Why do current RPGs not have scythes?

[YuriHellsing]

Play Star Ocean. That is all.

I think he would what to play games that don't suck

 

[Judgement101]

Play Star Ocean. That is all.

I think he would what to play games that don't suck

It was bad?

 

[Lexodus]

snip

Christ, I misread the bottom left one as 'testicle scythe'. Ouch.

 

[Lexodus]

Play Star Ocean. That is all.

I think he would what to play games that don't suck

It was bad?

IT WAS AMAZING.

 

[Rayansaki]

Has anyone noticed that most rpgs don't have scythes as a weapon choice? (None modded games) It sort of annoys me because almost everyone loves a scythe as a weapon. So I was wondering what do you think the reasons for the lack of scythes is?

Because they are incredible hard to animate using. old games didn't have expectations of realistic movement so they were a cool weapon to have, but they really are an absurdly hard weapon to animate a character using.

And yeah, the scythes on Star Ocean: Last hope looked awesome and were wielded by the best melee character so double fine*

 

[Browbeat]

Cross Edge, Trinity Universe, (older) Growlanser 2, Chrono Trigger

The scythe is more of a focus object or a signature item, its weapon status is that of 'cool for the sake of cool'

Then again, in Warhammer40K, Mortarion's Scythe wielded in the hands of a superhuman warrior with futuristic power-armor infused with the cadaverous powers of Papa Nurgle DOES prove to be an effective weapon... farming tool... Imperial Guardsmen count as crops, right?

 

[Wedlock49]

ahem; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_scythe

Yes there were war scythe, but they still were impractical and hardly ever used. Also, these were just regular farming scythes, just remade into a polearm, so I doubt that they were made out of sturdy materials, and besides were talking about regular scythes.
Which, once again, were FARMING tools. The whole "well they're sharp" not really, a farmer wouldn't need a really sharp scythe, just sharp enough to cut through grain and such, against chainmail or the like it would do nothing.
SO why don't we see scythes? Simple, they are large, heavy, rather dull, and not a weapon. Now, why don't we see more polearms in RPGs, like spears, or halberds that I honestly don't know.

so... you can't sharpen metal and you can't create a sturdier design of a scythe? the war scythe is pretty much a halberd... halberds work quite well from range as do most pole arms.

Attack pattern for a scythe: swing and hook cutting into their calfs and severing muscles and tendons, have guy behind you with a closer range weapon to finish him off.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

A scythe is a profoundly stupid weapon, that's why they abandoned them.

untrue! but they werent used as sweeping weapons like you see in some anime's or movies, the blade would have been turned 'upward' as in making the stick even longer, and it would end up being a sort of proto-polearm able to hook someone with. the problem with it was that it wasent verry controllable and you could just as well stab your friends as allies XD

So essentially it's not a scythe, it's closer to a glaive, a halberd or a naginata. And that's why they aren't in RPG's, because with a farming scythe with the blade locked in 'grim reaper position' you can maybe, MAYBE stab one person in the side or cut them by moving it behind them and pulling. That's one person dead, every other opponent inside your weapon's protective area (two handed, no shield) and a very good chance your falling opponent will wrest the scythe from you.

Also please note if you do 'hook' someone with a scythe and pull it's unlikely to cut them if they're wearing any kind of armour, the force on the blade is insufficient to generate enough pressure. What you end up with is an enraged soldier being pulled towards you and your weapon stuck behind him. You are dead.

A scythe has a very thick handle and makes no sense as a weapon of choice, it's very much in the same category as a board with a nail in it; improvised weaponry for a section of society just glad to have something sharp.

A normal human with a scythe sucks,a skilled superhuman can combine both the staff and blade parts and fully utilize every bit of the weaopn, calling it a board with a nail in it is a bit disingenuous.......

A skilled superhuman wouldn't need to use a scythe, he would use his fists. Plus what would you rather choose? An impratical weapon that would take some serious practice to even learn how to use it as a proper weapon or a sword which was specific made for easy use?

You have no scene of style or a soul....... stop trying to inject logical logic into fiction.....

 

[Numb1lp]

Because scythes aren't weapons. They're farming tools. Only an idiot would fight with a scythe.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.70517-Scythes#694172
The real question is why do RPGs neglect polearms and axes? Historically they were the most commonly used melee weapons. Swords were the equivalent of an officers pistol.

Yeah, it's much more believable to fight with magic.

 

[masseyguy911]

ahem; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_scythe

Yes there were war scythe, but they still were impractical and hardly ever used. Also, these were just regular farming scythes, just remade into a polearm, so I doubt that they were made out of sturdy materials, and besides were talking about regular scythes.
Which, once again, were FARMING tools. The whole "well they're sharp" not really, a farmer wouldn't need a really sharp scythe, just sharp enough to cut through grain and such, against chainmail or the like it would do nothing.
SO why don't we see scythes? Simple, they are large, heavy, rather dull, and not a weapon. Now, why don't we see more polearms in RPGs, like spears, or halberds that I honestly don't know.

so... you can't sharpen metal and you can't create a sturdier design of a scythe? the war scythe is pretty much a halberd... halberds work quite well from range as do most pole arms.

