The way I would interpret this scenario, you threw the Yklwa with skill, point first. Catapult just pushes the object with a random orientation, no aim or skill. So the 1d8P would be the throw, the 3d8B would be the roll for the impact. You wouldn't stack the damage unless you could convince your DM to roll a random orientation of the yklwa at the point of impact.
I have a host of questions about this item and how I would use it in the context of the new character I am making for my next campaign. When I saw it in the options I figured it would be interesting to give it a shot since it is a unique weapon. I am playing a Sorcerer of the Divine Soul class. Since this is basically a shorter short spear I thought it would work good since I plan on using focus based spells for my sorcerer to avoid friendly fire (Using Magic Missile instead of Burning Hands concept. Target specific targets instead of just everyone generally in front of me). For me the Yklwa does 1d8+0 piercing damage when I wield it, my first question is how does this transfer over into its thrown aspect? is it still 1d8+0P when I throw it and I just role to land a successful throw? Next question is how does it play into a few unique spells I have found that I could use for the weapon.
Scenario 1. I throw the weapon at minion 1 that is almost down, say I land the throw and he is impaled by the Yklwa, I am now weaponless (Gear set lets me have 2 knives for some reason but I leave them sheathed for this next part). A spell in my arsenal from the Cleric spell list (Result of being Divine Soul Sorcerer) is Guiding Bolt which lets me make a ranged damageing attack of 4d6 on a target which I use on the boss. Text also indicates that the next attack made on this target has advantage due flavored text. If I attack it next and I use the spell Catapult on my Yklwa to throw it at the boss from the dead minions chest, how is the damage for this calculated?
The Yklwa does 1d8 Piercing damage but Catapult does 3d8 Bludgeoning Damage, so which damage is used in this case and how? 3d8 Piercing or Bludgeoning? does the damage from the weapon itself get added in as the first damage effect meaning the magically thrown weapon from the dead minions corpse deals 4d8 p/b damage? What sort of restrictions would be placed on preventing the weapon from being pulled from the dead minions corpse preventing my spell from working on the weapon when I use Catapult? If I use Catapult on a weapon, does it maintain its natural damage property when thrown? (Sword with slashing does 3d8 slashing damage? [Talked with my barbarian friend about being able to use catapult on his mace and shield to pull a Captain America])
Most of the questions stem from how does a spell that does bludgeoning damage work when used on a weapon that does Piercing damage?
A few other small questions about Catapult. Is there anything that would prevent the catapult spell from working on the Yklwa when it is used to pull the item out of a minions chest to throw it at someone else? (Spell indicates that it can't be used on something that is worn or carried. Does having a spear sticking out of your chest count as you wearing/carrying it?) The spell also indicates that it does 3d8 bludgeoning damage to the target and the item used. The Yklwa is intended to be used as a weapon so if it is used in the thrown aspect with this spell does it still take this damage to itself or is the self damage on the weapon negated? If not, how would that be handled?
Catapult isn't making an attack with the weapon. it's using an object as the materiel component for the spell. in this scenario, the yklwa is the material component. the damage listed with it's attack, has no application here.
No, it was designed for Zulus. They were not short at all, and were strong men fighting often in open spaces.
They were shortened primarily to make them less suitable for throwing than normal spears, and to force them to go into very close combat, similarly to what the romans did when they moved away from hoplite style spears and formations to gladius.
This tactic was very effective to other peoples more used to skirmishing and longer range fighting as a norm.
All thrown weapons are strength based for ranged attacks, rather than dexterity. The finesse property doesn't really map onto small or compact weapons, more light, agile ones. In fact, in small confined spaces, strength is going to be your biggest asset, not dexterity.
I don't want to nitpick but your statement about all thrown weapons are strength based is an absolute that isn't accurate at the current date. I'm not sure of when the exact change happened if there even was one, but this dagger is sad now.
Being simple is probably why it's missing any other traits. If it were martial, could it not possess the light property as well as either or both finesse or versitile? ...or reach?...
I could see a version of this weapon with one end of a 10ft. chain attached to it's base, and the other to a bracer or gauntlet so you can throw it the 10 feet, forget 30ft, then yank it back for melee. This paired with a shield in your other hand. I actually really like the concept of this weapon. what feats would support it as being a characters signature weapon?
