Why do current RPGs not have scythes?

[Souplex]

Because scythes aren't weapons. They're farming tools. Only an idiot would fight with a scythe.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.70517-Scythes#694172
The real question is why do RPGs neglect polearms and axes? Historically they were the most commonly used melee weapons. Swords were the equivalent of an officers pistol.

Or a Halberd, why is every game against me using an axespear?

Halberds fall under the polearm umbrella.
JRPGs have an obsession with oversized weapons, why can't they include a sarissa or something?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarissa

 

[Naheal]

Because scythes aren't weapons. They're farming tools. Only an idiot would fight with a scythe.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.70517-Scythes#694172
The real question is why do RPGs neglect polearms and axes? Historically they were the most commonly used melee weapons. Swords were the equivalent of an officers pistol.

Honestly would like to see more polearms as the main character's weapon of choice in a game. Hell, gimmie a spear for use in DA:O.

 

[Zacharine]

Because scythes aren't weapons. They're farming tools. Only an idiot would fight with a scythe.

Exactly, why go into a fight with scythe, a FARMING tool, when you could use... oh lets say a halberd, you know something thats actually made to be used as a weapon?

It's sharp and can cut stuff. Sound like a perfect weapon. Also, knives were cooking tools and are considered weapons.

On a scythe, the blade is also quite thin and fragile, and the sharp edge is pointed towards yourself. To get an effective swing at your opponent, you need to stand almost next to them and slightly to the side. It is just an unwieldy staff with useless iron bits tacked on to screw balance, speed and combat effectivness in general.

Knives on the other hand are easy to wield, easy to conceal, won't break off the moment they hit something solid and fast and quick while retaining lethality.

Now, I wouldn't like to go against a sword with either, but if I'd have to choose, I'd choose the dagger: get in close and keep stabbing him in quick succession.

 

[cefm]

Because scythes aren't weapons. They're farming tools. Only an idiot would fight with a scythe.

This is true, but we ARE talking about fantasy RPG's here. A rolling pin doesn't make a good weapon in real life either, but when you score Cookie's Tenderizer at level 15, it's easily the best weapon you've got!.

 

[Naheal]

...So most of the anti-scythe arguments are using realism and reality as an excuse...Since when were RPG's in any way realistic?! Why do we have to stick with realism here?

Let's think about this, here. If an item isn't designed to be used as a weapon, the swing animations are going to be off all the damn time and make the character using it look clumsy.

 

[AVATAR_RAGE]

Guild Wars Nightfall has scythes for a class called a Dervish

 

[Judgement101]

Because scythes aren't weapons. They're farming tools. Only an idiot would fight with a scythe.

Exactly, why go into a fight with scythe, a FARMING tool, when you could use... oh lets say a halberd, you know something thats actually made to be used as a weapon?

It's sharp and can cut stuff. Sound like a perfect weapon. Also, knives were cooking tools and are considered weapons.

On a scythe, the blade is also quite thin and fragile, and the sharp edge is pointed towards yourself. To get an effective swing at your opponent, you need to stand almost next to them and slightly to the side. It is just an unwieldy staff with useless iron bits tacked on to screw balance, speed and combat effectivness in general.

Knives on the other hand are easy to wield, easy to conceal, won't break off the moment they hit something solid and fast and quick while retaining lethality.

Now, I wouldn't like to go against a sword with either, but if I'd have to choose, I'd choose the dagger: get in close and keep stabbing him in quick succession.

The tip of the scythe blade is pointed so you can impale them on the side then put the blade towards you to cause serious internal damage.

 

[Avayu]

Mind you, there were scythes used as weapons:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_scythe
Point is, they'd most likely be impractical in a fight one against one ( or one against many) as you have in your typical RPG. Another point I could imagine that it is, even when transformed into a weapon, still the weapon of a farmer. Swords, axes and spears on the other hand have a more heroic touch to them.

 

[Keava]

This is true, but we ARE talking about fantasy RPG's here. A rolling pin doesn't make a good weapon in real life either, but when you score Cookie's Tenderizer at level 15, it's easily the best weapon you've got!.

Keep in mind that that Tenderizers was used to actually make tough meat tender so hitting someone on the head with it surely would be effective.

And as it was said, scythes are not really a good weapon. Flails and pitchforks were main weapons used by peasants and much more effective, because scythe is really unhandy to wield and even worse to inflict wounds on someone that knows how to act in close combat.

