Proposal to eliminate “free” underhand thrown weapons.

Why make this change?

1) Because the current rule is impractical. It requires the person being hit to know a) whether the person who threw the wimblie has the thrown weapons skill, b) whether the weapon hit point first (which is difficult under the best of circumstances and impossible if hit from behind), and c) in the case of multiple thrown weapons, who threw which wimblie. And all of this has to be judged on the fly while in the middle of combat!

For example, I was recently in a combat where I had 4 wimblies thrown at me in quick succession, of which 3 hit. One of the throwers announced that she didn’t have the thrown weapons skill, so her wimblie had to hit point-first. I then had to figure out not only which of three hits were point first, but also which person threw which wimblie. It was an impossible task, and even after stopping combat to talk about it, nobody really felt we knew the right answer.

2) Because it makes sense. Real-life people who haven’t trained with throwing knives cannot throw them effectively. But in a game world where throwing underhand costs 0 points, it’s implicit that anyone can do it, just not as well as those who’ve trained. Why change that aspect of reality in our fantasy world?

3) Because it simplifies the rules. It would be a lot easier to tell newbies “you can’t throw a weapon unless you have the Thrown Weapons ability and if you’re hit by a thrown weapon, you must take it as a wound,” than to have to explain this whole overhand/underhand, skill/no skill, any orientation/point-first, it’s your call even though it’s hard to tell…mess.

4) Because it will somewhat reduce the number of wimblies flying through the air in a combat system centered on swords, shields, and magic.

What problems might this change cause?

1) It arguably strengthens the Thrown Weapons skill by widening the ability gap between those that have the skill and those that don’t.

2) It slightly reduces the survivability of non-fighters.

The Proposal:

The rules should be changed to require the Thrown Weapons skill to throw any weapon. This will include the removal of references to underhand throwing and “point-first” restrictions.