I have never seen the following weapons used by any PC: blowgun, hand crossbow, nunchaku, and light hammer.
I have a two-weapon fighter PC who uses a pair of light hammers as backup weapons--he normally wields an urgrosh, and if he needs bludgeoning damage, or a quick ranged attack, a light hammer works just fine.
I've always thought that the Dorn-Dergar looked kind of cool. I think playing a Stonelord Paladin with one of them would be pretty neat.
Dorn-Dergar is also maybe one of the few exotic weapons that might be worth the feat. A reach weapon that can also hit adjacent foes. And with an additional feat (maybe worth it for fighters?) you can make it a one-handed weapon. The only one-handed reach weapon, if I remember correctly.
I haven't seen the halfling sling-staff in use either, but I suspect that's due to the low number of halfling warrior-types in most campaigns.
Sling-staff is also a pretty solid weapon. Probably not worth the feat, but it's not bad at all. One handed ranged weapon... You load it with a move action like a crossbow, but if you're a strength person, it deals far more damage. Feats like weapon focus apply to your melee options (you're essentially using a club) AND your ranged options. Plus weapon enhancements on the weapon would apply to both so long as it's a legal enhancement. Hell, I'm going to say it: On a fighter, I'd consider the sling-staff well worth the feat. The versatility gained is rad and good.
The light hammer and other throwing weapons will see a lot more use I gather when the Warpriest Advanced class comes out finally. Weapon Focus and then scaling damage if the class remains relatively unchanged. That means 2D8 by level 20 with a light throwing hammer.
Yea, ever since I saw this picture I always wanted to do a starknife flinging a Priest of Desna or Black Butterfly. I finally got my got chance to pull it off during a playtest a few months back and it was glorious. Though admittedly the GM tossed me a bone by letting me add Agile to the Sacred Weapon buff options and to using the 4e method of treating all magic weapons as returning.
Minotaur double crossbow is pretty nuts.
How? They specifically made it so that it never reloads as a free action, even with Crossbow Mastery.
Great: Meteor hammer. Reach+shield mode or double-weapon mode as you see fit, switching is a free action (at turn start). Get a flaming one for maximum awesomeness.
Terrible: Kusarigama, because nobody, and I mean nobody, knows how the damn thing works in Pathfinder.
Great: Meteor hammer. Reach+shield mode or double-weapon mode as you see fit, switching is a free action (at turn start). Get a flaming one for maximum awesomeness.
Terrible: Kusarigama, because nobody, and I mean nobody, knows how the damn thing works in Pathfinder.
As a Titan Mauler you can have two Meteor Hammers if you fancy that.
The greatclub is pretty bad, 1d10 X2 MARTIAL weapon, i still love it though. one of my favorites actually.
The greatest irony? Siege crossbows IRL were STAGGERINGLY powerful, to the point that they were better than firearms for penetration and damage with the right bolt head (Bodkin points ftw!). The catch was that it took minutes to reload the damn things, but still...
And before you say 'that's useless outside of a siege!', remember that there's nothing stopping you from opening with your obscenely powerful crossbow then switching out to something practical for a prolonged fight, then reloading between encounters.
Wizard can actually put a balista to good use just about anywhere...
Step 1) Buy Balista
Step 2) Cast Shrink Item on Balista
Step 3) Permanency Shrink Item
Step 4) Fold up your mini Balista and store in bag
Step 5) Profit.
Blade scarf used to be kinda okay before it got nerfed. Not amazing, but not completely awful since it was sort of like a lesser spiked chain.
How did it get nerfed?
Oh and the Bladed Scarf is actually pretty decent with the Magus with the Kapenia Dancer archetype. It gives the magus the ability to use the scarf 1 handed, can give it reach, can perform steal maneuvers with it, and when he crits with it he can teleport and deal 1d4 ability damage to the struck creature (no save). Technically, if you took the Arcana enough times, you could deal 1d4 ability damage to ALL stats with a single crit...
