Help with weapon/tools for a dwarf ranger
Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2017 7:52 pm
I'm going to make a bigger post about this later, but my current persona project I'm working on is a dwarf ranger that is more Tolkien-inspired than my normal Ranger gear. I'll go into more detail when I make the main post (all of the gear I currently have for it isn't with me right now so I can't take pictures), but I haven't decided yet whether he's going to be fully Tolkien or just whether that will just be a jumping-off point. Just for a teaser/reference point so far, here's the garb and armor for it, without the camping and survival equipment:
What I'm thinking about now is what I want for weapons and tools. The big axe in this picture is prospectively a war axe and wouldn't be carried while rangering, nor would the bracers and greaves be worn. The seax is probably going to stay, cause I love this thing. What I'm thinking about replacing is the tomahawk. It's big and heavy, which makes it classically Dwarven, but it's not really all that practical. I'm basically built like an actual dwarf, albeit a relatively tall one, and I know firsthand the main problem a dwarf would have fighting other races, especially orcs and uruk-hai: reach. It doesn't matter how much more skill and strength I have if I can never reach my enemy. My current tomahawk is completely useless if I'm fighting average sized people. I know for sure because I made exact size duplicates of my tomahawk and seax for Dagorhir and tried to fight with them. I don't think I ever even landed a blow (weirdly enough, though, against huge people I actually kind of have an advantage with my seax and a big shield since they don't expect this short guy to rush in to the range where they can grapple me, but I don't want to rely on that as a tactic, and I'm also not going to be carring a shield while rangering). So, I need a bigger axe. I can't just pop a bigger handle on this head because A) I like it too much the way it is, and B) the head is too heavy to put on a long haft. I wouldn't be able to control it. So, while I'm going to keep the tomahawk around, I'm looking to replace it.
What I'm thinking about specifically is what tools/weapons combined are going to make the best and most versatile combination to carry. An axe is a given. It's quintessentially dwarven and also incredibly useful. If I recall, Dain's troops at the Battle of Five Armies were said to be carrying mattocks among other things, and that got me thinking. An actual mattock would be a mining tool not useful for rangering, but something similar could be very important. Dwarf rangers would be working in mountainous environments, whether it's the Misty Mountains, the Blue Mountains, or the Iron Hills. What would probably come in handy then, both as a tool and a weapon, would be a climbing axe, specifically something that has a long spike on one end for jamming into ice to steady myself, and an adze on the other end for digging steps for climbing or just digging in general. So two other tools I'm thinking about then are a pick and an adze. Lastly, a hammer makes sense for a variety of reasons, from hammering stakes and climbing pitons to attacking armor.
So the four tools I'm thinking about are an axe, an adze, a pick, and a hammer, with the hammer being the least important. What I can't decide is how I want those tools combined and carried. Obviously I can cut back on the number of items by combining them. Two tools can fit onto one item (axe/hammer, pick/adze is one combination). The question is how I want to combine them. First off, having both combination items be the same length isn't necessary, but I'm considering it. I'm not going to be dual-wielding them in a fight most of the time, but using one or the other depending on which one was at hand or what I'm fighting. I'm thinking one of them would be a walking-stick length item, and the other would be a shorter 2+ foot kinda deal. One thing that comes to mind is making the walking item be safer to carry. The pick wouldn't necessarily be that dangerous to myself should I fall, and neither would the hammer, the adze wouldn't be too bad especially if it's only sharp enough to dig with (meaning that's all it could be used for), and the axe would be very dangerous to fall on especially with a stabbing point on it. So pick/hammer would be the safest combo for the walking tool, but I'm not sure if it would be the most practical. Plus, axe/adze would look weird and be kind of annoying to use. Maybe axe/pick and adze/hammer then?
Of course, I'm thinking my main weapon is going to be a bow. Even though bows aren't archetypically dwarven, it makes the most sense in my case to use. First off, plenty of Tolkien dwarves use bows. Second, something like a composite bow would be technologically advanced enough to make it seem dwarven and would also make sense for someone with a smaller draw distance to use as opposed to a longbow. Last, crossbows suck in Dagorhir and I want to use something I can use there.
So there are a lot of people more experienced with designing weapons and also rangering than I am on these forums. What do you guys think about the weapon/tools? What combinations and lengths should I go with? Are any of them completely unnecessary? Most importantly, can anyone point at some reliable custom bladesmiths that can make the tools for me? They don't need to be overly ornate but they need to be usable, or at least the axe and hammer NEED to be usable and an adze that's at least capable of digging would be a plus. I'm not going to do any ice climbing in period gear as far as I can foresee so the pick doesn't really need to be all that great but I'd prefer if it was.
