Does anyone have any opinions on swords, any swords made out of stone?
I would think it would function just like a weapon made out of obsidian with the fragile weapon property.
I have this image in my head of a Dwarf with a longsword or Greatsword made out of stone, what do you think?
I've done some flint knapping, making arrowheads and spearpoints. I have an obsidian knife that I purchased from an expert flint knapper.
The problem with long thin pieces of obsidian is that calling them "fragile" is greatly underestimating their propensity to fracture into pieces. Something as long as a sword would almost break just from its own weight. You certainly could not swing it around energetically without it snapping off at the hilt in just a few seconds. Obsidian is glass, not pyrex or heat strengthened glass that can actually take a bit of stress, it's like regular old glass.
Of course this is in the real world. Obsidian in the pathfinder world will be as sturdy as you or your GM allow it to be.
To pull this off if you want some relationship to reality, I would think the stone would need some sort of strengthening enchantment to keep it from just snapping the first time your dwarf hauled it out of its sheath and swung it over his head.
There are rules for stone weapons but those don't allow slashing weapons.
Stone Age weapons almost always utilize stone in some way. From rocks lashed to wooden hafts to create early maces and axes, to flint knives and stone arrowheads, these primitive weapons are still deadly.
Weapons Light and one-handed bludgeoning weapons, spears, and arrowheads can all be made of stone. Weapons made of stone have half the hardness of their base weapons, and have the fragile condition. Editor's Note: Probably meant to say fragile "quality" not "condition."
Armor Armor cannot usually be constructed from stone, but advanced, often alchemically enhanced stone armor made by dwarves or other stone-working cultures does exist (see stone coat).
Cost 1/4 normal.
Weight 3/4 normal.
Cost/Weight (Longer Wording) "Stone weapons cost a quarter of what base items of their type do, and weigh 75% of what base items of their type do."
Is someone really wanted it I'd allow him to have a magic sword made from stone with the above drawback of having half hardness of steel but are not fragile because of the magic. Non magic stone swords don't work.
But you could make a club that looks a bit like a sword. That is no problem.
I understand the real world problems with this but I am looking at only within the rules of Pathfinder. are there any rules to help me make this in pathfinder?
I understand the real world problems with this but I am looking at only within the rules of Pathfinder. are there any rules to help me make this in pathfinder?
There are rules. I quoted them and John posted a link to those same rules I quoted.
And those rules say you can't make a slashing stone weapon.
Have you considered obsidian?
Make a Club or Magic Sword of Stone.
Though you could argue you could make a certain primitive Weapon out of stone as they commonly were made of stone I can't remember their name right now. They were either Stone, Obsidian, or Sharks' Teeth.
"This black volcanic glass is extremely sharp, and can be shaped into a variety of weapons that do piercing and slashing damage. Bits of obsidian inserted into a length of tempered wood create effective swords called terbutjes."
This is what the Incans and Mayans did. They made obsidian "swords" out of wood with obsidian chips inserted all around the edge of the "sword" so that it was an effective slashing weapon. However, they were fragile and had to have all the broken obsidian chips replaced after every combat.
An alternative to stone weapons for primitive tribes could be using the natural claws or teeth of magical creatures as swords. A dragon's fang could possibly serve that purpose, as could the teeth of many other huge predators.
Remember, the "crysknife" swords of Dune fremen soldiers was the tooth of Shai-Halud... So a purple worm tooth might be perfect...
"This black volcanic glass is extremely sharp, and can be shaped into a variety of weapons that do piercing and slashing damage. Bits of obsidian inserted into a length of tempered wood create effective swords called terbutjes."
This is what the Incans and Mayans did. They made obsidian "swords" out of wood with obsidian chips inserted all around the edge of the "sword" so that it was an effective slashing weapon. However, they were fragile and had to have all the broken obsidian chips replaced after every combat.
Some were made of pieces of stone instead of Obsidian. It is just an option. You might look into bone weapons.