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I have never seen the following weapons used by any PC: blowgun, hand crossbow, nunchaku, and light hammer. Oh, and no spiked chains since the conversion from 3.5. (Plenty before then.) I haven't seen the halfling sling-staff in use either, but I suspect that's due to the low number of halfling warrior-types in most campaigns.
I'm the only one I've known to use bolas. And that was for a fighter with a bounty-hunter theme.
And I've only ever seen the light mace, siangham and trident come into use because a really nice magical one was found.
As far as the super-popular end; greatswords, longswords and longbows are still leading the pack. There's some affection shown to glaives and greataxes; dwarven war-axes seem to lead bastard swords slightly for the dedicated sword-and-board types. Javelins and morningstars are the front-runners in the simple weapon category.
I actually use the light hammers on my slayer but more as a nice and cheap light bludgeoning weapon you can also throw.
That being said hand crossbows and blowguns do get the severe short end of the stick mainly because they are built to deliver poisons an PF poison economics are all wonky. In my home game I actually reduced poison prices significantly and it has helped immensely in seeing items like this come back.
That being said a warpriest of nocticula with a hand crossbow is still pretty solid thanks to their favored weapon ability.
Now other weapons that don't see much use: any ranged weapon that is not a bow. Now don't get me wrong some weapons work just fine as close range weapons (dagger) but for the most part if you want to be at range your option is a bow, full stop. The system as it stands in it's current iteration doesn't really leave a lot of room for other ranged options to not only compete but just out an out work (save maybe firearms). It's already hard as hell to build a crossbowmen I can only imagine what it's like to try and build a slinger or like a thrown weapons expert and make them work reliably.
As for popular weapons what everyone said so far is basically right. Greatsword, longsword, longbow all rule the roost. The easiest way to figure it out is asking, "Would a lead character in lord of the rings or a western europe inspired fantasy epic be seen wielding this?" If the answer is yes then it's most likely popular.
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Blade scarf used to be kinda okay before it got nerfed. Not amazing, but not completely awful since it was sort of like a lesser spiked chain.How did it get nerfed?
Oh and the Bladed Scarf is actually pretty decent with the Magus with the Kapenia Dancer archetype. It gives the magus the ability to use the scarf 1 handed, can give it reach, can perform steal maneuvers with it, and when he crits with it he can teleport and deal 1d4 ability damage to the struck creature (no save). Technically, if you took the Arcana enough times, you could deal 1d4 ability damage to ALL stats with a single crit...
I believe it's because it used to be a 1 handed reach weapon and got nerfed to 2 handed no reach option for just a d6.
Now don't get me wrong the Kapina Dancer does make it pretty awesome but the fact that I can get all of the scarf's abilities as it stands now with a regular flail (sans the grapple ability) plus a d8 of damage for 4 less gp and no feat kind of kills it.
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I've always thought that the Dorn-Dergar looked kind of cool. I think playing a Stonelord Paladin with one of them would be pretty neat.Dorn-Dergar is also maybe one of the few exotic weapons that might be worth the feat. A reach weapon that can also hit adjacent foes. And with an additional feat (maybe worth it for fighters?) you can make it a one-handed weapon. The only one-handed reach weapon, if I remember correctly.
I haven't seen the halfling sling-staff in use either, but I suspect that's due to the low number of halfling warrior-types in most campaigns.Sling-staff is also a pretty solid weapon. Probably not worth the feat, but it's not bad at all. One handed ranged weapon... You load it with a move action like a crossbow, but if you're a strength person, it deals far more damage. Feats like weapon focus apply to your melee options (you're essentially using a club) AND your ranged options. Plus weapon enhancements on the weapon would apply to both so long as it's a legal enhancement. Hell, I'm going to say it: On a fighter, I'd consider the sling-staff well worth the feat. The versatility gained is rad and good.
Lol I'm actually in the middle of building a Kephri warpriest for pfs who uses a sling staff. The problem is that you can't take rapid reload or juggle load for the thing and for some reason the halfling warslinger trait doesn't include the slingstaff. That last one in particular annoys me to NO END.
Blade scarf used to be kinda okay before it got nerfed. Not amazing, but not completely awful since it was sort of like a lesser spiked chain.How did it get nerfed?
