Weapon

See also: List of weapon examples.

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BEHÖVER REDIGERAS, är KNAS

An object for stabbin' or killin' or whatever you got to do some damage, is a weapon. From a simple rock to a legendary sword, their purpose is one and the same, take out the threat before the it takes you out.

Like with armor, weapons also have a handful of aspects that determine what the weapon actually is, and like with armor, there is one aspect that is the major factor, the weapon category. The weapon category determines the general purpose and construction of the object, and in turn, determines the type of damage it inflicts and the possible maneuvers associated with the weapon.

Other factors that determine the weapon's make is quality, materials, modifications and size.

Size

Weapons come in a variety of sizes. The tables below shows their damage and armor penetration depending on their Damage Type.

Light Weapons

Light weapons are used in one hand and are flexible and easy to use. They vary from hand and fist weapons to smaller blades or axes, making use of speed and accuracy rather than brute force. Special light weapons usually include stealth and discretion, like concealed hand crossbows, or weapons that serve a purpose other than attacking, like parrying and dueling daggers.

One-handed Weapons

One-handed weapons are short, usually never reaching beyond 2-3 feet in total length. Their primary strength is their adaptability to combat, yielding both offensive and defensive capabilities. This lets you have a hand free that you can use to grapple and push with, or use shields and cloaks to block with.

Versatile Weapons

Versatile weapons is a version of one-handed weapons that can be used one-handed or two-handed, changing the way one fights respectively. Versatile weapons can however not be used to dual wield with light weapons or to wield a shield with.

Two-Handed Weapons

Two-Handed Weapons are used in two hands and grant a whole lot more power to combat than smaller weapons, sacrificing defensive capability. This means they are generally more often seen used by those whom already have well crafted armor, where a shield might not be as critical.

Great Weapons

Great Weapons are unwieldier than most and can't easily be worn in a sheathe and must typically be carried in hand even when not in use. They still retain defensive capabilities, but often with the use of reach instead of with a shield.

These weapons are very often an obvious sign of their own creation and intent, war, which makes them more difficult to carry in certain circumstances, especially in more civilized areas or areas with a stronger rule of law.

When not wielding a melee Great Weapon in combat, it must be carried with your hands, usually by using one hand, and resting your weapon on the shoulder.

When not wielding a ranged Great Weapon in combat, it must be carried with your hands or put away on your back, a wagon or a cart, which means that they are not as easy to swap to in the time of need. Depending on how its stored, unless in hand, the time to get it ready for combat may differ, usually around 12 seconds if worn on the back, having to also ready it by for example stringing it.

Quality

Weapon quality measures the effectiveness of a certain weapon category. Like with armor, the different tiers represent a wide range of factors. From the quality of the materials used, to the expertise of the maker or to the intended use of the weapon.

A simple weapon is usually a quickly crafted weapon without much expertise behind the crafting, made from either a repurposed tool or simple materials that one already has access to. A martial weapon, is a weapon made to be exactly that, a weapon. It is not a repurposed tool and it is not crafted by someone without the skill and knowledge of how to do so.

Masterwork weapons are a type of martial weapon that has years of expertise behind its crafting, with exquisite materials. These weapons, in the hands of someone proficient, are comfortable to wield, expertly balanced, and usually decorated and signed by its maker.

The fourth weapon quality is a special quality type, exotic quality. Exotic weapons, like with martial weapons are made for battle and warfare, allowing them to also be made as masterwork variants. However, unlike martial weapons, exotic weapons are usually much more powerful, but harder to come by. Exotic weapons are either very advanced, made for a very special purposes or created with special materials. Exotic weapons have their own damage tables.

Damage Types

There are five types of physical damage; Slashing, Cleaving, Piercing, Splitting, Bludgeoning. Two of them, Cleaving and Splitting, are combinations of the other damage types.

Slashing

Slashing damage is done by making longs cuts and lacerations, where a better name for it could be slicing. The damage is mainly done by your weapons ability and sharpness rather than your strength and power in the cut. Slashing uses your Dexterity modifier.

Cleaving

Cleaving damage is done by trying to sever and chop. Hew attacks is a fair name for it too. Cleaving uses your Strength modifier.

• For resistances and vulnerabilities Cleaving counts as 50% Slashing & 50% Bludgeoning*

Piercing

Piercing damage is done by puncture wounds, usually done by either finding gaps in armor or sliding within and breaking armor like mail. Piercing uses your Dexterity modifier.

