| Weapon | Price | Weight | Length | Space req. | Speed factor | Damage, S-M | Damage, L | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| Man-catcher t | 12 gp | 7 | c. 6' | 4' | 9 | -- | -- | +1 | +2 | +1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +1 | +2 | +2 |
MAN-CATCHER:
As suggested by the name, this weapon is
usually not used to kill but to capture.
The man-catcher is a
pincer/jaw device mounted on a pole. The
pincer portion of the
weapon is commonly 3 feet in length with
the pole itself anywhere
from 4 feet to 6 feet long and flanked
by the appropriate
manipulation apparatus. This apparatus
allows the user to
open and close the pincer of the instrument
and latch the jaws
shut once the victim is entrapped. Any
hit made by the mancatcher
is considered to have locked the pincer
about its target.
Of course, anyone with a girth much smaller
or much larger
than a human may not be so trapped, and
against such opponents
the man-catcher is virtually useless.
Once the man-catcher has made its hit, it
must be determined
just how much of the target has been caught
by the pincer
device. For each level of experience the
attacker possesses,
there is a 3% chance that both the victim’s
arms will be pinned to
their sides, obviously negating any shield
or dexterity bonuses
to armor class the victim may have had.
If both arms are not so
pinned, there is still a 6% chance per
level of the wielder that
one arm will be incapacitated, with an
85% chance it will be the
victim’s “off” arm. If the shield arm is
free and the victim has a
small shield in hand, it may be used to
guard the shield flank,
but any larger shield is not usable in
such a situation. If the
weapon arm of a victim is left free, the
victim may use that
weapon on anyone within range. (Of course,
missile weapons
and magical spells may not be employed,
due to the constant
tugging and shaking by the entrapping instrument.)
Once a
victim is captured, the wielder must hold
on to the weapon and
wait until the captured is subdued enough
for release, at which
time the latch holding the jaws shut is
disengaged. The DM
must be sure to keep the use of this weapon
in check; some
players may want to hold an orc
still until it can be slowly beaten
to death with any available objects. One
simple way to avoid
this sort of tactic is to have a few very
strong monsters in your
dungeon which would be able to ram any
man-catcher that
happens to latch onto them down the wielder’s
throat — if the
wielder can shove and push, so can the
character or creature on
the other end, if the victim is strong
enough.
by Randy Bowman
| New Weapons | Equipment | - | Dragon #61 | Dragon magazine |