The damage a melee-weapon can do is dependent on several factors.
- Which kind of attack you make with the weapon, each corresponding to the five types of physical damage; Slashing, Cleaving, Piercing, Splitting, Bludgeoning. Cleaving and Splitting are combinations of the other damage types.
- Your modifier for Dexterity or Strength, depending on which kind of attack you make.
- The quality of the weapon; Simple, Martial or Exotic.
- Any enchantments on the weapon.
High
| Quality Type |
Great | Two-Handed | One-Handed | Light |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple | D10 | D10 | D6 | D4 |
| Martial | D12 | D12 | D8 | D6 |
| Exotic | Exotic weapons are rare and all have specific stats | |||
Medium
| Quality Type |
Great | Two-Handed | One-Handed | Light |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple | D8 | D8 | D4 | D2 |
| Martial | D10 | D10 | D6 | D4 |
| Exotic | Exotic weapons are rare and all have specific stats | |||
Low
| Quality Type |
Great | Two-Handed | One-Handed | Light |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple | D6 | D6 | D2 | 1 |
| Martial | D8 | D8 | D4 | D2 |
| Exotic | Exotic weapons are rare and all have specific stats | |||
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
Armor penetration ignores the AL calculated from your AL bonus from armor.
For example, if a creature has an Armor Level (AL) of 15, with a Dexterity modifier equal to 3 and an AL bonus from armor equal to 2, a bludgeoning weapon, which has an armor penetration of 3, will reduce the effective Armor Level down to 13 when determining a hit from an attack.
Noting ALs On Your Sheet
An easy way to keep track of your ALs during combat is to write down your base AL, your AL with the added Dexterity modifier and your AL with Dexterity and armor.
With the example described above, it could look something like this:
- Base AL: 10
- Base + Dexterity AL: 13
- Base + Dexterity + Armor AL: 15