Chapter 2: Arms

Weapons are the bread and butter of any adventurer’s kit; any fighter worth their salt can tell a flail from a mace and a spear from a glaive. You choose what weapons you want proficiency in at character creation, and leveling up, time spent training, and/or feats can give you proficiency with even more. No matter what your martial preference is, the ability to wield your arms effectively can be the difference between a grisly death and adventures so wild not even the most creative minstrel could dream them up.

The Normal Weapons, Exotic Weapons, and Trick Weapons tables give a list of many of the different weapons and weapon types throughout this ruleset. These tables include their names, price, weight, base damage, time cost, and any special properties they may have.

Equipped Weapons

On your character sheet, there is a section labeled "Equipped Weapons" with four slots for weapons and two ammunition slots. How many of the weapon slots a weapon occupies depends on whether or not the weapon must be wielded with 2 hands, e.g. a sword occupies one because it can be wielded with one or two hands, while weapons like bows, greatclubs, and halberds must each be wielded with two hands, so they take up two slots on your character sheet. A character can attack with any of their equipped weapons at any given point without taking extra time to do so; should they wish to attack with a weapon that is not currently equipped, they must use the "Change Equipped Weapon" action.

Weapon Traits

Base Damage. The amount of damage listed for a given weapon is that weapon’s Base Damage; it is the damage it deals if the character wielding it has 1 proficiency with the weapon type that that weapon belongs to. The number of damage dice you roll when making an attack with that weapon is equivalent to you proficiency with that weapon type.

Time Cost. How long it takes for a character to attack with the weapon once, assuming their DEX is <1. If a character has less than the required amount of time at their disposal, they can either use the rest of the time in their turn to attack with the weapon once with disadvantage, or begin their attack with the weapon on this turn and finish the attack on their next turn.

Properties. The properties of a weapon give a list of any special characteristics a weapon may have, if any:

• Ammunition. Weapons with the Ammunition property require a specified amount of projectiles to be loaded into them before you can attack with them. Weapons with this property have their range/long range listed next to their ammunition types. Attacks with the weapon made in their standard range are made normally; attacks made at long range and at melee range are made with disadvantage.
• Description. Some weapons have special abilities or characteristics to them that can’t be summarized in just a couple of words. These weapons have the Description property, and their unique property is described in detail in their weapon description at the end of the list.
• DEX(*). Weapons with the DEX property can use DEX for their attacks instead of STR if the player using them so wishes; without this property, a weapon can only use STR for its attacks, unless otherwise stated by a special exception. Additionally, if a weapon has the DEX* property, then the wielder must use their DEX score when making attacks with this weapon.
• Long. Some melee weapons have a 3-meter range, longer than the standard 2 meters that most melee weapons have. These weapons have the Long property, and if they have a further reach than 3 meters, their range will be listed in parentheses next to this property. In narrow spaces, attacks with weapons with this property have disadvantage.
• Reload. A weapon that takes a noteworthy amount of time to be reloaded has the Reload property; the amount of time required will be given in parentheses next to the property, with an "s" denoting seconds and "m" denoting minutes.
• Short. Some weapons are smaller than others, and thus have smaller reach. As opposed to those with the "Long" property, weapons with the "Short" property have a range of 1 meter instead of the standard 2.
• STR x. A weapon with “STR x” (e.g. STR 3) requires a STR score > the value given in order to be wielded.
• Two-handed. Weapons with the Two-handed property are large and hefty, requiring two hands to be able to effectively wield in battle; additionally, their size means that they take up two equipment slots on your character sheet, whereas one-handed weapons take up only one. Weapons with this property can be wielded with one hand if the wielding character is Big and their STR surpasses the STR requirement of the weapon by at at least 1.

Additional Weapons. Chapter 4 has a handful of additional weapons listed, such as the grenade, the blunderbuss, and the flamethrower; these weapons are listed there and not here because their damage is set and does not scale with any skill.

