Chain Whip-Flail

When designing weapons for Savage Worlds, simpler is usually better. Sometimes, though, you get a really silly idea that needs several paragraphs to explain.

Gradniki axe, chain whip-flail, mace

Chain Whip-Flail

A weapon for The King is Dead, Accursed, and other settings of Gothic monster-hunting

During their long and secretive existence, the secret society known as the Bloodstained Blade have drawn upon their beginnings in the ancient imperial gladiator pits to master exotic weapons. The most unusual of these is the chain whip-flail.

The flanged head of a war-flail attached to a long (12’) chain, the chain whip-flail can be an ungainly weapon in the hands of novices, but masters of the weapon exult in its versatility. The wielder holds the handle in one hand and the chain in the other, spinning the weighted head to pick up momentum. Experts in the weapon easily change grips, lengthening and shortening the chain—even wrapping it around their own arms and legs to control its direction.

In Malleus, tradition holds the weapon was originally imported from the East. Other worlds claim different origins; in the land of Morden (see Accursed), the Gradniki claim they derived the weapon from the heavy flails needed to thresh the wheat of Steppengrad.

The hunters of Steppengrad and other similar lands frequently cast the heads of chain whip-flails from silver in order to better battle werewolves and similar creatures. In fairy-beset lands like Cairn Kainen, cold iron is used instead. The vampire killers of Malleus use the weapon in order to ensnare the undead before closing with a stake.

Chain Whip-Flail 
Damage: Str + d6
Minimum Strength: d6
Weight: 12
Cost: 500
Notes: Ignores shield bonus, Reach 2, two hands. Rather than inflicting damage, the wielder may make an opposed Fighting roll against the target’s Agility or Strength. The target is Entangled on a success and Bound on a raise.

Many hunters convert the handles of their whip-flails into secondary weapons—using wooden handles sharpened into stakes to hunt vampires or attaching silver dagger blades for werewolves. These stabbing implements do Str + d4 damage and count as the proper materials for those monsters’ weaknesses.

Characters with Rope Monkey (see Buccaneer: Through Hell & High Water and Pirates of the Spanish Main) and similar Edges may use a chain whip-flail to swing across battlefields. This requires an Athletics roll and (as usual) counts as the hero’s movement for that round. See Whip-Chain Warrior below.

Thurible Whip-Flail

Usually converted from thuribles used in consecrated rituals, the heads of these chain whip-flails are censers filled with burning incense. This incense acts as a holy symbol for creatures with that weakness.

Thurible whip-flails cannot be purchased through conventional means.

Aspergill Whip-Flail

Incorporating the head of an aspergillum and the chain of a thurible, the aspergill whip-flail contains a reservoir of holy water that dispenses when the aspergillum strikes a solid object. Vampires and other creatures vulnerable to holy water in a Small Burst Template suffer its effects. The inexact dispersion of holy water means an aspergill whip-flail may be used d4 + 2 times before needing to be refilled.

Aspergill whip-flails cannot be purchased through conventional means.

Sunburst Whip-Flail

This enchanted whip-flail produces a flash of sunlight when it strikes an undead or supernaturally evil foe. On a successful hit, the wielder rolls the sunburst whip-flail’s Spellcasting; a success on this roll activates an instantaneous use of the light power (the power does not last for 10 minutes as usual). Vampires and other vulnerable creatures within a Large Burst Template suffer the effects of sunlight.

The sunburst whip-flail possesses Spellcasting d8 and holds up to 10 Power Points.

New Combat Edge

Whip-Chain Warrior

Requirements: Seasoned, Agility d8, Fighting d8, Two-Fisted

The chain whip-flail becomes an even more flexible weapon in the hands of this practitioner.

• By gripping further up the chain or wrapping the excess portion around their arm, the Whip-Chain Warrior may shorten the Reach of the weapon to 1 or 0, making it more effective in tight quarters.
• They may use the handle of the chain whip-flail as a second weapon. If they forego attacking with the handle in a round, they may instead use the chain and handle as a shield (+1 Parry).