Oh and the Bladed Scarf is actually pretty decent with the Magus with the Kapenia Dancer archetype. It gives the magus the ability to use the scarf 1 handed, can give it reach, can perform steal maneuvers with it, and when he crits with it he can teleport and deal 1d4 ability damage to the struck creature (no save). Technically, if you took the Arcana enough times, you could deal 1d4 ability damage to ALL stats with a single crit...
I believe it's because it used to be a 1 handed reach weapon and got nerfed to 2 handed no reach option for just a d6.
Now don't get me wrong the Kapina Dancer does make it pretty awesome but the fact that I can get all of the scarf's abilities as it stands now with a regular flail (sans the grapple ability) plus a d8 of damage for 4 less gp and no feat kind of kills it.
ah ok xD
Crossbows are good weapons for characters who don't care to shoot their ranged weapon a second time in a combat.
Thrown weapons are good for the same thing but get your strength bonus...
Daggers/Short Swords/Rapier/Scimitar/Long Sword/Great Sword are the most common weapons I see PCs use as the default pathfinder weapons. Basically, they use the best of those they can. Players who play golf bag fighter types also tend to grab a battle axe and a warhammer.
I only ever see exotic weapons if the proficiency is given for free. However, this started around when 3.5 came out and people started realizing that trading a long sword for a bastard sword was like taking a feat that occasionally offered a +1 to damage.
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The light hammer and other throwing weapons will see a lot more use I gather when the Warpriest Advanced class comes out finally. Weapon Focus and then scaling damage if the class remains relatively unchanged. That means 2D8 by level 20 with a light throwing hammer.Yea, ever since I saw this picture I always wanted to do a starknife flinging a Priest of Desna or Black Butterfly. I finally got my got chance to pull it off during a playtest a few months back and it was glorious. Though admittedly the GM tossed me a bone by letting me add Agile to the Sacred Weapon buff options and to using the 4e method of treating all magic weapons as returning.
In other news another interesting option I've been playing around with for starknives is a Butterfly's Sting build where you pump up your critical chance and then just give free crits to friends who wield weapons with bigger damage than you and/or higher crit multipliers. I'm really interested to see it on like a rogue or fighter build maybe with some disarm thrown in to further inhibit enemies.
No friggin way. That was THE weapon for crossbow specialist fighters. What the hell?Minotaur double crossbow is pretty nuts.This crossbow actually no longer exists :(
This may be connected to why crossbow specialist fighters no longer exist.
As an aside, I'd like to give a shout out to the Cestus for being the best Brawler weapon and just being really cool. A perfect fit for any boxer babe.
Lol I'm actually in the middle of building a Kephri warpriest for pfs who uses a sling staff. The problem is that you can't take rapid reload or juggle load for the thing and for some reason the halfling warslinger trait doesn't include the slingstaff. That last one in particular annoys me to NO END.
I was disappointed by this ruling as well. The way I've sort of been feeling better about it is that I've been imagining it as a melee weapon with a cool special ranged attack, rather than the other way around. I'm convinced that being able to do the switch hitter thing without sacrificing melee (all that much) is an excellent thing no matter what.
Just going off of base non-magical mundane weapons, but including all proficiency types, which weapons are great? Which are terrible? Are there any weapons that you consistently build a specific class around, and weapons that just clog up the weapon list in the book with their highly situational uselessness? Have you ever come up with ideas for making a terrible weapon useful?
For example, the Lucerne Hammer is great. But I see a lot of hate for daggers, and starknives seem terrible.
I found a pretty great use for a Starknife actually, as it is basically the only decent light thrown weapon that is a deity's favored weapon, so my mythic cleric of Desna starknife specialist with Mythic Guided Hand feat gets to add his Wis to all attack AND damage rolls for melee AND range.. booya.
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Dragonchess player has a fantastic list but there's some things worth adding.
All IMO, etc. Also, not all-inclusive; some characters may get more use out of specific weapons that are not on this list.
Good Simple Weapons
Battle Aspergillum: Decent damage (1d6), bludgeoning (for skeletons, etc.), and (when filled with holy water) can affect many incorporeal creatures.