What class would best be able to use this sort of weapon? Again, but for a RAW missing property, would this otherwise be good for a monk?
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Thank you for your time and please have a very pleasant day.
Another benefit of the yklwa: the description says it can be made of metal or stone. So keep one on-hand in case of rust monsters or other metal-destroying foe.
Ok... The yklwa looks to be based off the real life Zulu Iklwa. My question is why is it listed as a piercing weapon and not a slashing/piercing weapon as was the real life counterpart. It has an 18 in blade for a reason.
Fun fact! Improvised thrown weapons deal 1d4 damage and have a short range of 20ft and a long range of 60ft. This means the Yklwa's thrown attack has strictly worse range than any other thrown weapon in the game, including bricks, chairs and the skulls of your enemies.
IMO the Yklwa's thrown property is a mistake and should either be removed entirely or increased to 20/60. My preference is the former. You can always treat it as an improvised javelin afterall, which begs the question why does it's range magically double if you throw it like a javelin instead of however you'd usually throw it? Point is the Yklwa is badly designed.
Ok... The yklwa looks to be based off the real life Zulu Iklwa. My question is why is it listed as a piercing weapon and not a slashing/piercing weapon as was the real life counterpart. It has an 18 in blade for a reason.
Ok... The yklwa looks to be based off the real life Zulu Iklwa. My question is why is it listed as a piercing weapon and not a slashing/piercing weapon as was the real life counterpart. It has an 18 in blade for a reason.
Because that's not how they build weapons in 5e.
Which is sad to be fair, because there's very little distinction between piercing, slashing and bludgeoning damage in 5e except when fighting plants of all things.
This is entirely my homebrew, but personally I do exactly that and allow things like longswords to deal piercing or slashing, or bludgeoning if you grip it by the blade and strike with the hilt or pummel, to represent things like half swording and other techniques medieval knights actually used. Then I couple this with stuff like making skeletons weak to bludgeoning but resistant to piercing, and it makes melee combat way more interesting (As well as solidifying the trope that skeletons make great archers lol).
Yklwa + Dual wielder feat = "WHAt do you mean you throw one yklwa and stab with the other, your a sorcerer/cleric/wizard Not a Fighter How Do you Get 2d8 damage Right Off the BAt!!??" "Sorry but this is AL and since we can't be flexible because that would balance things better the yklwa dual wield combo is here to stay"
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
[roll]7d6[/roll]
Every post these dice roll increasing my chances of winning the yahtzee thread (I wish (wait not the twist the wish threa-!))
I bought a training ilkwa to demonstrate to my DM the versatility of the weapon and because I just loved the weapon. A d8 piercing damage is good. The thrown property is accurate and the distance though short is fair to the balance of the weapon. However he granted me a d10 slashing if I were to wield with both hands. Making it an extremely versatile weapon. It adds a lot of combat vesatility and flare.
I think of the Yklwa as like Mat Cauthon’s ashendarei from the Wheel of Time series. His weapon is described as a long power-wrought staff with a curved foot of steel blade at the top of it, reminiscent of a Japanese Naginata.
My Dm agreed with me. It is a versatile weapon. Depending on use 1d8 piercing/slashing and 1d10 two handed piercing/slashing the short thrown distance stays. My Yklwa is modeled after Zombie tools "the Spit" not very balanced for throwing. But being a ranger and having sharpshooter i get max distance. I also have a cantrip "Wrist pocket" allowing me to store one object at a time inside a pocket dimension. My bow, hunting Knife and Yklwa have spent enough time inside the dimension they have a dimensional teether and I can call them back to my hand. Makes that thrown property pretty fun on flavor. I dont find myself in close quarters often but the Yklwa makes it a blast.
The yklwa is pretty good if you can use it in close and somewhat long range.
The way I would interpret this scenario, you threw the Yklwa with skill, point first. Catapult just pushes the object with a random orientation, no aim or skill. So the 1d8P would be the throw, the 3d8B would be the roll for the impact. You wouldn't stack the damage unless you could convince your DM to roll a random orientation of the yklwa at the point of impact.
Catapult isn't making an attack with the weapon. it's using an object as the materiel component for the spell. in this scenario, the yklwa is the material component. the damage listed with it's attack, has no application here.
No, it was designed for Zulus. They were not short at all, and were strong men fighting often in open spaces.