Dual-Wielding Weapons. The rules for dual-wielding melee weapons are given here.

Relative Weapon Size

Not all creatures can wield all weapons, due simply to the fact that some weapons are too large or too small for the creature in question to wield it effectively. Generally speaking, a creature can wield a weapon designed to be wielded by creatures of a single size category larger than itself using both hands, e.g. a Small creature could wield a regular sword as a two-handed weapon, but it could not wield a greatsword. Alternatively, creatures can wield weapons designed for creatures up to two size categories smaller than them without issue, e.g. a Big creature can wield Large, Medium, and Small weapons without difficulty or hindrance. Weapons that are not innately Small, Medium, or Large can be made specifically for Small or Big creatures, however the statistics given assume they were produced for use by Medium creatures. Weapons keep the same statistics (with the exception of Weight, which increases or decreases accordingly) regardless of whether they were designed for Small, Medium, or Big creatures.

Weapon Quality

Weapons created with higher quality materials and/or by more talented smiths are, by their very nature, superior to their normal counterparts. Higher quality weapons will bestow bonuses to attacks made with them, as described below. Shoddy weapons can be any material other than adamantite, Normal and Fine weapons are made using steel, and Exquisite and Masterful weapons can only be made using adamantite. There is no significant weight difference between the two materials. A weapon's quality can be determined by passing the appropriate Appraisal check, unless the quality is plainly obvious for one reason or another.

Weapon Quality Bonuses

Weapon Quality	Bonus	Price	Appraisal DR
Shoddy	-2	.5x Normal	4
Normal	--	Normal	8
Fine	+1	2x Normal	12
Exquisite	+2.5	4x Fine	16
Masterful	+4	6x Exquisite	20

Normal Weapons

Boomerang. A boomerang is a flattened and curved piece of wood or light metal; though most boomerangs are a single length of wood bent at about 100 degrees towards the middle, other variations do exist. In any case, a boomerang is a ranged weapon that is designed to return to the user after being thrown. When attacking with this weapon, if it hits nothing during its flight path, it returns to the spot where it was thrown.

Long-Range Rifle. A true beast of a gun, the Long-Range Rifle (LRR) is a force to be reckoned with. Like an arquebus or a flintlock, it can only be fired once before needing to be reloaded, however its range and firepower greatly exceed its gunpowder-based brethren. Additionally, due to the weapon's immense size and weight, all attacks with it inherently have disadvantage; however, remember that Firearm weapons fired while prone have advantage, negating that setback.

Repeater. Coming in a variety of forms, such as the lever-action, pump-action, or bolt-action, repeaters are rifles that, like revolvers, can be fired 6 times before needing to be reloaded. However, unlike revolvers, the user must manually chamber each round after firing, which takes 1.5 seconds. When reloading a repeater, the user can load 1 bullet per 1s, meaning it takes 6 seconds to fully load a repeater for a creature with a DEX of 0-1.5, or only 3 seconds for a creature with a DEX of >2.

Revolver. Revolvers are hand-held firearms that, like repeaters, can be fired 6 times before needing to be reloaded. Unlike repeaters, no time is required to chamber the next round into the cartridge, allowing them to be fired much faster. Additionally, just like reloading a repeater, the user can can load 1 bullet per 1s into the cylinder, meaning that a revolver requires 6 seconds to be completely loaded for a creature with a DEX of 0-1.5, or only 3 seconds for a creature with a DEX of >2.

Sword. Depending on the type of sword, such as a katana or rapier, the user can add their DEX to attacks instead of their STR.

Trident. Attacking with the points of a trident requires 3s to be done effectively, but striking with the blunt sides of the points and butt - as though it were a staff - can be done much more quickly in 2s, allowing the user to strike with the weapon more frequently; the trade-off for this is that attacking this way reduces the base damage die to a d6, also like a staff.