CEstus: Superior to a spiked gauntlet in that it has a ebtter crit rating and anyone can use it. The Longspear/cestus combo is a staple of hard hitting tactically thinking clerics, bards adn summoners.
Dagger: "Rule 9." (most of the time, at least) Not just as a weapon, but as a tool. If the character has claws, then daggers are less necessary, but just about everyone else should have at least one.
Javelin: Decent damage, decent range (even better as a martial weapon with an amentum), can add Str bonus to damage.
Longspear: It's the only simple weapon with reach. To add it can also brace. IT's also very cheap and relatively light. An absolutely excellent weapon. It also has a x3 crit rating basically making it a battle axe on a stick.
Quarterstaff: It's a double weapon, so it's versatile and efficient with action economy. Plus, they're cheap, common/easily overlooked (Gandalf at Meduseld?), and useful for prodding at surfaces/objects (to test footing, etc.).
Sickle: Decent damage, light tripping weapon (TWF trip build with light flail and sickle?).
Sling: For halflings with the Warslinger alternate racial trait and/or clerics and druid with magic stone.
Spiked Gauntlet: Can't be disarmed, can use the hands for other tasks without penalty.
Underwater crossbows: For campaigns with a lot of combat underwater.
Good Martial Weapons
Bill: For maneuvers (disarm), plus brace, reach, and a +1 shield bonus when fighting defensively.
Composite Bows: Add Str damage up to the bonus they are built for, full number of attacks per round without an extra feat (Quick Draw for thrown weapons or Rapid Reload for atlatl, crossbows, etc.).
Earth Breaker: Mechanically equivalent to a bludgeoning greatsword.
Falchion: 18-20/x2 critical, half-orcs have proficiency (unless trading out Weapon Familiarity).
Gladius: Shortsword that does piercing or slashing.
Greatsword: 2d6 damage.
Heavy Pick: x4 critical.
Hooked Lance: x4 critcal, reach, trip.
Jutte: Decent damage, bludgeoning, disarm.
Kukri: 18-20/x2 critical, light weapon.
Lance: For mounted combat.
Light Flail: For maneuvers (disarm, trip).
Light Pick: x4 critical, light weapon.
Monk's Spade: Double weapon, can do all three types of weapon damage (bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing).
Nodachi: 18-20/x2 critical, piercing or slashing, brace.
Rapier: 18-20/x2 critical, can be used with Weapon Finesse.
Scimitar: 18-20/x2 critical, can be used with Dervish Dance.
Scythe: x4 critical, trip.
Shields: With Improved Shield Bash (especially with Bashing Finish, Shield Slam, Two-Weapon Fighting, and a high crit-range weapon).
Trident: Decent damage (1d8), brace, can be used in melee or thrown.
Wushu dart: Cheap, light, can be used in melee or thrown.
Good Exotic Weapons
Bastard Sword: For heavily specialized characters (weapon sized for larger character, possibly 3 levels of titan mauler barbarian for Massive Weapons, ranger for lead blades or the impact weapon ability, and a way to increase size).
Dire Flail: For two-weapon fighting half-orcs with the Chain Fighter alternate racial trait and proficiency in all martial weapons.
Dwarven Urgosh: For two-weapon fighting dwarves with proficiency in all martial weapons.
Dwarven Waraxe: As with bastard sword, or for a dwarf with proficiency in all martial weapons.
Elven Curve Blade: For a specialized character (or an elf proficient in all martial weapons) with Weapon Finesse and the agile weapon ability.
Falcata: 19-20/x3 critical.
Gnome Hooked Hammer: For two-weapon fighting gnomes with proficiency in all martial weapons.
Katana: As with bastard sword (just with a better critical range), or for a tengu.
Meteor Hammer: Can either be used as a reach weapon (also granting a +1 shield bonus) or as a double weapon without reach.
Orc Double Axe: For two-weapon fighting half-orcs and orcs with proficiency in all martial weapons.
Rhoka Sword: See katana.
