Poi

World of Darkness - Armory

The Maori of New Zealand practice a spinning, dancing art that uses a device called poi (translation: “ball”). Poi is generally a set of two spheres attached by a rope or chain. The Maori dance with the poi, whirling it about in a furious spinning juggle. These days, the poi is meant as an art form (both for tourists and traditionalists), but its original purpose was to train a tribesman in manual dexterity. The poi can also be used as a weapon itself. It doesn’t cause massive damage, but the weighted ends of the poi can be spun forward and used to hit an opponent. The rope or chain, as well, can be used to grapple.
One variation worthy of note is the fire poi. Fire poi have ends soaked in flammable liquid (lamp oil, usually). A user lights the ends on fire and then spins them wildly around. Characters can use a fire poi as a weapon, but the attacks are made at a –1 penalty. However, while the damage is still bashing, a successful attack will burn the target with lethal wounds. Assume that the burning ends of a fire poi have a Size of Fire 1 with Heat Modifier of +1, thus inflicting two lethal damage per turn of contact. If the fire poi is used successfully to inflict this damage for two consecutive turns, any combustible items on the target (hair, clothing) catches fire. (For this reason, a dramatic failure while wielding the fire poi is not recommended, as the wielder will catch fire herself.)

Item type

Weapon, Melee

Damage: 0(B)
Size: 1/S
Durability: 3
Cost: n/a