I really like the idea of weaponizing some armor, but think it might be mostly a Paladin enterprise. Or at the very least, something Paladins are best at. Particularly shield maneuvers. But, that said, think that placing spikes or blades on a shield is potentially a very bad thing; Most would get knocked off quite quickly. They strike me as an 'impractical for actual use' addition, somewhat akin to the breast curves on a breastplate you typically see in silly anime or bad fiction.

Since this is as good a place as any; how do you perform a shield slam?

Well, Paladins and Barbarians still retain their crafting affiliations which I am totally in support of. I, out of courtesy, also posted this in the Paladins forum.

As someone with a RL focus in current armor, I would like to mention that female armor is a Very Big Deal(tm) in real life these days, especially with all military jobs opening up to women. Furthermore, the 'male = lines, female = curves' biological reality actually creates some design and use problems for body armor developers. While exaggerated breast curves for female breastplates in animes do not have realism as their primary motivation, the concept itself does really exist.
There is a reason I bother to know anything about this. In an evolving battlefield that in including thermal scopes, heartbeat sensors, Improvised Explosive Devices, and infantry-sized weapons that should shoot right through most things you could push yourself against, both Cover and Stealth are leaning towards becoming obsolete on the battlefield and is slowly being replaced by armor. Over the centuries the armorsmith and the weaponsmith have danced back and forth and for the last couple hundred years (at least) the weaponsmith has been winning, hands down. Mark my words and the date too: human development is swinging back around to armor dominance again.

As for old-school type shields (not modern ones), the Norse used Lodestone design quite effectively and I have personally slammed a shield more than once to slate my own curiosity. The teeth/spikes are more flashy than practical but are not ridiculously so- I remember an auction where folks bid enough money to feed every Zoluren orphan and rebuild the Keep to boot on a gem that told you the season when you rubbed it.... how practical are Elanthians, anyway? If you're willing to take the risks (IC risks may include slicing/stabbing yourself accidentally, especially if you're not wearing plate mail) the enhancements will at least help you in certain practical ways.

I suppose the bottom-line question I ask is: "Would folks have fun with this?" :)

>While exaggerated breast curves for female breastplates in animes do not have realism as their primary motivation, the concept itself does really exist.

I'm not sure if you're suggesting that anime style female boobplates have legitimacy to them or not. Please clarify.

I'll link this here in case you're suggesting it does.
http://www.tor.com/blogs/2013/05/boob-plate-armor-would-kill-you

But maybe you're not talking about that. The military making female body armor isn't, of course, the bad anime boobplating I mentioned as being very unrealistic.

>As for old-school type shields (not modern ones), the Norse used Lodestone design quite effectively and I have personally slammed a shield more than once to slate my own curiosity. The teeth/spikes are more flashy than practical but are not ridiculously so- I remember an auction where folks bid enough money to feed every Zoluren orphan and rebuild the Keep to boot on a gem that told you the season when you rubbed it.... how practical are Elanthians, anyway? If you're willing to take the risks (IC risks may include slicing/stabbing yourself accidentally, especially if you're not wearing plate mail) the enhancements will at least help you in certain practical ways.

I'm not sure if you're talking about RL or in game now, but I was distinctly talking about RL.

>More specifically, SLAM command while holding (not wearing) a shield.

Is SLAM no longer a weapon attack?

I'm not suggesting that the gratuitous, separate-cup armors are okay in any practical sense. The seperate cups ARE a death trap. Those are definitely for show. I mean that female armor should be crafted differently than male armor and so far no one has quite pulled this off correctly from what I've seen- this is going to change, though. Some of the technical problems stated in the article I already know how to fix. Then again, I wouldn't expect medieval smiths to know how to fix them. To clarify, anime-style ren-faire ridiculousness does not have legitimacy but the CONCEPT does. I was echoing the statement in your article that female armor simply should be shaped differently and wasn't intending to go beyond that. I also agree that the whole 'one size fits all' thing for armor is.... not going to work well as time goes on. Modern technology is changing a few things when it comes to armor, its incredibly long-term use and comfort, and even role. Don't be surprised if a soldier 10 years from now doesn't take his/her armor off for 2 weeks at at time because doing so would reveal you to every scope and drone for 3 miles around (among other reasons). Armor has to become biocompatible with that scenario as time goes on. This article is, appropriately, old-school thought and I don't really disagree with it. I am one among few who are changing that traditional style of thought as technology progresses. There really are plenty of modern solutions to those problems that don't involve a crushed sternum or deflecting shrapnel/bullets towards the gal's face. Now, in a medieval era I'm not sure how those solutions would exist or translate off the top of my head- that would require some thought.

My statements about shield bashing was referring to me actually shield bashing with different shields to slate my own curiosity about realism and history. Its awkward so training is a huge help but its potentially viable.

The statements about practically and the auction actually refer to both IC and OOC... seriously who spends that kind of coin on a gem that tells you the season when you rub it? I was floored.

Also of note is that tyrium is kind hard to knock off of tyrium. Armor spikes made of covellite... sure. I'm not sure if we should get into that kind of depth though at the potential expense of fun. (That line is going to haunt me later, I suspect)

I fear that I may have accidentally upset you with my post. I'm not so much disagreeing with your quite entertaining article there- just expanding on it as I see it. I simply wish to explain my line of thinking.

>seriously who spends that kind of coin on a gem that tells you the season when you rub it? I was floored

After a while, it literally gets to the point where you run out of things to buy, so anything that's new or entertaining can get huge bids.

---

Weapons for Sale:
http://www.elanthipedia.play.net/mediawiki/User:Caraamon#Wares
Hunta Talna Kortok, built by Gor'Togs, for Gor'Togs
http://www.angelfire.com/rpg2/caraamon/home.html

Oh, good! Since armor is my chosen career path I do end up slipping back and forth between RL and IG.... whoops! As a bit of background, martial training was considered by my extended family to be standard education for all male children and any females who expressed an interest. I knew how to thrust a blade long before I knew algebra and my cousin Matt and I could be trusted to spar with read edges and practice shooting in 6th grade. Matt and I, being kids, often tried to figure out whose preferred style of martial arts was best, lol. We once nearly destroyed my Aunt Cindy's house over a girl, once, and, in my teenage years, once I blew up my father's tool shed being naughty - not burnt it down, not knocked a hole in the wall, blew it entirely the freak up- but, having survived to adulthood, I feel that it improved both my character and my ability to survive overall. I intend to pass on the tradition to my two young sons, starting pretty soon actually.
I'm glad you took the armorsmithing course and I'm really glad folks out there offer them. I focus on the future a bit more these days so sometimes I get to bouncing back and forth between eras on this topic. I'll try to stay more focused. :)

In terms of spikes and whatnot.... far more fun and fantasy than practical, sure, but I'm okay with lowering the durability of a silversteel or tyrium shield for extra slice damage when my pallie shield bashes. ;)

The lodestone concept is basically the 'add weight' thing you mentioned just appropriated centered for bashing. The spikes would be front facing but very short- more like an egg carton. For the slice I imagine simply cutting notches along the rim and then filing down the sides of the notches to create edged teeth.

P.S. The after class thing: 'Knightball' is fun.... try it sometime. :)