Sawtooth Sabre: For specialized two-weapon fighting characters; counts as light weapon for TWF penalties (with Exotic Weapon Proficiency), but as a one-handed weapon for other purposes (like Power Attack).
Scorpion Whip: If treated as a whip for reach.
Tekko-kagi: Can be used as a buckler (+1 shield AC) or to disarm without provoking an attack of opportunity, as well as for damage.
Temple Sword: For monks ("Monks are proficient with the temple sword.").
Whip: For maneuvers (disarm, trip), reach.
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To add something about the Earthbreaker mentioned earlier, there's a nifty feat called Thunder and Fang that goes with it. If you can handle the feat tax and/or MAD *cough Fighter or Ranger cough* it's a unique and flavorful fighting style while still being pretty effective. I mean come on... TWF with a Klar and Earthbreaker while still getting the shield bonus from the Klar and the Klar is now considered light for TWFing? That's some serious awesomeness.
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Nine times out of 10 exotic weapons aren't worth the feat. And that's being generous.
I like most weapons. Yet have to agree. I don't mind say if I can do combat manuevers with a exotic weapon as it makes sense and requires training. Too often it fees like the devs want to punish someone for taking a exotic weapon.
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Nine times out of 10 exotic weapons aren't worth the feat. And that's being generous.I like most weapons. Yet have to agree. I don't mind say if I can do combat manuevers with a exotic weapon as it makes sense and requires training. Too often it fees like the devs want to punish someone for taking a exotic weapon.
It's not that they want to punish someone, but they don't want to make the exotic weapon so good that it drops the iconic martial weapons out of the running.
When you think of fantasy heroes, be they Prince Charming, Roland, Aragorn, or Fafhrd, you don't generally think of them using a "rhoka" or a "dorn dergar" (whatever the hell those are). You don't think of Robin Hood or William Tell as using a sling staff or a repeating heavy crossbow.
And you certainly don't visit the Royal Armouries in Leeds to look at their extensive collection of mancatchers and bolas.
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Nine times out of 10 exotic weapons aren't worth the feat. And that's being generous.I like most weapons. Yet have to agree. I don't mind say if I can do combat manuevers with a exotic weapon as it makes sense and requires training. Too often it fees like the devs want to punish someone for taking a exotic weapon.It's not that they want to punish someone, but they don't want to make the exotic weapon so good that it drops the iconic martial weapons out of the running.
When you think of fantasy heroes, be they Prince Charming, Roland, Aragorn, or Fafhrd, you don't generally think of them using a "rhoka" or a "dorn dergar" (whatever the hell those are). You don't think of Robin Hood or William Tell as using a sling staff or a repeating heavy crossbow.
And you certainly don't visit the Royal Armouries in Leeds to look at their extensive collection of mancatchers and bolas.
So all of fantasy is cliche mideval English/French fantasy... gotcha... Lets ignore the fac that the Mideast, India, China, Japan, and the Native American's viewed Europen Weapons as "Exotic" and had their own weapons and their own fantasies... and that Golarian (i.e. the primary center for Pathfinder) pretty much covers EVERY SINGLE CULTURE... ever... even aliens...
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Weapon tiers have nothing to do with the culture they come from. Exotic doesn't mean they're rare (whips are a good example of a common "exotic" weapon). The tiers of weapons, exotic, martial, simple, represent the amount of training needed to master its use. Clubs are simple because its easy to learn how to effectively whack someone with a stick. Whips are exotic because they are difficult to handle require a lot of practice to use.
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I'd be willing to let there be different regional categories of weapons, like Elven, Dwarven, Gnome, Halfling, Avistani, Garundi, Keleshite, Tien, Vudran, and so forth.
The weapons in each group are considered Exotic, but are Martial to someone from the proper culture, by weapon familiarity. Some rare but highly effective weapons after significant training could then remain in an exotic-only category all on its own, while other weapons that are normally considered exotic are balanced to be similar to martial weapons.
In essence, there's no Martial category, only categories that can be accessed via weapon familiarity.
