The Year of the Ten Foot Pole

I know I said I was going to take a break from blogging, but I'm bored.  As far as first day of the year goes this one wasn't that great.  I stayed up late, and slept too long, and didn't get much accomplished.  Of course it's not even 7 PM here so I still have time to get something done.

The title of the post is kind of a joke.  It made me laugh.  It would be difficult to carry that kind of theme all year long, even if I only had a post a month about ten foot poles!

Thinking back on last year I still find it hard to believe I wrote a post about iron spikes.  It's even more surprising I actually posted it after I wrote it.  Well, that's what the Reader's Choice Challenge was all about. Of course after I wrote that post, someone wanted a post about ten foot poles.  I can't win.  The scary thing is I could probably write another post about iron spikes, but I'm afraid I would start losing followers.

However, thinking about it, I realise that trying to write about something as mundane as an iron spike, or a ten foot pole, can spur on some creative ideas. Yes there will be a post written about ten foot poles, but it might not be what you expect.

Now I think I'm going to spend the rest of the evening working on a dungeon.  In one of the rooms I'm going to have a workshop where they make nothing but ten foot poles.

The Wonderful World of Iron Spikes

Well, I guess the title explains what this post is about.  A while back, I jokingly commented about writing an article on iron spikes.  Porky commented that he would like to read such an article, or something along those lines.  Then I announced the Reader's Choice Challenge.  Yeah, this topic was suggested by Porky.


I thought I would start with some flavor fiction... yeah about iron spikes.

The outfitters shop was cluttered and disorganized.  Trent was looking at an oddly shaped grappling hook.  Tossing it back into the pile of junk, he heard the shopkeeper returning from the back room.

"Here's the last coil of rope I have.... hmmm... should be about fifty feet long..."  He placed it on the counter.  "Anything else?"

Looking over at Flek, who was examining a shield, Trent grunted,  "Anything else we need?"

Flek, tugged at his impressive beard.  "Spikes... good, sturdy spikes."

"Well, you heard the dwarf, you have any spikes?"  Trent started placing the items in his pack.

"Of course  I do, what kind do you want?"

"What do you mean, what kind?"  Trent shaking his head, and rolling his eyes, he couldn't believe the shopkeeper.  "You know, IRON SPIKES... metal, blunt on one end, and pointy and sharp on the other?"

The shopkeeper shrugged, and bent down and reached under the counter.  Grunting with effort he stood back up, holding a very long iron spike.  Dropping it on the counter it made a loud thud.  "There you go..."

"That's a too large... I meant regular sized iron spikes...  who needs a spike that big anyway?"

Lighting his pipe, the shopkeeper, puffing out a small cloud of smoke, which took the shape of a flying dragon, and flew off.  "Dunno, but the group ordered about 10 of the durn things.  I had to have them made special.  Think they mentioned something about a nasty trap."

"I see... well we just need spikes about this long... " Trent held up his hands to indicate the length he needed.

"I see, okay, with or without holes in the end?"  Chuckling, the shopkeeper blew another cloud of pipe smoke.  This time it took the form of a castle floating in the clouds.

Trent, running his hand down his face, let out a breath.  "Uh... some of both..."

"Let me check..."

Now, I'm by no means an expert on iron spikes, especially in gaming systems, so I'm sure some rule sets, and supplements might have covered many different varieties of iron spikes, but the fiction was just a way of saying, not everyone's iron spikes are going to be the same.


In a fantasy setting, a smith is going to handcraft these things one at a time, and there is going to be differences in size, shape, and quality.  One smith's iron spike is going to be different than anothers.  Some people are going to say that this is getting a little too realistic, or not worth the trouble to keep track off, and that's fine.  Also, in most cities, it's probably an item that isn't in that big of a demand, and those that are made, are probably made to order.  A group of player characters would most likely have to ask a smith to have them made, and if the smith is busy it might take a while.


Of course you can also have the spike made out of different kinds of metal, even enchanted metal, but those are going to cost much, much more. 


I think I've written as much as I care to about iron spikes.  Here's a website with a list of 101 uses for an iron spike.  Well, I didn't read it all, so there might not be 101 uses.  The writer stopped at thirty something ( I don't blame him ), and people started leaving more uses in the comments.

Okay Porky, are you happy now?