Duties of the Weapon Marshal?

markusdark said:
Hey all,

I was wondering if there was an existing "This is what you need to do as a Weapon Marshal" document somewhere.

Thank you.

Mark
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Marshals are decided on a chapter by chapter basis, so you can be a marshal in one chapter and not in another.

But to really answer your question: I don't know! If any chapter has prepared one, I'd love to see it.
 
The test I had to pass to be a weapons marshal:

1. Make and present to the HoR a passing weapon rep.
2. Inspect a few in front of them - explain what I was looking for as I was doing it, and whether or not it passed and why. Most that I was looking at passed, a few didn't. I suspect they were put in there on purpose to see if I'd catch them.
3. Answer a few questions about construction rules.

As Mike mentioned marshals are a chapter-by-chapter thing, but this seems like a pretty fair way to do it to me.

As far as specifically what you're looking for when inspecting a weapon?

1. Does it conform to the safety standards in the rulebook (and chapter-allowed variants like UL cores) ie. thrusting tips, proper foam depth etc.

2. Does it fit the construction dimensions in the rulebook for the intended weapon

3. Does it have any ritual requirements to meet (like white on a DA blade or a flaw or some other in-game thing that would alter its appearance).

The specific ways in which you safety test these things vary from chapter to chapter and even person to person. Sure it's pretty easy to measure things, but stuff like durability and squishiness of foam are rather subjective. I have seen some chapters that have drawn out marks on a wall or floor to indicate weapon length so they can just match up the weapon if it seems borderline (rather reminiscent of the kind used on a boat to measure fish for their min length).
 
My general feeling is that a weapon marshal should be consistent and adept at identifying whether or not any given weapon conforms to the local chapter's weapon design specs, is acceptably safe to use in Alliance combat, and be knowledgeable as to the rules for weapon design in the rulebook. Some basic geometry skills are necessary for figuring out shield sizes.

Whether or not a weapon rep matches the description of the item tag is somewhat secondary, and more of a rules marshal thing than a weapon marshal thing, imo. Just because it doesn't pass for the weapon tag does not mean the weapon rep is unusable, simply unsuitable for the tag.
 
It is very helpful if the weapon marshal is a experienced weaponbuilder, as they are often able to identify subtle problems and, shall we say, oversights in the construction of a rep at a glance.
 
jpariury said:
Whether or not a weapon rep matches the description of the item tag is somewhat secondary, and more of a rules marshal thing than a weapon marshal thing, imo. Just because it doesn't pass for the weapon tag does not mean the weapon rep is unusable, simply unsuitable for the tag.
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It depends... if a weapon is too long to be a shortsword, it's now a longsword. Slap a different tag on it and you're fine. However certain things like a polearm or shield, if too big, are simply unusable.

As a weapons marshal you are a subset of a rules marshal - the distinction being you can only make calls on rules that apply to weapons and their construction. It is nearly impossible on the field of combat for a marshal to realize that a sword is a few inches too long, but this is cheating (intentionally or unintentionally) and gaining and unfair advantage. Catching that error is the weapon marshal's job before the weapon even goes on the field.
 
Ezri said:
It depends... if a weapon is too long to be a shortsword, it's now a longsword. Slap a different tag on it and you're fine. However certain things like a polearm or shield, if too big, are simply unusable.
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When you check a weapon and sign off on it, you should also be indicating what it is you are signing off for. IE, a weapon safety tag I write out at an event on Oct 13 of this year should read "short sword, JP, 10/13/09". If player X uses a tag other than a short sword tag in conjunction with the rep, they're cheating, plain and simple. A weapon marshal should not be responsible for ensuring that players are using the right weapon item tags with their reps. That's where the rules marshal thing comes in.
 
I don't think we're actually disagreeing, maybe I'm just not saying it right.

If a player hands me two weapons and says "here's my longsword and my shortsword" and in my inspection I discover that the shortsword is indeed too long to be a shortsword I'm going to let him know that it's too long it and sign it off as a longsword (assuming of course it passes in all other regards). Not just shrug and call it a longsword and hand it back, because I can guarantee you that once that sticker goes on 99% of us don't look at it again. If he thinks it's a shortsword he's not going to look at the sticker you signed before slapping an in-game tag on it. He's going to think "cool, my weapon passed lemme get in game before I miss something."

It's the weapon marshal's responsibility to make them aware of the error, and yes then it's totally on the player as to what happens after that. If he says "F-it, nobody's going to notice" and uses it as a shortsword anyway, then yes he's cheating. But I know that I as a player would be annoyed if I later got reprimanded for using a weapon that I didn't realize was too long when the weapon marshal never told me.

I guess I just don't understand why you would think that making sure that the weapon fits the size limits in the rulebook wouldn't be part of a weapon marshal's responsibility.
 
Ezri said:
I guess I just don't understand why you would think that making sure that the weapon fits the size limits in the rulebook wouldn't be part of a weapon marshal's responsibility.
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That was not my statement. This was: "Whether or not a weapon rep matches the description of the item tag is somewhat secondary, and more of a rules marshal thing than a weapon marshal thing, imo."
 
Yea, and at the same time, always carefully explain why it was failed so the disappointed player can try to fix it. I see a weapon marshal as sort of a chapter local licensed weapon building "guide".
 
You also have to be able to bang out 50 pushups in under a minute...for some reason.

I think Scott made a point of that on the owner's board a few months ago.

I think the thread was titled "Making an example of weakling (aka: liberals) who have infiltrated our illustrious staff".

Can anyone confirm that, maybe find the specific post?

I meantioned it to Sean Metzler and his response was "With age, Scott has grown softer than cotton.It's going to be 60 for any punk who wants to pass my marshal test".

~Gary
 
Wraith said:
It is very helpful if the weapon marshal is a experienced weaponbuilder, as they are often able to identify subtle problems and, shall we say, oversights in the construction of a rep at a glance.
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And provide hints and tips to help make the next weapon more likely to pass inspection ... or even to allow the player to correct the problem to get it passed (e.g. thrusting tip replacement/reconstruction).
 
Deadlands said:
You also have to be able to bang out 50 pushups in under a minute...for some reason.

I think Scott made a point of that on the owner's board a few months ago.

I think the thread was titled "Making an example of weakling (aka: liberals) who have infiltrated our illustrious staff".

Can anyone confirm that, maybe find the specific post?

I meantioned it to Sean Metzler and his response was "With age, Scott has grown softer than cotton.It's going to be 60 for any punk who wants to pass my marshal test".

~Gary
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I endorse this post,though Gary forget to mention they have to be clap pushups.

Scott
PS: I'm a social liberal, does that make me a weakling? I am however a fiscal conservative and a "security conservative" for lack of a better phrase.
 
Now you've done it.The avalanche has begun. Next thing you know we’ll being throwing in pull ups and googling staff cadets to make sure none of them got their picture on the internet flipping the bird to either Bushes, Reagan or Nixon.

Are you a weakling? I doubt it. Fortunately you’re already a marshal, so you’re grandfathered in. Oh wait! That seems like sort of communist type policy. Maybe I should bring a stop watch, just to be safe.

For now, thank you for your solidarity, Comrade.

~Gary

PS. "Workers of the world unite!" -KM
 
Dang, I'd be close on regular push-ups but not clap push-ups. Must work harder!
 
Push ups in HQ are reserved for nobles, squires, and squire wanna-be's.

Weapon marshal wanna-be's must take 30 lashes with the NO stick.
 
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