing. Now if the spear was one of those Roman spears designed to bend on impact and be a nuisance that would wash.}

[cynthialee]

Just call them arcane enhanced spears of throwing and it solves all my issue on the topic.

[SirRick]

Just call them arcane enhanced spears of throwing and it solves all my issue on the topic.

It does sound like a good one-use artifact similar to the magical throwing dagger.

[cornixt]

I'd prefer thrown weapons to be recoverable, but give them a chance of being damaged when you do. Missing the target and hitting a wall will severely damage a speartip, being caught and thrown back would also be a fun surprise for a hero, something you can't do with knives and axes.

[cynthialee]

Just call them arcane enhanced spears of throwing and it solves all my issue on the topic.

It does sound like a good one-use artifact similar to the magical throwing dagger.

love those daggers, I hand them out in sets of 3

[mitchiemasha]

but it sure isn't worth the pile of gold that is being thrown away

That's why we have... lost weapons are found if the room is searched. As a hero can't search in presence of monsters it's like a one shot in each room. We also have a limit to what a Hero can carry and they have to sacrifice 1Md6 to change inventory to hand. So a Hero could have thee of these 'Enhanced Spears of Throwing' running about a dungeon chucking them around. I think we are slowly coming up with a new character class here.

[Daedalus]

I want to incorporate some of the UK equipment into my NA version of the game. Im debating if the Spear should be considered a one or two-handed weapon. The UK equipment cards seem to allow the use of a shield with a spear. This is also the case with the Staff, it seems you can use a shield with that too. The NA armory stares that a Staff cannot be used with a shield. So my question is: Should i treat the spear as a one-handed weapon or two-handed?

Rules-as-written, it's one handed, but you could house rule it as both as some have suggested. Allow a spear with all of EU card attributes: two combat dice, diagonal attack, used with a shield, and thrown. Additionally, add in the ability to attack with three combat dice without a shield and bump the cost 50 gold coins. I'm not sure if you're after that, but then it would remain useful longer as a longsword alternative.

Yeah, a diagonal attack with the shortsword is really strange. When I read the card, I was thinking: wtf? I imagined the sword being attached to a chain and flung at a diagonal enemy.

This topic discussed why a shortsword can or cannot be used in diagonal attacks.

The real question is, should a Wizard be able to use a spear? Which if they can, it would be a huge upgrade for the Wizard because a Wizard can't use a shield.

Spear:
"Gives you the attack strength of 2 combat dice, can be thrown at a monster you can "see", can be recovered after thrown and enables you to attack diagonally. You may not use a shield while using this weapon." This allow anyone to use it but entices the Wizard because its better than the staff and since the Wizard can't use a shield anyway, it has no negatives for the Wizard. I've always felt the Wizard is severally handicapped when it comes to combat, which I understand the concept of his spells being his main weapon, but as the Wizard climbs higher in a quest book, he needs to be able to hang with the other players and be able to hit monsters. Nothing sucks more than a Wizard who has cast all his spells only to be reduced to trying to hit a Chaos Warrior with a dagger or staff.

It's a question worth considering, anyway. In this post I discussed allowing the Wizard one-handed weapons at double cost and -1 Attack Dice. To make a spear worthwhile with those penalties, I'd add in the two-handed ability suggested above. That would allow a Wizard to roll two combat dice, same as the EU staff that the NA armory lacks.

Since the NA Wizard's Staff artifact makes a spear redundant when it can be afforded by the Wizard, it might be a good idea to swap in another EU piece of equipment for that artifact. The Bracers would suit nicely. Even if the Wizard's Staff is kept in-game, it might be lost forever upon (one of) that most fragile Hero's demise(s.) Having a spear as a replacement option insures the Wizard can retain a bit of combat power needed for later Quests.

Im curious, do you impose some sort of maximum range or distance penalty of some kind for a thrown weapon? For example if a hero on one side of the board wants to throw a weapon at a monster at the opposite side of the board?

My houserule is Max range 12 squares for thrown weapons, but beyond 6 squares skulls must be rerolled to hit.

I'd prefer thrown weapons to be recoverable, but give them a chance of being damaged when you do. Missing the target and hitting a wall will severely damage a speartip, being caught and thrown back would also be a fun surprise for a hero, something you can't do with knives and axes.

I also like that grain, though I've since decided to use a Zargon Card to work the effect. Here is a houserule I developed for weapon damage. A spear would be reduced to one Attack Die if a spear was thrown and 2 black shields were rolled in to attack. The spear could then be recovered as a treasure search.