Splitting

Splitting damage is done by powerful puncturing blows, usually in arcing motions, often to penetrate armor. These attacks are done with a combination of force and the small surface area of the weapon, for example a pickaxe. Splitting uses your Strength modifier.

• For resistances and vulnerabilities Splitting counts as 50% Piercing & 50% Bludgeoning*

Bludgeoning

Bludgeoning damage is done by making heavy bludgeoning attacks, made to crush your targets and break, bruise and bash. Bludgeoning uses your Strength modifier.

Ammunition Dependent

Ammunition dependent damage is done by ranged weapons, which can use a variety of projectiles. This type of damage uses one of the other damage types depending on the ammunition used. The ammunition will generally be piercing, but may for example be exchanged for blunt damage when using blunt tips. Regardless of the damage type, Ammunition dependent damage uses your Dexterity modifier.

Armor Penetration

The five different physical damage types have a varying degree of effectiveness against armor, each having an armor penetration value from 0 to 3. Slashing is the least effective against armor but great against flesh, like a sabre wielded against lightly armored or unarmored foes is almost useless against heavily armored ones. Bludgeoning however is the most effective against armor, like a warhammer wielded against a plated knight. It will however be less useful against an unarmored foe.

Damage Type	Armor Penetration
Slashing	0
Cleaving	1
Piercing	1
Splitting	2
Bludgeoning	3

Armor Penetration Calculations

Your Armor Class is calculated as described in the Armor section above: *Your Armor Class is equal to 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your AC bonus from your armor.* Armor penetration ignores the AC calculated from your AC bonus from armor.

For example, if a creature has an Armor Class (AC) of 15, with a Dexterity modifier equal to 3 and an AC bonus from armor equal to 2, a bludgeoning weapon, which has an armor penetration of 3, will reduce the effective Armor Class down to 13 when determining a hit from an attack.

Noting ACs on your sheet

An easy way to keep track of your ACs during combat is to write down your base AC, your AC with the added Dexterity modifier and your AC with Dexterity and armor.

With the example described above, it could look something like this:

• **Base** **AC**: 10
• **Base + Dexterity AC**: 13
• **Base + Dexterity + Armor AC**: 15

Attack Distance

Attack Distance describes a weapon's reach, ranging from a few inches in melee range, to over hundreds of feet in ranged reach. It simply describes the range at which you can make an attack against a target.

Your attack modifier is the ability score modifier that you use when rolling an attack, as well as rolling for damage. The different ranges have different attack modifiers, either Strength or Dexterity.

Melee

A melee weapon's reach usually ranges from 1 to 3 metres, depending on the weapon used and its size. Melee attacks generally do more damage and can often do a wider range of damage, from slashing to bludgeoning. Melee weapons have a set and determined range dependent on its size and reach.

Melee weapons vary in their attack modifier; Cleaving, Splitting and Bludgeoning uses Strength, while Slashing and Piercing uses Dexterity.

Thrown

A thrown weapon's range depends on the user's accuracy, strength and training, and the weapon's weight and aerodynamics. Weapons with a thrown range are often melee weapons designed to be thrown as well. However, some only ranged thrown weapons also exist, like throwing darts and javelins.

Thrown weapons uses your throwing distance and ranged attack distance. These can be found in the Ability Score chapter under Strength and Dexterity. The distance and precision modifiers is shown in the tables below.

The attack modifier for throwing weapons is split. The attack roll uses your Dexterity modifier and the damage roll uses your Strength modifier.

Ranged

A ranged weapon's range is determined in two different ways depending on the weapon's construction: Drawn or Loaded.

Drawn weapons uses the user's strength to manually maintain a draw weight. This means that drawn weapons, like with thrown weapons, uses your throwing distance to calculate distance. However, because the draw weight depends on the weapon's construction, the wielder must also have a drawn weapon that can match the wielder's strength. Ranged weapons also have range modifiers that increase their range, ranging from twice as much to over four times as much.

Different drawn weapons require different amount of strength to use, take a longbow with a strength requirement of 14 as an example. With a range modifier of 3, it has a range of 645 ft, regardless of how strong the wielder is, as long as they have at least 14 strength. Drawn weapons with high poundage are rare as most are crafted for the common soldier.

Loaded weapons have a range independent on the user's own strength. It usually requires a tedious process of loading the weapon, but its range is set dependent on the power of the launching mechanism.

The attack modifier for ranged weapons is your Dexterity modifier, while the damage modifier is the draw strength of the weapon.