Here’s the second in my series of ramblings about my half-baked home-brew RPG.
I’ve already covered my idea to standardize damage dealt. Here’s a taste of what I’m thinking about doing with weapons and other combat gear. Those of you who play D&D and/or Saga will notice some very strong influences here.
Choice of armament effects what sort of special options you can (or must) exercise while in combat. I’m going to try and keep the number of numerical bonuses to a minimum, with the abilities being more thematic and tactical rather than raw numbers. A notable exception is the Sword, which is generally considered a superior weapon in skilled hands. If anyone has a better idea of what to do for them, I’d be happy to hear it.
Swords: +1 bonus to dmg/Ref Def when using Power Attack/Combat Expertise
Axes/Picks: Extra die of damage on critical hit
Polearms: Reach
Spears: Set against charge, potentially thrown. (note: thrown OR reach, not both)
Dagger: Can be thrown, does two types of damage
Quarterstaff: Double Weapon, can be used to trip
Crossbow: Deals extra die on aimed shots
Bows: Fast rate of fire
Shuriken: small, can be drawn quickly (like ammo)
Flails: Extra penalties on Block rolls. (see Shields)
Nunchuku: can be used to grapple
Sai: aids in disarms
Whips: allow grapples at range (exotic)
Weapon Qualities:
Weapons could also have enhancements or abilities that fell outside their normal usage. These sorts of enhancements (Flaming, Vorpal, etc) would combine with their more mundane abilities.
Flaming: Deals and extra die of damage against creatures vulnerable to fire.
Wounding: Pushes target further down condition track.
Shields:
Mechanically, shields will allow you to make Block checks (a la the talent from Saga), though I haven’t determined what bonuses are going to be used for this.
All: Make Block roll, penalties based on size/training.
Buckler: -5 penalty on Block Rolls, -1 penalty to physical skills.
Small: -2 penalty on Block Rolls, -2 penalty to physical skills.
Large: no penalty on Block Rolls, -5 penalty to physical skills.
Armor:
Armor has been simplified into 3 categories, Light, Medium and Heavy. The penalties outlined will apply to things like Acrobatics, Climb, and Jump (which will likely be rolled into Athletics with Swim). Non-proficient wearers will also take that penalty on attack rolls. Note that base speed is assumed to be 6 squares.
I’ve considered making non-proficient wearers take a -2 penalty to Ref Def, just to keep from having everyone in light armor whether they took the feat or not. We’ll see how it goes. Maybe I should shift around some penalties to try and keep that from happening.
Light (Leather, Chain Shirt): +2 Ref Def and DT, No penalty, no speed reduction.
Medium (Chainmail, Splint): +4 Ref Def and DT, -2 penalty to physical skills, no speed reduction.
Heavy (Plate, Heavy Hide): +6 Ref Def and DT, -5 penalty to physical skills, speed reduced to 4.
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