 

[Zacharine]

Because scythes aren't weapons. They're farming tools. Only an idiot would fight with a scythe.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.70517-Scythes#694172

Exactly.

It is a tool first and foremost, and a weapon of desperation a distant second;to be used only when you haven't got something better and need a weapon right now. If you have even an hour to prepare, you'll be able to craft a far more reliable and useful weapon by yourself: it's called a staff.

A scythe is unwieldy, slow, heavy (in comparison to what it can do), predictable and freaking large, while the damage it can deal is either equal to a simple hammer or staff or dagger (all far better weapons) or requires insane amounts of luck and/or incompetence from your opponent to be effective.

I know this is going to make me sound like an idiot, but who cares? Maybe all that stuff applies in real life, but we're talking about video games here, and realism sucks, especially in RPGs.

On a sidenote, I can think of another guy who used a scythe - Marluxia (or something): final boss of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories.

Well if it's the rule of cool were after, then why use real weapons at all, instead of painters tools like giant brushes and canvas' or various thickness? Or furniture?

Because you need a serious weapon to take an opponent seriously. After all, who woiuld you be afraid of more, the guy who carries the Mighty Miniature Battle Spatula Of Doom, or the guy with a glowing warhammer and steel shield?

And yet games do precisely this. Mostly at an attempt for alleviated sense of dread in JRPGs, or to go with whatever bat-excrement insane world they've constructed this time.

 

[Judgement101]

This is true, but we ARE talking about fantasy RPG's here. A rolling pin doesn't make a good weapon in real life either, but when you score Cookie's Tenderizer at level 15, it's easily the best weapon you've got!.

Keep in mind that that Tenderizers was used to actually make tough meat tender so hitting someone on the head with it surely would be effective.

And as it was said, scythes are not really a good weapon. Flails and pitchforks were main weapons used by peasants and much more effective, because scythe is really unhandy to wield and even worse to inflict wounds on someone that knows how to act in close combat.

If they come in close move you hands higher up the handle so the blade is closer.

 

[Firoth]

Final Fantasy XI and .hack//G.U. both use scythes as weapons.
I, too, am miffed about a lack of polearms and axes as weapons in games. They're rather fun. But, why do axes often get categorized as blunt weapons? Can someone explain this to me?

 

[Keava]

Mind you, there were scythes used as weapons:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_scythe
Point is, they'd most likely be impractical in a fight one against one ( or one against many) as you have in your typical RPG. Another point I could imagine that it is, even when transformed into a weapon, still the weapon of a farmer. Swords, axes and spears on the other hand have a more heroic touch to them.

Keep in mind thats a very modified version of a rel scythe, made more into a halberd/pike to extend the reach of the sharp end and allow for smooth swings. Normal scythe used for field work is curved and good only at hitting legs.

 

[Hurray Forums]

Ehhh, the "realistic" responses in this thread don't really explain it since most video games aren't concerned with realism anyway. The "gigantic slab of unsharpened metal the approximate size and shape of a minivan masquerading as a sword" isn't "realistic" either but it's still incredibly popular. Of the games I've played Guild Wars probably came the closest to a realistic portrayal of how a scythe would be used in combat, in fact some of the skill animations are pretty much the EXACT techniques you use when using a scythe for farming. I would prefer to see them more often as they're fun and look pretty damn cool in my opinion. That and I'm tired of swords, there's a whole history of weapons and "stuff that looks like a weapon but really isn't", lets get to exploring them too.

 

[Judgement101]

Final Fantasy XI and .hack//G.U. both use scythes as weapons.
I, too, am miffed about a lack of polearms and axes as weapons in games. They're rather fun. But, why do axes often get categorized as blunt weapons? Can someone explain this to me?

You have a point. Why are axes considered blunt? I cut myself on one yesterday.

 

[2xDouble]

Because scythes aren't weapons. They're farming tools. Only an idiot would fight with a scythe.

Exactly, why go into a fight with scythe, a FARMING tool, when you could use... oh lets say a halberd, you know something thats actually made to be used as a weapon?

Anything that can cut bundles of grain in a single swipe can cut through a person. Scythes were used in combat by Ninja, alongside pruning shears, hedge trimmers, and digging trowels. Why? Because they were posing as landscapers and gardeners (you know, generally unimportant and uninteresting people to nobility).

Would you use a scythe against, lets say Cavalry? You [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naginata] betcha [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glaive]. What about against armored opponents? Absolutely [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kusarigama]. It started as a farming tool. But it's till a big, sharp blade that can be used as such.