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So all of fantasy is cliche mideval English/French fantasy... gotcha...Nine times out of 10 exotic weapons aren't worth the feat. And that's being generous.I like most weapons. Yet have to agree. I don't mind say if I can do combat manuevers with a exotic weapon as it makes sense and requires training. Too often it fees like the devs want to punish someone for taking a exotic weapon.It's not that they want to punish someone, but they don't want to make the exotic weapon so good that it drops the iconic martial weapons out of the running.
When you think of fantasy heroes, be they Prince Charming, Roland, Aragorn, or Fafhrd, you don't generally think of them using a "rhoka" or a "dorn dergar" (whatever the hell those are). You don't think of Robin Hood or William Tell as using a sling staff or a repeating heavy crossbow.
And you certainly don't visit the Royal Armouries in Leeds to look at their extensive collection of mancatchers and bolas.
No, only about 90-95% of it, assuming by "English" you mean "Celtic," which is probably the single biggest influence after Tolkien. The demonstration is left as an exercise for the local video store or library bookshelf.
Lets ignore the fac that the Mideast, India, China, Japan, and the Native American's viewed Europen Weapons as "Exotic" and had their own weapons and their own fantasies...
And yet, every culture that could work metal developed something that looked like the iconic martial weapons of sword, bow, and spear. Even the cultures that couldn't work metal (native Americans) got as close as they could, using spears and bows but not swords.
There's a reason that the iconic weapons are iconic. They tend to work better than the bizarre gladiator weapons like the net and trident of the retarius (retarii?). That, in turn, is why the the legions were equipped with javelins and swords instead of being equipped as various forms of gladiators -- because Caesar wasn't stupid.
As gnoams put it, "Whips are exotic because they are difficult to handle require a lot of practice to use." Similarly, using a katana one-handed is difficult to do, which is why almost all traditional kendo schools teach two-handed styles. (Miyamoto-san is a noted and notable exception.) More importantly, using a katana one-handed is not that much (if any) better than using it two-handed, which is why samurai, who basically spent their lives training with weapons, didn't bother learning how to use the katana in one hand.
The same applies to professional warriors in almost any culture; the people who actually had the money and time to learn "exotic" weapons generally didn't do so. (The most significant counterexample to this are the people who were forbidden from carrying real weapons (e.g. the Okinawan peasants) who were forced to use less-effective tools.)
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This falls apart when you consider that the tetsubo (fancy club) is exotic. Not to mention the Kama (literally a sickle). These are both exotic because they are from the orient.
The sickle is actually very difficult to use in combat; there's a reason that most weapons are sharpened on the outside edge. Don't assume that a common tool is also a convenient and easy weapon -- there is many a person who has hurt himself more than his opponent by trying to use a bottle as a weapon.
Gladiatorial weapons are notable for the fact that they were designed not to be very effective. Then as now, the audience will get upset if the event is over before they've finished their beer.
Yes,... and no. Most types of gladiators used swords of some kind (e.g. among others, the hoplomachus, murmillo, samnite, thracian).
Partly, I assume, because the audience wanted to see "real" fights and the idea of watching someone using a net against someone using a rock gets dull after a while.....
But the key point to consider: why was a legionary equipped with a sword (gladius) and two javelins (pilum and verutum)? It's not that the legions didn't have time to train their soldiers -- a legionary typically signed up for a twenty-five year hitch, unlike the medieval laborers that had to go back to their fields for the harvest. Money wasn't really an issue either -- gladii aren't cheap.
If there were a weapon, exotic or not, that was substantially more effective en bloc than the pila and gladii, they would have used it. It's not that the Romans didn't know about nets and spiked chains, but that they chose not to use them "for reals."
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The sickle is actually very difficult to use in combat; there's a reason that most weapons are sharpened on the outside edge. Don't assume that a common tool is also a convenient and easy weapon -- there is many a person who has hurt himself more than his opponent by trying to use a bottle as a weapon.
This falls apart when you consider that the tetsubo (fancy club) is exotic. Not to mention the Kama (literally a sickle). These are both exotic because they are from the orient.Yeah, but the non-oriental version is _simple_
It's also a "monk" weapon, which means using it as a kama as opposed to a sickle implies a lot of special training.