What I'm thinking about now is what I want for weapons and tools. The big axe in this picture is prospectively a war axe and wouldn't be carried while rangering, nor would the bracers and greaves be worn. The seax is probably going to stay, cause I love this thing. What I'm thinking about replacing is the tomahawk. It's big and heavy, which makes it classically Dwarven, but it's not really all that practical. I'm basically built like an actual dwarf, albeit a relatively tall one, and I know firsthand the main problem a dwarf would have fighting other races, especially orcs and uruk-hai: reach. It doesn't matter how much more skill and strength I have if I can never reach my enemy. My current tomahawk is completely useless if I'm fighting average sized people. I know for sure because I made exact size duplicates of my tomahawk and seax for Dagorhir and tried to fight with them. I don't think I ever even landed a blow (weirdly enough, though, against huge people I actually kind of have an advantage with my seax and a big shield since they don't expect this short guy to rush in to the range where they can grapple me, but I don't want to rely on that as a tactic, and I'm also not going to be carring a shield while rangering). So, I need a bigger axe. I can't just pop a bigger handle on this head because A) I like it too much the way it is, and B) the head is too heavy to put on a long haft. I wouldn't be able to control it. So, while I'm going to keep the tomahawk around, I'm looking to replace it.
What I'm thinking about specifically is what tools/weapons combined are going to make the best and most versatile combination to carry. An axe is a given. It's quintessentially dwarven and also incredibly useful. If I recall, Dain's troops at the Battle of Five Armies were said to be carrying mattocks among other things, and that got me thinking. An actual mattock would be a mining tool not useful for rangering, but something similar could be very important. Dwarf rangers would be working in mountainous environments, whether it's the Misty Mountains, the Blue Mountains, or the Iron Hills. What would probably come in handy then, both as a tool and a weapon, would be a climbing axe, specifically something that has a long spike on one end for jamming into ice to steady myself, and an adze on the other end for digging steps for climbing or just digging in general. So two other tools I'm thinking about then are a pick and an adze. Lastly, a hammer makes sense for a variety of reasons, from hammering stakes and climbing pitons to attacking armor.
So the four tools I'm thinking about are an axe, an adze, a pick, and a hammer, with the hammer being the least important. What I can't decide is how I want those tools combined and carried. Obviously I can cut back on the number of items by combining them. Two tools can fit onto one item (axe/hammer, pick/adze is one combination). The question is how I want to combine them. First off, having both combination items be the same length isn't necessary, but I'm considering it. I'm not going to be dual-wielding them in a fight most of the time, but using one or the other depending on which one was at hand or what I'm fighting. I'm thinking one of them would be a walking-stick length item, and the other would be a shorter 2+ foot kinda deal. One thing that comes to mind is making the walking item be safer to carry. The pick wouldn't necessarily be that dangerous to myself should I fall, and neither would the hammer, the adze wouldn't be too bad especially if it's only sharp enough to dig with (meaning that's all it could be used for), and the axe would be very dangerous to fall on especially with a stabbing point on it. So pick/hammer would be the safest combo for the walking tool, but I'm not sure if it would be the most practical. Plus, axe/adze would look weird and be kind of annoying to use. Maybe axe/pick and adze/hammer then?
Of course, I'm thinking my main weapon is going to be a bow. Even though bows aren't archetypically dwarven, it makes the most sense in my case to use. First off, plenty of Tolkien dwarves use bows. Second, something like a composite bow would be technologically advanced enough to make it seem dwarven and would also make sense for someone with a smaller draw distance to use as opposed to a longbow. Last, crossbows suck in Dagorhir and I want to use something I can use there.
So there are a lot of people more experienced with designing weapons and also rangering than I am on these forums. What do you guys think about the weapon/tools? What combinations and lengths should I go with? Are any of them completely unnecessary? Most importantly, can anyone point at some reliable custom bladesmiths that can make the tools for me? They don't need to be overly ornate but they need to be usable, or at least the axe and hammer NEED to be usable and an adze that's at least capable of digging would be a plus. I'm not going to do any ice climbing in period gear as far as I can foresee so the pick doesn't really need to be all that great but I'd prefer if it was.