Also you CAN play as a scythe-wielder. [http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Dervish]

I think the reason player characters in most traditional RPGs don't wield scythes is due to the generally "evil" imagery attached to it. Mostly thanks to:

Spoiler: this fella

Good guys just don't wield scythes, thanks to good old Death here.

 

[Judgement101]

Ehhh, the "realistic" responses in this thread don't really explain it since most video games aren't concerned with realism anyway. The "gigantic slab of unsharpened metal the approximate size and shape of a minivan masquerading as a sword" isn't "realistic" either but it's still incredibly popular. Of the games I've played Guild Wars probably came the closest to a realistic portrayal of how a scythe would be used in combat, in fact some of the skill animations are pretty much the EXACT techniques you use when using a scythe for farming. I would prefer to see them more often as they're fun and look pretty damn cool in my opinion. That and I'm tired of swords, there's a whole history of weapons and "stuff that looks like a weapon but really isn't", lets get to exploring them too.

Please don't bring up that scythe class from guild wars. They really made them bad.

 

[Sir-jackington]

interesting point......i never noticed such weaponary racism

 

[Judgement101]

Because scythes aren't weapons. They're farming tools. Only an idiot would fight with a scythe.

Exactly, why go into a fight with scythe, a FARMING tool, when you could use... oh lets say a halberd, you know something thats actually made to be used as a weapon?

Anything that can cut bundles of grain in a single swipe can cut through a person. Scythes were used in combat by Ninja, alongside pruning shears, hedge trimmers, and digging trowels. Why? Because they were posing as landscapers and gardeners (you know, generally unimportant and uninteresting people to nobility).

Would you use a scythe against, lets say Cavalry? You [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naginata] betcha [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glaive]. What about against armored opponents? Absolutely [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kusarigama]. It started as a farming tool. But it's till a big, sharp blade that can be used as such.

Also you CAN play as a scythe-wielder. [http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Dervish]

I think the reason player characters in most traditional RPGs don't wield scythes is due to the generally "evil" imagery attached to it. Mostly thanks to:

Spoiler: this fella

Good guys just don't wield scythes, thanks to good old Death here.

I reject your logic! In Diablo II I'm a paladin (holy warrior for the RPG uneducated) and I weild a scythe and occasionally a pitch-black sword.

 

[Zacharine]

Because scythes aren't weapons. They're farming tools. Only an idiot would fight with a scythe.

Exactly, why go into a fight with scythe, a FARMING tool, when you could use... oh lets say a halberd, you know something thats actually made to be used as a weapon?

It's sharp and can cut stuff. Sound like a perfect weapon. Also, knives were cooking tools and are considered weapons.

On a scythe, the blade is also quite thin and fragile, and the sharp edge is pointed towards yourself. To get an effective swing at your opponent, you need to stand almost next to them and slightly to the side. It is just an unwieldy staff with useless iron bits tacked on to screw balance, speed and combat effectivness in general.

Knives on the other hand are easy to wield, easy to conceal, won't break off the moment they hit something solid and fast and quick while retaining lethality.

Now, I wouldn't like to go against a sword with either, but if I'd have to choose, I'd choose the dagger: get in close and keep stabbing him in quick succession.

The tip of the scythe blade is pointed so you can impale them on the side then put the blade towards you to cause serious internal damage.

ANd by the point you get into position to make that swing, a single good punch will stop you (you're in range after all), or they simply shrug it off with a shield/metal armor.

Normal scythes aren't made to pierce steel or copper, but to reap plants. Often, the very tip is in fact dull for improved safety: the farmer has no need for a sharp point on his scyther.

War-scythes are another story entirely, because they are simply poor-man's spears, and can act as such (to a point. The actual blade is still quite fragile if it is simply a reforged farmer's tool).

But the most important point here is, if the scythe is such a good weapon, why hasn't it been used? WE know of peasants using pitchforks, staves, knives, spears, hand-held sickels etc. We know of swords, halbergs, chains with balls, clubs, morning-stars etc.

Why is the scythe not similarly associated with an angry mob, as the pitchfork?

Because even an untrained farmer will know he stands a better chance of victory with a straight piece of wood in his hands, with a short, sharp, durable, straight-ahead pointing piece of metal at one end.

That is why war-scythes were born: they had scythes, and needed practical weapons: hence the reforging into something resembling a spear.