They were shortened primarily to make them less suitable for throwing than normal spears, and to force them to go into very close combat, similarly to what the romans did when they moved away from hoplite style spears and formations to gladius.
This tactic was very effective to other peoples more used to skirmishing and longer range fighting as a norm.
I don't want to nitpick but your statement about all thrown weapons are strength based is an absolute that isn't accurate at the current date. I'm not sure of when the exact change happened if there even was one, but this dagger is sad now.
DAMAGE
? Why is this a simple weapon to start with?
Being simple is probably why it's missing any other traits. If it were martial, could it not possess the light property as well as either or both finesse or versitile? ...or reach?...
I could see a version of this weapon with one end of a 10ft. chain attached to it's base, and the other to a bracer or gauntlet so you can throw it the 10 feet, forget 30ft, then yank it back for melee. This paired with a shield in your other hand. I actually really like the concept of this weapon. what feats would support it as being a characters signature weapon?
What class would best be able to use this sort of weapon? Again, but for a RAW missing property, would this otherwise be good for a monk?
Thank you for your time and please have a very pleasant day.
Another benefit of the yklwa: the description says it can be made of metal or stone. So keep one on-hand in case of rust monsters or other metal-destroying foe.
Ok... The yklwa looks to be based off the real life Zulu Iklwa. My question is why is it listed as a piercing weapon and not a slashing/piercing weapon as was the real life counterpart. It has an 18 in blade for a reason.
Fun fact! Improvised thrown weapons deal 1d4 damage and have a short range of 20ft and a long range of 60ft. This means the Yklwa's thrown attack has strictly worse range than any other thrown weapon in the game, including bricks, chairs and the skulls of your enemies.
IMO the Yklwa's thrown property is a mistake and should either be removed entirely or increased to 20/60. My preference is the former. You can always treat it as an improvised javelin afterall, which begs the question why does it's range magically double if you throw it like a javelin instead of however you'd usually throw it? Point is the Yklwa is badly designed.
Because that's not how they build weapons in 5e.
Which is sad to be fair, because there's very little distinction between piercing, slashing and bludgeoning damage in 5e except when fighting plants of all things.
This is entirely my homebrew, but personally I do exactly that and allow things like longswords to deal piercing or slashing, or bludgeoning if you grip it by the blade and strike with the hilt or pummel, to represent things like half swording and other techniques medieval knights actually used. Then I couple this with stuff like making skeletons weak to bludgeoning but resistant to piercing, and it makes melee combat way more interesting (As well as solidifying the trope that skeletons make great archers lol).
Yklwa + Dual wielder feat = "WHAt do you mean you throw one yklwa and stab with the other, your a sorcerer/cleric/wizard Not a Fighter How Do you Get 2d8 damage Right Off the BAt!!??" "Sorry but this is AL and since we can't be flexible because that would balance things better the yklwa dual wield combo is here to stay"
[roll]7d6[/roll]
Every post these dice roll increasing my chances of winning the yahtzee thread (I wish (wait not the twist the wish threa-!))
Drummer Generated Title
After having been invited to include both here, I now combine the "PM me CHEESE 🧀 and tomato into PM me "PIZZA🍕"
I bought a training ilkwa to demonstrate to my DM the versatility of the weapon and because I just loved the weapon. A d8 piercing damage is good. The thrown property is accurate and the distance though short is fair to the balance of the weapon. However he granted me a d10 slashing if I were to wield with both hands. Making it an extremely versatile weapon. It adds a lot of combat vesatility and flare.
I think of the Yklwa as like Mat Cauthon’s ashendarei from the Wheel of Time series. His weapon is described as a long power-wrought staff with a curved foot of steel blade at the top of it, reminiscent of a Japanese Naginata.
My Dm agreed with me. It is a versatile weapon. Depending on use 1d8 piercing/slashing and 1d10 two handed piercing/slashing the short thrown distance stays. My Yklwa is modeled after Zombie tools "the Spit" not very balanced for throwing. But being a ranger and having sharpshooter i get max distance. I also have a cantrip "Wrist pocket" allowing me to store one object at a time inside a pocket dimension. My bow, hunting Knife and Yklwa have spent enough time inside the dimension they have a dimensional teether and I can call them back to my hand. Makes that thrown property pretty fun on flavor. I dont find myself in close quarters often but the Yklwa makes it a blast.