Mechanical Weapons

Mechanical weapons are special weapons that contain some sort of mechanical component that alters the behavior of the base weapon, such as transforming from a ranged weapon to a melee one at the cost of 1.5 seconds, allowing a rifle to be fired without manually chambering the next round, freeing up equipment slots, or some other such function. The mechanics of a mechanical weapon can be figured out with a successful DR 14 Mechanics check; unless this check is passed, a character cannot figure out how to properly use a mechanical weapon unless they are shown how or trained in its use.

Mechanical Weapons

Auto-crossbow, Hand. An auto-crossbow is designed to be able to fire much more quickly than its non-trick counterpart. For the hand auto-crossbow, it can be fired thrice before it needs to be reloaded.

Auto-crossbow, Light. Light auto-crossbows can be fired up to four times before needing to be reloaded.

Auto-crossbow, Heavy. A heavy auto-crossbow can be fired a maximum of five times before it must be reloaded.

Bladebow, Long. The long bladebow looks and functions much like a regular longbow, with the exception that the limbs of the bow are comprised of two curved, flexible, single-edged swords, which come apart at the behest of the wielder. The string of the bow is contained within one of these swords and is automatically withdrawn whenever the swords come apart. When the swords are fused together once more, the loop of the string emerges from the tip of the sword containing it; the other blade has a nook behind the tip that the string is then looped through, allowing it to be used as a normal longbow once more. When the swords come apart, they can be treated as two separate swords; however, a person must be in possession of both before the bladebow can be returned to its primary form.

Bladebow, Short. The short bladebow functions exactly like the long variation, except that the blades are naturally smaller and look a lot like a pair of kukri knives (use dagger statistics).

Bracer Blade. The bracer blade is a small stiletto that has been designed to slide mechanically in and out of a bracer that contains it. The bracer blade can be used for stabbing attacks while still in the bracer, or it can be voluntarily removed to be thrown. While withdrawn into the bracer, the bracer blade is completely undetectable; however, if it is identified, the person identifying it knows what it is and what it does. Additionally, it does not take up an equipment slot.

Collapsing Krull. The collapsing krull is exactly like a normal krull, except that the blades retract into the handle at the press of a button, allowing it to be carried and handled more easily and safely.

Collapsing Shield. The collapsing shield is not a weapon, but a shield that can mechanically fold together while still being worn to become more compact and portable. While not in its shield form, a character can use both hands completely freely, including dual-wielding and wielding weapons with the Two-handed property. Otherwise, it is treated as a regular shield. It takes 1 second to (un)furl.

Gundagger. The gundagger has been built as a hybrid between the flintlock and a normal dagger; it can be used as a normal dagger as desired, but when the safety on the pommel is released, a small trigger appears underneath the finger guard in the handle, allowing the flintlock part of the weapon to be fired. The gundagger must then be cleaned and reloaded like a normal flintlock before it can be fired again, however it can still be used as a dagger until it is. In addition, if the last action you performed with the gundagger was to stab a creature and you have not done anything else, you can then spend .5s to fire the gundagger while it is still in the pierced creature. This shot is made with advantage and ignores the target's defenses.

Gunsword. The gunsword functions much like the gundagger, except that it is a fusion between a sword and an arquebus instead of a dagger and a flintlock. In addition, in order to fire the gunsword, a character must be holding it with two hands. Like the gundagger, the gunsword can also be fired while inside a creature that you have just stabbed; you could also pierce a creature with the gunsword, and then use 1.5s to fire at another creature behind that one, though this will not be made with advantage or ignore the target's defenses.

Piston Sword. What makes the piston sword special is not necessarily the sword itself, but its sheathe: the blade's sheathe is specially engineered to eject the weapon with much more force than any Sentient is capable of drawing it with, causing it to deal 1d6 extra physical damage when striking a target in this way. Though storing and drawing the blade in a normal manner does not cost any time, priming the sheathe to violently eject the weapon takes 1s (independent of the wielder's DEX). Alternatively, the user can allow the mechanism to actually fire the sword out of the scabbard like a projectile, allowing them to deal 1d4 + their DEX physical damage to any target within 3m of them.

