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So, I've been looking at an Inventor's innovations - specifically, weapon innovations. If an Inventor has Weapon Innovation and chooses to have a Light Mace (which is one-handed and has the agile, finesse, and shove traits), takes Advanced Design as his initial modification and chooses his Light Mace to take on the qualities of a Nodachi (which is two-handed and has the brace, deadly d12, and reach traits), am I correct in believing it loses the agile, finesse, and shove traits and NEEDS to used with two hands? It says it uses the "statistics" of the chosen advanced weapon, but it doesn't say it changes traits. Then again, one could argue that the traits are part of the statistics.
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My read: The light mace's statistics (which includes traits, yes) do not come into play at all. Only the statistics (including traits) of the advanced weapon. There isn't leeway to combine / mix traits.
If you want your clown to have a "mace", just pick an advanced weapon that deals that type of damage (bludgeoning), and inherit all the other statistics that go with that weapon, but use your imagination for what it is / how it works ("steam hammer" or "vibro mace" or "pancake thwapper" etc).
Weapon Innovation
Your innovation is a complex and impossible-looking weapon augmented by numerous mechanisms. It begins with the same statistics as a level 0 common simple or martial weapon of your choice, or another level 0 simple or martial weapon to which you have access. You can instead use the statistics of a level 0 advanced weapon of your choice; you treat this as a martial weapon for the purposes of proficiency but you do not gain an initial weapon modification. An innovation weapon can have fundamental and property runes added to it in the same way as an ordinary weapon. Because of the unique features of your innovation, everyone except you is untrained in it, even if they would normally be trained (or better) in simple or martial weapons. If you use the Overdrive action, you can choose to change the additional damage from Overdrive to fire damage.
So, I've been looking at an Inventor's innovations - specifically, weapon innovations. If an Inventor has Weapon Innovation and chooses to have a Light Mace (which is one-handed and has the agile, finesse, and shove traits), takes Advanced Design as his initial modification and chooses his Light Mace to take on the qualities of a Nodachi (which is two-handed and has the brace, deadly d12, and reach traits), am I correct in believing it loses the agile, finesse, and shove traits and NEEDS to used with two hands? It says it uses the "statistics" of the chosen advanced weapon, but it doesn't say it changes traits. Then again, one could argue that the traits are part of the statistics.
You'd need to use the Nodachi statblock in it's entirety, yes.
In page 276 of Player Core 1 you will find that:
"The tables on pages 277–281 list the statistics for various melee and ranged weapons that you can purchase, as well as the statistics for striking with a fist (or another basic unarmed attack). The tables present the following statistics. All weapons listed in this chapter have an item level of 0."
And it then lists what exactly it means by weapon statistics, which is:
- Damage
- Range
- Reload
- Bulk
- Hands
- Weapon Traits
So when the modification tells you to use that weapon's statistics, they mean the entry in the table.
I'll concur.
The Advanced Design ability appears to be doing a single-weapon tier downgrade, which is pretty standard. There are a lot of abilities that give a 'for this particular advanced weapon you use your proficiency for martial weapons' type of effect. There are several that will do that for more than one weapon at a time.
This one is written very strangely because it is trying to make it a feature of the weapon itself rather than an ability of the character using the weapon.
But I would still go with the overall concept that you are no longer using a Light Mace at all. Your Light Mace Advanced Design Weapon Innovation is a Nodachi for all mechanical purposes.
So, I've been looking at an Inventor's innovations - specifically, weapon innovations. If an Inventor has Weapon Innovation and chooses to have a Light Mace (which is one-handed and has the agile, finesse, and shove traits), takes Advanced Design as his initial modification and chooses his Light Mace to take on the qualities of a Nodachi (which is two-handed and has the brace, deadly d12, and reach traits), am I correct in believing it loses the agile, finesse, and shove traits and NEEDS to used with two hands? It says it uses the "statistics" of the chosen advanced weapon, but it doesn't say it changes traits. Then again, one could argue that the traits are part of the statistics.
Advanced Design is telling you to skip the "level 0 common simple or martial weapon of your choice" stats altogether and pick "level 0 advanced weapon of your choice". So you don't 'choose to have a Light Mace' at all. So it never has the Light Mace stats but goes straight to the Nodachi stats. The "You can instead" phrase is giving you an another initial option, not modifying the first option.
Advanced Design is telling you to skip the "level 0 common simple or martial weapon of your choice" stats altogether and pick "level 0 advanced weapon of your choice". So you don't 'choose to have a Light Mace' at all. So it never has the Light Mace stats but goes straight to the Nodachi stats. The "You can instead" phrase is giving you an another initial option, not modifying the first option.
Which is weird since you don't need to take Advanced Design at all.
Weapon Innovation already says "You can instead use the statistics of a level 0 advanced weapon of your choice; you treat this as a martial weapon for the purposes of proficiency but you do not gain an initial weapon modification."
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Weapon Innovation already says "You can instead use the statistics of a level 0 advanced weapon of your choice; you treat this as a martial weapon for the purposes of proficiency but you do not gain an initial weapon modification."
That sounds equivalent. So equivalent that I wonder if that is simply how Archives of Nethys represents that option in their list of Weapon Innovations rather than having Advanced Design be something listed in the book at all.
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Advanced Design is telling you to skip the "level 0 common simple or martial weapon of your choice" stats altogether and pick "level 0 advanced weapon of your choice". So you don't 'choose to have a Light Mace' at all. So it never has the Light Mace stats but goes straight to the Nodachi stats. The "You can instead" phrase is giving you an another initial option, not modifying the first option.Which is weird since you don't need to take Advanced Design at all.
Weapon Innovation already says "You can instead use the statistics of a level 0 advanced weapon of your choice; you treat this as a martial weapon for the purposes of proficiency but you do not gain an initial weapon modification."
This was addressed in the latest round of Errata (Spring 2026 for Guns & Gears Remastered):
"Page 18: The weapon innovation option to take an advanced weapon didn’t work well with other abilities that required you to have an initial modification. Change the second and third sentences of the first paragraph to the following.
“It begins with the same statistics as a level 0 simple or martial weapon of your choice. The chosen weapon must be common or you must otherwise have access to it.”
Add the following initial augmentation.
“Advanced Design: Your weapon innovation uses the statistics of a level 0 advanced weapon of your choice. It must be common or you must have access to it. You treat this as a martial weapon for the purposes of proficiency.”
The wording in Weapon Innovation should be gone, but Archives of Nethys still has it, which is what is leading to confusion.