The greatest irony? Siege crossbows IRL were STAGGERINGLY powerful, to the point that they were better than firearms for penetration and damage with the right bolt head (Bodkin points ftw!). The catch was that it took minutes to reload the damn things, but still...
And before you say 'that's useless outside of a siege!', remember that there's nothing stopping you from opening with your obscenely powerful crossbow then switching out to something practical for a prolonged fight, then reloading between encounters.
Wizard can actually put a balista to good use just about anywhere...
Step 1) Buy Balista
Step 2) Cast Shrink Item on Balista
Step 3) Permanency Shrink Item
Step 4) Fold up your mini Balista and store in bag
Step 5) Profit.
If you have a balistiae you HAVE to backstab someone with it. Gamer rules.
Most weapons with the trip special quality are rated above their paygrade. Post clarification that you can trip with any weapon , the ability to drop the weapon if you fail by 10 or more is a pretty minor. If you can fail that badly you probably shouldn't bother trying anyway.
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Slightly related notion - I always thought it would be intriguing if most 'simple' weapons had an 'upgrade' that only kicked in if you had them as martial (or exotic) proficiencies as well; things like:
Dagger (simple): The dagger is melee only.
Dagger (martial): The dagger is throwable.
Dagger (exotic): The dagger provides +2 to Feint checks.Staff (simple): The staff is treated as a two-handed weapon.
Staff (martial): The staff may instead be treated as a double weapon.
Staff (exotic): The staff gains the 'trip' quality and may be thrown like a spear (10' increment).
I like that idea as well, although it should of course probably apply to martial weapons; a sword (exotic) might also be usable to do bludgeoning damage via a pommel strike.
Gladiatorial weapons are notable for the fact that they were designed not to be very effective. Then as now, the audience will get upset if the event is over before they've finished their beer.Yes,... and no. Most types of gladiators used swords of some kind (e.g. among others, the hoplomachus, murmillo, samnite, thracian).
Partly, I assume, because the audience wanted to see "real" fights and the idea of watching someone using a net against someone using a rock gets dull after a while.....
But the key point to consider: why was a legionary equipped with a sword (gladius) and two javelins (pilum and verutum)? It's not that the legions didn't have time to train their soldiers -- a legionary typically signed up for a twenty-five year hitch, unlike the medieval laborers that had to go back to their fields for the harvest. Money wasn't really an issue either -- gladii aren't cheap.
If there were a weapon, exotic or not, that was substantially more effective en bloc than the pila and gladii, they would have used it. It's not that the Romans didn't know about nets and spiked chains, but that they chose not to use them "for reals."
Not that I disagree with you, but I have to mention that Roman soldiers fought in formation, which is impossible with a net or spiked chain. Thrusting weapons are great when fighting in a formation. Slashing and bludgeoning weapons? Not so much.
The historical accuracy of weapons in D&D is something that is non-existent. It's been that way since the beginning of the game. You just have to accept it and move on. Real longswords (or bastard swords, as D&D calls them), weighed in at around 3-4 lbs. Nowhere near the 6 lbs. the book lists. Katanas weigh in at around 2-3 lbs. (around the same as a European saber) and can be used in one hand without excessive difficulty, but you get a better cut when using two hands.I've never understood why the saber has been completely ignored as a weapon since 3.0.
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I like that idea as well, although it should of course probably apply to martial weapons; a sword (exotic) might also be usable to do bludgeoning damage via a pommel strike.Slightly related notion - I always thought it would be intriguing if most 'simple' weapons had an 'upgrade' that only kicked in if you had them as martial (or exotic) proficiencies as well; things like:
Dagger (simple): The dagger is melee only.
Dagger (martial): The dagger is throwable.
Dagger (exotic): The dagger provides +2 to Feint checks.Staff (simple): The staff is treated as a two-handed weapon.
Staff (martial): The staff may instead be treated as a double weapon.
Staff (exotic): The staff gains the 'trip' quality and may be thrown like a spear (10' increment).
This is the exact sort of thing that Kirthfinder does.