Club (weapon)

The club, also the cudgel, bludgeon, shillelagh, bang or knobkerrie, doubles as a hand-held melee weapon and hurled weapon, made of only hardwood. In shape, it's a stick about 24 to 30 inches long, usually with a hardened, rounded knob on its end. It has the benefit that anyone can make a club, and that club-like objects — like a table-leg, piece of bannister or belaying pin — can serve as a club if no other weapon is available.

Clubs with spikes, metal-weighted heads, chiseled sharp edges or with metal studs are more correctly described as maces or godentags, and are not discussed here.

Combat

Missile Range in Combat Hexes

Bow	Point Blank	Short	Medium	Long
Club	2	3-5	6-7	8-9

Damage from the club is 1-6, adjusted by strength. When hurled, the weapon's range is very poor, as shown on the table. Hitting with a hurled club can be improved by a high dexterity.

At 3½ lbs., the club is considered to be a "light weapon," so it's used with one hand and takes 1 action point to draw from a character's belt. If a roll to hit produces a fumble, the club will break on a 1 in 4. It's the right size and length to be used while on horseback.

The club is a hereditary weapon in various forms, shown in brackets, for characters raised in the Dutch Colonies (knop), Leinster & Munster (shillelagh), Northumbria & Ulster (cudgel), among Plains Natives in America and the Zulu (knobkerrie). It's favoured among persons whose progenitor is a hermit, innkeeper and sailor. This grants a +1 bonus to hit for these peoples.

The 1st level druid spell, shillelagh, transforms an ordinary club of that type into a temporary magical weapon.