First Weapon Syndrome

The first weapon newly minted Amtgardians make often share a number of traits:

• Huge
• Heavy (even for their size)
• UGLY (and rarely have a cover)

The first weapon will often possess these traits even in the face of advice to the contrary by more experienced players. Some people cannot learn from other's mistakes and must make them for themselves. Such people should avoid things like "heroin" and "plutonium".

First weapons are often staffs or reach weapons. Polearms and spears are rare, as are "long" and "short" swords. Non-reach swords, fail to meet the first criteria, "huge"... though it's possible to still qualify as FWS with sufficient quantities of "heavy" and "ugly".

This happens often enough that some people have taken to naming this behavior: "First Weapon Syndrome".

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Examples:

• "Santa's Li'l Helper", a great sword made by Tarkas
• 1" PVC cored staff with blue camp foam & duct tape - LucasTheLost
• "The Ugly Stick", PVC cored weapon with several different brands of duct tape and uneven layers of slit pool noodle - No Boots
• A right-angled PVC "sai" covered in gold stretch fabric that so greatly resembled a candelabra that it was dubbed "The Battelabra" - Miles Ookami
• The Putzana, an orphaned first attempt collectively inherited by the Shire of the Howling Winds, a 3' artifact made of duct tape, insomnia, and drug-induced delirium. Better balanced when held by the tip rather than the hilt, it resembled a cross between a rotting banana and a very ugly erotic artifact.