Semi-Automatic Repeater. A semi-automatic repeater is a repeater that sacrifices a bit of power for the ability to automatically chamber the next round, no longer requiring any time to do so.

Single-Shot Pistol. A single-shot pistol is a type of flintlock that uses bullets, requiring only 3.5 seconds to be reloaded each time it's fired.

Exotic Weapons

Exotic weapons are unique and/or rare weapons that require specialized training to be used effectively. Most are foreign to the vast majority; even veteran fighters are usually not quite sure how to handle one when they first encounter it.

Proficiency. Proficiency with exotic weapons is not like proficiency with other Weapon Skills; instead, proficiency for each Exotic weapon is unique to that weapon. For instance, a character with 2 proficiency with hook blades would not have the same proficiency with bladed fans or tri-staves. In addition, if an Exotic weapon has the Thrown property, a character could use their proficiency with the weapon itself or their Throwing proficiency when making attacks with that weapon.

Exotic Weapons

Bladed Fan. A bladed fan appears to be a traditional folding fan, but with a razor-sharp metal edge. Typically dual-wielded but does not have to be.

Chakram. A chakram is a discus-shaped bladed weapon, with a handle big enough for only one hand interrupting the circular blade. This weapon can be effectively wielded as either a melee or a ranged weapon.

Double-bladed Staff. A double-bladed staff is a staff with a single or double-edged blade attached at each end.

Hook Blades. Hook blades greatly resemble thin swords, except that their tips are curved into a c-shape. Because of this, hook blades are often dual-wielded, so that they can quickly and easily link together to strike enemies further away. The hooks can also be used to grab and manipulate certain items or body parts, such as ankles, shoulders, tree branches, etc.

Krull. A krull looks something like a bladed star, except that this particular “star” is akin to 5 daggers that have been fused at the handles and the blades are curved. The design of the krull, with the inner half acting as a handle and the outer half being comprised of curved blades, allows it to be effectively wielded both in melee and as a thrown weapon.

Kyoketsu-shoge. The kyoketsu-shoge is comprised of a 5-meter-long chain or cord with a ring of metal attached at one end and a blade at the other. The ring of metal is blunt and roughly as wide as a Medium-sized creature’s hand. This is commonly used as a handle, or it can have other items looped through it to be used as a fulcrum. The blade has its own handle as well as both a hook and a point, allowing it to be used as both an effective melee weapon and a grappling hook. Attacks made with the kyoketsu-shoge in confined spaces do not have disadvantage if they are against a target within 2 meters.

Meteor Hammer. A meteor hammer is a heavy weight or ball attached to a durable length of cord or rope, usually about 3 meters in length, that is swung to attack enemies from surprising and often difficult to block angles; mechanically, this means that when you attack with this weapon, one of the damage dice you roll is automatically taken at its highest value. The cord can also be used as a normal rope.

Nun'chaku. Nun’chaku, also known as nun’chuks, greatly resemble two wooden or metal clubs connected by a short length of chain, rope, or cord and are just as often dual-wielded as not.

Rope Dart. A rope dart is a small serrated knife (such as a kunai, which is a knife with a hole in the end of the handle) or dart that has a length (usually around 5m) of rope or chain tied to it; this allows for a number of creative uses, chief among them being that the weapon’s melee range is equal to the length of the cord. Additionally, when throwing the rope dart, you can take 1.5s to pull it back so long as it is within 6m of you. You can also pull objects to you using 1.5s of time, so long as it weighs <5 lbs. and they are not being worn or carried.

Tonfa. A tonfa is a club with an extra handle sticking perpendicular out from the main handle, about 15cm from one end. It can be wielded normally or while being held by the secondary handle. Tonfa are often dual-wielded but do not have to be.