Totally not DDO related

[Seacog]

I dont really have anyone else to ask. My family thinks I am wasting my time, me friends dont care about martial arts, and my co-workers think I'm nuts. So i figure, I could always ask you, my fellow fantasy addicts. I am writing a book, in fact it will most likely be a trilogy or a 5 story set, not quite sure yet, only half way done book 1. One major part of my story, is the main characters ability to learn ANY martial weapon, simply by coming into direct contact with it. Guns do not exist, only martial style weapons, in this world. I have come up with this list of possible weapons to be used throughout the story. If you can think of any others here, it would help me a great deal, however no semantics, If i put longsword, please don't name 10 types of longswords as different weapons, once i get all the names i will research them even more. Thanks in advance for any time you spend helping me with my project.

Bo staff
Kunai
Whip
Hammer
Flail
Quarterstaff
Nunchakus
Short Sword
Long Sword
Katana
Sai
Spear ---------------- incidentally, these are 1 handed weapons
Bolo ---------------- I am NOT including two handed weapons, and for those
Kama ---------------that point it out, a spear CAN be a one handed Broadsword ------tho not always
Handaxe
Battle Axe
Scimitar
Rapier
Dirk
Ashiko
Tanto
Tessen
Truncheon
Mace
Morningstar
Tonfa

[cdbd3rd]

One that stands out right off is Wakasashi. (The sword between a Katana and a Tanto.)


Dunno if you plan on getting into the Polearm family of weapons (like Naginata - in addition to the slew of medieval variants).


editted out: Just saw the "no 2-handed weapons", your post is formatted kinda weird there.


Wiki has a good list:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_melee_weapons

[Seacog]

isn't the naginata a 2 handed weapon ?

I am interested in ANY martial melee 1 handed weapon, regardless of era, that actually exist...please...no lightsabers...

[Shaamis]

Sounds like you have a good story going on in your mind, complete with teh 5 stages, and the hero.

What's his drive, who is his opposition, and what are his goals?

he has an extrordinary ability, how does that help him, or hinder him?

Does it cause him to be very reserved, because his power is uncontrollable, and those he touch, he also learns too much about?

Is he shunned because he is more special than others? Or is he part of a group of people with these powers, like mutants, or just his racial gift, that others have equal but different gifts?

it sounds liek there is a lot of potential, but the keep to a good story, is getting the reader to connect, and want to read more.

I'm just afraid if you focus too much on one aspect of the fantasy setting (weapons for example) you might lose the captivity of the audience.

Your book, you can create weapons similar to RL

[Seacog]

Ah but I have all the answers to those questions already in my head and in my web. I am just a little bit skittish about sharing some of the darker plot twists and secrets to my story, wouldn't want someone that types faster then me to take half my story and make one of their own, thus making mine seem perjury The story is pretty much set in my mind, every aspect of it, antagonist, protagonist, time lines, all the important aspects. I have done LOTS of research and made many tiny drafts of pure plot, now i am seeking to embellish it, make it larger, right now it is stuffy, i need more to spread it apart. This is my first book, and it NEEDS to be perfect in my own eyes before I start the second in full. The problem any artist will note, a work of art is constantly changing morphing becoming something else, and if i focus my full attention on one thing, my ADD kicks up, and i start thinking of others, since this part is requires a much more studious take, i thought of branching out for help. It's just the small details, i have yet to finalize.

And as a tiny spoiler, thats only a tiny fragment of his abilities, the first he learns, his power grows but too slow, and he will be defeated, yet he creates the path for himself to become even more powerful and to win ( i know this contradicts itself, it's supposed to, gotta know the full story) He even reaches Godhood at one point, then he gets beaten again, and his son has to take up the mantle...

[geoffhanna]

These are all one-handers

Pick
Hammer
Flail
Chain
Scythe/sickle
Net
Whip
Fan
Lariat (arguably requires two hands)
Needle

You have quarterstaff but I suspect that is always two-handed. So is the Bo staff (however there is a shorter one-handed version called a Jo).

What about construction material variants? For instance you have katana already but the wooden practice version is a bokken.

Do you want missile weapons too? Limited to one-handed they'd mostly be throwing weapons, but how about one-handed missile launchers?

Good luck with your project!

[Seacog]

Thank you, those were good suggestions, and yes the staves i added in are the only 2 handed weapons i am allowing, since any martial artist should know those as staple, i guess i should have said no ADDITIONAL 2 handed and the fan is actually covered already, thats what a Tessen is...prolly wont use net, but I will add hammer whip and flail, i know DDO uses picks, but thats kind of a " last ditch" style weapon, inflicts damage, but not really a trained weapon, same for the sickle IMO, farmer weapons, not really martial artist types. Chain is pretty much most likely two handed, would use Kunai rather then needle, though i did consider it. And i considered bokken, but thats more of a training tool, then a true weapon, so i scrapped that, incidentally, it made me think of club...still debating if i should use club...

[geoffhanna]

I am far from an expert on this but my understanding is that most of the martial arts evolved from farmers who were not allowed to own "real" weapons.

I see your point re: chain. Like lariat, probably need a second hand to guide even if only the one hand is launching. Certainly would never dual wield chains.

[Tanka]

I am far from an expert on this but my understanding is that most of the martial arts evolved from farmers who were not allowed to own "real" weapons.

Untrue for many arts. Lots of the arts actually provide weapons training in addition to unarmed training. It's good to know unarmed because, obviously, you won't always have a weapon with/near you.

It's also why lots of arts have a stick-type style. It's almost impossible not to find something to replicate a 12" piece of wood.

[Cupcake]

Excuse my ignorance, but would fighting batons fit within your criteria.

[Tanka]

Excuse my ignorance, but would fighting batons fit within your criteria.

That would fall under truncheon. Or even tonfa.

[Dexxaan]

Chopsticks.

Greater BranMuffin Bane Chopsticks.

[Seacog]

It's true they are indeed martial weapons, but not the way i would see them in this story. The fighters using them, are/will be masters of fighting unarmed and armed using various styles, and I don't really see someone that is a master of a style wielding a pick or a sickle, when other weapons such as swords, daggers, tonfas etc. are available, even hammers can be a bit of a stretch, but one of the guys is a Swordsmith, so a hammer might be a decent choice for him...

[Missing_Minds]

That would fall under truncheon. Or even tonfa.

Not tongfa, but more like escrema (rattan sticks that comes in pairs. Think ye old pool cue that got broke in two.)

In fact a lot of his weapons all have equivalents. All a kunai is is just a variant throwing dagger. He stated he didn't want 10 different name for a long sword. That follows the same issue.
However, I would qualify a shuriken as a different form of missle, but as he stated he didn't want missiles, bolo's should be taken out of his list.

Nunchucks are flails, however, they are two handed for the most part.

[Seacog]

Yea not too worried about missile weapons, will mostly stick to kunai and bolos for those. The bolos will be used by mounted soldiers to entangle people running away, and a bolo can also be used as a type of flail very similar to the nunchaku if you attempt to use it as such.

As far as batons, Missing is correct, they are most closely related to rattans, but I will be filling that spot, most likely with the tonfas, though some rattan fighting may be in the story for training purposes... the story is slowly morphing around within my mind, only the base storyline is solid so far, which honestly, is the way iu like it keep the suggestions coming guys

As for ignorance, if you feel you may be ignorant, at least you aren't ignorant of being ignorant! <jk, all suggestions and thoughts are decided before being used or discarded, thanks again>