Trick arrows, trick bolts, darts and other projectiles of Aporue, including those used in Melza, both by law enforcement and by criminal users.
Trick arrows, bolts and various projectiles
Types of projectiles (1) - arrowheads of arrows and bolts
Broadhead - normally used mainly as a hunting arrowhead; good against soft tissues and therefore unarmoured or lightly armoured opponents
Bodkin - an arrowhead that's mostly seen military use;
fairly effective at penetrating thicker armours, including mail, but
incapable of beating plate
Flathead/Blunthead - cheapo arrowhead that's incapable of
sticking into targets; can be used to hit switches, daze enemies on
impact, drop objects (including small light sources like candles) or
deliver scraps of paper with messages (concealed in a hollow head)
Ruckus - decoy clockwork arrowhead with manual wind-up
mechanism, activated on impact by the button at the front; the trigger
sets off wind-up clockwork rattles, bells and whistles built into the
arrowhead (here and here are two sound samples)
Knockout - incapacitating clockwork arrowhead (as the name
implies); after the button sets off the trigger, knockout gas, or
sleeping gas, etc., contained in an internal gas cylinder, is pushed out
through small openings on the exterior
Dousing - dousing as in "putting out an open fire"; glass
arrowheads of different sizes, filled with water or special
extinguishing liquid, have multiple possible uses (main one being
enhancing shadows at night)
Igniting - mechanical or alchemical arrowhead with an
explosive and/or igniting effect; the mechanical variant has a striking
trigger which ignites the gunpowder with a spark, the alchemical variant
has a simpler trigger which intentionally destabilises the alchemical
mixture stored inside
Types of projectiles (2) - other bolts and projectiles
Grappling bolt - available in crossbow-launched and
speargun-launched variants, the special arrowhead is pushed backwards on
impact and activates a mechanism that unreels the climbing rope from
the spool; the grappling bolt can stick itself or bore itself only into
softer materials, such as wood or packed earth, and is ineffective
against very hard surfaces such as stone, tiles, bricks, or metal
Grappling hook - available in crossbow-launched,
speargun-launched and hand-thrown variants; once the anchorhead gets
anchored into place (against a static obstacle) in a firm and stable
way, it unreels a spool of rope (simpler and cheaper versions only have
the rope loosely attached even while shooting, as not all spools come
equipped with this sort of mechanism)
Spearbolts - rare and only usable with the equally rare
speargun, a special spring-loaded rifle; originally a naval weapon, they
are basically short metal javelins (in several typical variations) that
can do damage every bit as nasty as a well-shot arrow or bolt, if not
moreso (let's just say getting a spearbolt in your gut can ruin your day
rather quickly)
Spiked dart - darthead that fulfills the exact same role
as the broadhead and bodkin arrowheads fulfill on bow-shot arrows and
crossbow-shot bolts; it is particularly similar to a miniature bodkin
arrow, with the only difference being it is shot from a dartgun (a rare
spring-loaded handgun), or one of the very small and very rare types of teeny-tiny crossbows, or from an air rifle not loaded with any other ammunition
Blunthead dart - cheapo darthead that's incapable of
sticking into targets; can be used to hit switches, daze enemies on
impact, drop objects (including small light sources like candles) or
deliver scraps of paper with messages (concealed in a hollow darthead)
Ruckus dart - sound-based decoy darthead, but with far
simpler inner workings than the ruckus arrows or bolts; it's a very
small metallic version of the "whistling arrow" concept, creating a
whistling and slightly rattling sound during flight (scooping up air
while flying, the air swiftly flowing through its hollow darthead,
rattling tiny metal pinheads and causing a whistling sound to occur via
the slits on the sides)
Knockout dart - incapacitating darthead (as the name
implies); after the button sets off the trigger, knockout gas, or
sleeping gas, etc., is pushed out of the internal gas cylinder through
small openings
Dousing dart - dousing as in "putting out an open fire";
glass darthead, filled with water or special extinguishing liquid, with
multiple possible uses (the main one being enhancing shadows at night)
Bullets - I use this as a collective name, as they're bullets usable not only in firearms, as pistol balls or musket balls, but also in early airguns (again, as musket balls or rifle bullets) and even as projectiles for slings and for pelletbows (bullet-shooting crossbows); lead bullets
and stone bullets can be used as musket balls and as projectiles for
pelletbows or slings, but clay bullets can only be used for pelletbows
or slings (as they are too fragile for any guns) and hunting rifles should use lead bullets only (for safety and maintenance reasons)
There is also a very small number of experimental or prototype firearms
in the world that utilise the new-fangled idea of cartridges, instead
of just mere bullets. Both the firearms and their cartridges are
incredibly rare compared to other ranged weaponry, and thus not included
here. Of the primitive cartridge guns that do exist, they utilise paper
casings (i.e. paper cartridges) or very early brass casings (think of the early and expensive brass cartridges for the Henry and Winchester rifles).
On a "behind the scenes" note
I'll note that this is all heavily inspired by the Thief series
and other prominent uses of the "trick arrow" concept. (Fiction seems to
be littered with them.) That said, I wanted to make these arrowheads as
plausible as I could, deemphasizing the need for magic to make them
work. Therefore, they weigh heavily on the tech side in terms of design
(while in Thief, one of the inspirations, it was always more
50:50). As the characters who use these arrows, bolts and projectiles
wouldn't have a steady access to magic, I thought it made more sense if
all of these were mostly grounded in reality. Built only with
technologies available in an early modern-esque society with emerging
industrial era technology.
Speaking of similar works, Thief's spiritual cousin Dishonored includes
the use of specialised darts for a small, pistol-sized crossbow, and
though that wasn't really my inspiration in this case, some people might
be reminded of that when looking at the darts. I actually planned to
have the knockout dart be more like a modern tranquiliser dart, with
19th century metal syringe stylings, but the existing mechanism used for
the arrowheads won out. Who knows, I might still tweak it in the
future.
That's where you come in, readers of this blog. Should I go with the more syringe-like design for the knockout dart, or should I keep the current, arguably somewhat overcomplicated and overspecialised version of that dart ? You can help decide !
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Other Thick as Thieves weapons and tools concept art
- Tools of the trade: Trick bombs and trick mines
- Tools of the trade: Lockpicking tools and equipment
- Law enforcement insignia in Melza (City Watch)
- Law enforcement insignia in Melza (Frontiersmen Corps)
- Law enforcement sword hilts in Melza
See also
- Gameplay: Stealth and sneaking skills
- Gameplay: Lockpicking
- Tools of the trade: Exploration, travel and work tools and equipment
- Tools of the trade: Ranged weapons
- Tools of the trade: Melee weapons
- Tools of the trade: Clothing and footwear
- Tools of the trade: Armour and protective clothing
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(C) 2015, 2019 - 2024 P. Molnár
(C) 2015, 2019 - 2024 Knight-Errant Studios
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