Orcish scimitar

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) Scimitar.png
Name orcish scimitar
Appearance crude curved sword
Damage vs. small 1d6
Damage vs. large 1d8
To-hit bonus +0
Weapon skill scimitar
Size one-handed
Base price 15 zm
(+10/positive
enchant)
Weight 40
Material iron

An orcish scimitar is a type of one-handed weapon that appears in EvilHack and Hack'EM, and is an orcish variant of the standard scimitar. It has a base object material of iron, and appears as a crude curved sword when unidentified.

Generation

Many orcs are naturally generated with orcish scimitars. Hobgoblins, orcs and hill orcs have a 14 chance of generating with an orcish scimitar. Mordor orcs and goblin-captains have a 13 chance of being generated with an orcish scimitar; orc-captains have a 12 chance to be generated with Mordor orc weapons, giving them an effective 16 chance of generating with orcish scimitars. Orcish soldiers, watchmen and lieutenants may also generate with orcish scimitars.

An orcish scimitar can be created at a forge by combining an orcish short sword and a knife.

Strategy

Orcish scimitars are generally weaker than regular scimitars: they deal less damage versus small monsters, and their object material restrictions make it impossible to forge non-iron ones. One advantage they have is that they are more likely to be made of bone than standard scimitars, and orcs in general are a somewhat reliable source of bone weapons that can be used to hit ghosts and other incorporeal monsters.

Origin

A scimitar (/ˈsɪmɪtər/ or /ˈsɪmɪtɑːr/) is a type of single-edged sword with a convex curved blade that is often used for mounted combat. The term is European in origin, and covers an assortment of different "Eastern" curved swords. Though commonly associated with West Asian, South Asian, and North African cultures, various types of curved saber are used in various other cultures, including several "Western" ones. The scimitar also commonly serves as a symbol of the "East" and the Islamic world, and said association also overlaps with the portrayal of orcs in various forms of literature as a form of barbaric horde from faraway lands (hence their tendency to appear with scimitars).

Encyclopedia entry

See the encyclopedia entry for scimitar.