I understand the core book was mostly Fallout 4 based, but when the settler’s and wanderer’s guides came out, they were from all the games including adding backgrounds like tribals. I don’t udnerstand why when one of the most iconic tribals in Fallout history, the chosen one from Fallout 2 carried a spear as a first weapon, spears were not added in either of those books. Spears are one of the easiest weapons to make and have been around for millenia, so you would think players would want to use them. Instead, these books added bows, which I had no idea were even in the games (apparently they were in some DLC for one fo the games and in Fallout: 76, whcih I have never played as I’m not an MMO person). Bows are cool and it makes sense to have them, but spears even more so. It seems a huge oversight adding tribals but no spears.
Is there any consideration of adding spears in the future? In the meantime, what kind of stats do you think they should have. In Fallout 2, a spear could be thrown or used in Melee. I see javelins are in the game, so would it be reasonable to assume a spear would be a javelin that was 1CD more, is two-handed, and could be used in melee? Also in fallout 2 you could have your spear sharpened, making it do much more damage. I think “sharpened” and maybe “barbed” would be good options for mods for a spear, adding +1CD +1piercing and +1CD + persistent respectfully. Thoughts?
The book’s javelin isn’t really a javelin, but just a throwable melee spear. It’s the kind of spear usable with an atlatl…
An Olympic Javelin (1.8 lbs 102.4-108.3" or 1.3 lbs 86.6-96.6") would be lousy in close combat; first solid parry, and it’s bent (metal), or broken (carbon fiber, fiberglass, or wood). And would probably be about 2 CD, piercing 1, Accurate, Thrown (M), effectively 2 lb for men’s, 1 lb for women’s…
A heavy melee spear, 12th-16th century type, was not much used in the Americas… The most common uses for such a spear is a unit guidon or a parade flag. (The reason for the decorative points is that flags were originally flown from spears…) It doubles as a lance, and in fact, sometimes is called the footman’s lance…
Note that modern misterminology leads to confusion when weapon-wise historians and reenactors (I do both - Undergrad was in History, emphasis on Russian history), and while it rankles to see the term for a non-melee spear is used for a melee-capable one…
And don’t get me started on the two almost totally unalike rapiers… the 4’-6’ slender steel fencing blades of the mid 15th to early 17th C, and the bronze age heavy stabbing/slashing swords under 3’… in the professional lit of the Anthropologists…
yeah, the “javelin” is basically a short spear (one-handed), but I think there should be a longspear (4CD, two-handed, thrown or melee, and moddable). I worked with my GM to add this and he made it moddable with same mod options as a sword (serrated, stun, etc.). He also gave it a property he made up called “reach”. Reach weapons allow you to interupt someone coming into melee with you by spending 2AP to get a free melee attack on them that’s resolved before their attack. I love it. It is working very well for my tribal character. I get taht two-handed spears might not ahve historically been used much in the Americas, but in a post apocalytic setting where radioactive wild boar might charge you, having a good two handed spear to set against that charge makes sense, and its a pretty easy weapon to make without much technology.