In the eternal debate on how to make guys who rely mostly on their natural physical prowess somehow achieve parity with those who manipulate reality through the direct application of their will (which should tell you how I feel about that), I figure that it is better to give Martials better abilities and options rather than ruthlessly nerfing Mages (although making them a little squishier would definitely help them appreciate the value of a nice, well-armed meatshield).
One end of this is to make weapons more than just a Damage rating. Couldn't a Fighter's weapons be just as customizable as a Wizard's spellbook? In ways other than making them magic?
As a bonus, these can help out players who want to equip their character with some variation of the absurd and absurdly-cool weapons we often see in movies, comics, video games and anime.
First I wanna get out the way is that I'm hoping to make this a brainstorming thread. I definitely don't have all the answers to this problem, and the ones I do probably have issues of their own. Feedback and your own ideas are encouraged.
The first Idea I had was to add qualities to the weapon/armor. This is an extrapolation of the present use of things like Masterwork and Armor/Shield Spikes. You pay a certain amount/percentage of GP/SP extra to add some more abilities to an existing weapon or weapon type. Some examples would be:
Bladed: A Shield or Bludgeoning weapon with this gains the option to inflict Slashing damage.
Heavy: An oversized striking surface give this weapon a step up in damage die, but also inflicts a -2 penalty to hit.
(NOTE: Yes, this does reduce the penalty for using an oversized weapon. That's actually the point. The penalty is lessened because the gripping part of the weapon is still properly sized to the wielder.)
Serrated: A Slashing weapon with this quality inflicts Bleed damage after a critical hit.
Bulletproof: An armor or shield with this quality adds it's AC bonus to the wearer's Touch AC against firearms.
Hooked: This weapon offers a +1 bonus to CMB to trip, drag, reposition, or unhorse an opponent. This replaces the Trip quality.
Forked: This weapon offers a +1 bonus on disarming or sundering weapons.
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Have you thought about adding different types of masterwork to achieve some of this? Perhaps instead of just masterwork you have some of the things you named can take the place of masterwork and add some stuff like:
Razor-edged, masterwork: weapon does +1 damage and adds a +1 to confirm crits.
Well-balanced, masterwork: weapon gains a +1 to attack rolls (standard masterwork).
Serrated, masterwork: slashing weapons only. This weapon inflicts bleed damage with a confirmed crit.
Sturdy, masterwork: this weapon is of a thicker, heavier construction than normal. Add 2 to the weapon's hardness and 10 to it's hit points. Weapons with this quality are %50 heavier than normal weapons.
I can see a lot of variances for this stuff...but the key is keeping it all equally balanced.
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Have you thought about adding different types of masterwork to achieve some of this? Perhaps instead of just masterwork you have some of the things you named can take the place of masterwork and add some stuff like:
Razor-edged, masterwork: weapon does +1 damage and adds a +1 to confirm crits.
Well-balanced, masterwork: weapon gains a +1 to attack rolls (standard masterwork).
Serrated, masterwork: slashing weapons only. This weapon inflicts bleed damage with a confirmed crit. (seems a bit powerful, maybe the bleed is equal to the weapon's crit modifier?)
Sturdy, masterwork: this weapon is of a thicker, heavier construction than normal. Add 2 to the weapon's hardness and 10 to it's hit points. Weapons with this quality are %50 heavier than normal weapons.I can see a lot of variances for this stuff...but the key is keeping it all equally balanced.
I really like the options but maybe cost is a way to make some options different. That and maybe the various options can stack with magical bonuses.
That could work. At least it would reduce some of the work in figuring out the costs.
It adds choice when building your character, but it wouldn't provide the Fighter with tactical options in play.
We did an alternate weapon ruleset similar to this. War Journal. It was expanded upon in our Necropunk campaign setting.