Attack pattern for a scythe: swing and hook cutting into their calfs and severing muscles and tendons, have guy behind you with a closer range weapon to finish him off.

Just sharpening the scythe doesn't solve the problem, nor does getting sturdier wood. Yes a war scythe is somewhat like a halberd, but thats different than a scythe.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

You miss my point,fantasy fiction tends to make weapons common thus uncommon weapons are used by the most skilled or at the very least the level of high weaopn skills is common(some weaopn skill becomes less common than no weaopn skill becomes less common than highly skilled thats less common than superior skilled thats less common than godly skilled) IE you get random people who can't fight at all but most can fight at some level with something..

Oh. Oh! I get it, you're saying the scythe is good in fiction because it's so impractical! It is so impractical that it shows off the implicit prowess of the wielder! Ah, when I think of RPG at the moment I think Mount and Blade so I was going for realism.

Now your just being a smarty......... practicality ,reasonable reasonableness and logical logic(X common world thing to the nth degree) is the antithesis to fiction. Fiction runs on its own set of rules either enjoy what you get or ....remain a smarty...... LOL

 

[Einherion]

ya. i didnt give my 2 cents there. that is just the required reading to actually have a conversation. not this "if i spin at approx 45deg with 54lbs of force i shall pierce to their soul" and what not. ^_^

hmm didnt for got to quote the guy my response is too. but whatever, he was mistaken in his comment.

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

ahem; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_scythe

Yes there were war scythe, but they still were impractical and hardly ever used. Also, these were just regular farming scythes, just remade into a polearm, so I doubt that they were made out of sturdy materials, and besides were talking about regular scythes.
Which, once again, were FARMING tools. The whole "well they're sharp" not really, a farmer wouldn't need a really sharp scythe, just sharp enough to cut through grain and such, against chainmail or the like it would do nothing.
SO why don't we see scythes? Simple, they are large, heavy, rather dull, and not a weapon. Now, why don't we see more polearms in RPGs, like spears, or halberds that I honestly don't know.

so... you can't sharpen metal and you can't create a sturdier design of a scythe? the war scythe is pretty much a halberd... halberds work quite well from range as do most pole arms.

Attack pattern for a scythe: swing and hook cutting into their calfs and severing muscles and tendons, have guy behind you with a closer range weapon to finish him off.

Just sharpening the scythe doesn't solve the problem, nor does getting sturdier wood. Yes a war scythe is somewhat like a halberd, but thats different than a scythe.

Logically the problem with a scythe is its a poorly designed axe, if you overcome the physical limitations with fictional ones it can work as easy as shooting a gun.

 

[Einherion]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scythes

why would anyone use him as a weapon?

lol all jokes aside, im kinda appalled at all of the conjecture presented as fact here. no citation....BUT ANYWAY.

see this for some history;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scythe

check these guys out for some more info on origin;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scythians

check this out for war
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scythed_chariot

this guy made a book on how to fence with a scythe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulus_Hector_Mair

and here is the WAR SCYTHE.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_scythe


enjoy.

Yea... read through all of that...
Still not seeing how scythe is a practical weapon, oh and war scythe is different from a scythe.

well some dude wrote a book about it... idk man if you will reread my post i was giving background info. not explanation. and hand scythes were used as weapons i think. i believe the egyptians used them. not so sure.

and if you will look at the war scythe page it is most certainly a different weapon. like a gun compared to a cannon. they both do the same thing..

 

[Jonny The Kay]

You can In Demon's Souls

 

[Einherion]

Play Star Ocean. That is all.

I think he would what to play games that don't suck

It was bad?

no i enjoyed the star ocean games. read reviews, im not saying they are all amazing! lol

 

[masseyguy911]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scythes

why would anyone use him as a weapon?

lol all jokes aside, im kinda appalled at all of the conjecture presented as fact here. no citation....BUT ANYWAY.

see this for some history;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scythe

check these guys out for some more info on origin;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scythians

check this out for war
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scythed_chariot

this guy made a book on how to fence with a scythe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulus_Hector_Mair

and here is the WAR SCYTHE.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_scythe


enjoy.

Yea... read through all of that...
Still not seeing how scythe is a practical weapon, oh and war scythe is different from a scythe.

well some dude wrote a book about it... idk man if you will reread my post i was giving background info. not explanation. and hand scythes were used as weapons i think. i believe the egyptians used them. not so sure.

I believe the might have... What I do know is that they used a khopesh aka sickle sword. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopesh
But that was, once again, designed for battle, NOT like a scythe.