Basically right, with lots of exceptions. Roderick provided the chart from Cults of Prax:
> Impala: Bow, darts, short sword
> Llama: Lance, javelin, broad sword
> Sable: Any
> Bison: Lance, sword, javelin
> (Bison no longer get javelins)
> Zebra: Bow, lance, sword
> (Zebra people do have access to metal)
> Unicorn: Bow, sword/axe, lance
> (another people with some access to metal)
> Rhino: Lance, axe, mace.
Generally, I'd agree with this list, except that I think:
Anyone else would call an Impala "short swords" a "big knife"; it is clearly made out of bone.
The High Llama broad sword is might be made from a Llama thigh bone. That makes it long, probably single-edged, for slashing, perhaps with a bump at the end where the knee was. Remember that it would be made for hitting someone on the back of another animal that is shorter than a high llama.
All humans would use shields.
Morocanth use claws.
> From: Stephen Tempest
>
> Praxians don't have metalworking, so swords will
> be fabulously-expensive imports only.
Metal swords wil be, but they have a magic for making bone swords. They're a little brittle against good armor, though.
> Bone-tipped spears, bolas, maybe whips...
Horn is also a good working material.
> From: "S. Ben Melhuish" <sben_at_...>
>
> I was just reading my new copy of "Masters of
> Luck and Death" last night; according to that,
> most members of the Praxian Sword Man tradition
> (essentially misapplied worship of Humakt)
> use swords made of hardened bone.
It is not just a Sword Man thing, though theirs are the best by far. Praxians work bone and horn pretty well. Apart from rocks, it is the hardest thing that have available to them.
> I don't remember specific mention of
> swords being uncommon among the remainder
> of Praxians, but that was the impression I
> ended up with.
They are pretty uncommon. Axes are easier to make. I think they also have some weapons that are somewhere between a sword and an axe -- something like a klanth. In RQ terms, just call it a sword or whatever.
> Membership requirements for the tradition
> (or the hero band of Sword Men, whatever it's
> called -- I forget which, and there seems to be
> essentially a 1:1 mapping between the two) is to
> have a sword which has withstood a fierce battle.
> So there seems to be some recognition that
> just any ol' bone with a sharpened edge isn't
> sufficient.
Also that a bone sword is inherently fragile. If it survived a fierce battle, the Sword Man must have blessed you.
Bryan Thexton:
> That is what I would have thought too, in fact
> for all nomadic people, but oddly the "nomad"
> profession key word includes both spear and
> sword combat. So I presume nomads have a thing
> for swords for some reason?
If I had my entirely retrospective druthers, the nomad keyword would have said "Tribal Weapons" or something like that. But hindsight is 10W3. I think you just substitute for spear and sword whenever appropriate.
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