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Soniku
2006-07-24, 08:44 PM
Alright, this is my first thread of my random stuff I never really used in my campaign and decided to share with you all :D

Because it was made by someone with very little balanceing ability or common sence, they may well be a bit unbalenced/weird/totally stupid. Still, if you want to "fix" them go ahead, and if you want to use them in your game then great! Thats why I put them here anyway ;D

Also worth noteing, this was a low magic campaign so I added possible enchantments for a few weapons to make them more suited for a high magic game.

So, without futher adou (which I will be suprised if I spelt right) here are the weapons!

Guard Blade

The Guard blade is a rather unusual weapon, much like the longsword but with an extra handle sticking out of the usual one just under the hilt. Because of this the balenceing is a little strange and the sword needs more skill to use, but if skilled and well trained in the weapon it allows for a larger range of stances that dispite being less effective than the usual have the advantage of catching an opponent off-guard.
Being spesificly designed for Elderguards this weapon is only avalible in medium size and will require a specialised smith to create a modified version.

If in a high magic world the Guard Blade will give a +2 to armour class via magically enhanced parrying, the sword can detect incomeing blows and if the wielder wishes it the sword will parry them by moveing itself at high speeds. They were enchanted like this because they were designed for elite troops whos fighting style focused around defence and counterattack.

Exotic Weapon. 30 gp , (M): 1d8 , 19-20 x2, Weight 5lb , Slashing.

There are also a line of feats for the Guard Blade, which I will put in my feats thread if I get enough responses from this.


Raptar

A strange cross between a rapier and a scimitar, the Raptar is the weapon of choice for Illuminati who do not use the heavy blade fighting style. Its curved edges give it the same effect in combat as a scimitar but its lighter build allow it to be used with more speed focused fighting styles.

In a high magic world this weapon would most likely be enchanted as keen to improve on its already deadly strike.

Martial Weapon, 20 gp , (S) 1d4 (M) 1d6, 18-20/×2, 3 lb, Slashing

The Raptar can be used with weapon finesse


Squad Crossbow

When going to battle each squad of the Khemish army would carry a Squad crossbow between them for the purposes of destroying rank upon rank of enemys before an upcomeing battle. Very large and heavy this is somewhat like a small seige device. One of these crossbows cannot be loaded in combat and requires a crank to load unless used by a creature with a stength of at least 22. They also require special bolts that are nearly impossible to aquire outside the army.

If a squad crossbow kills its target or inflicts a critical hit the bolt will pass through and hit anyone standing behind as if it were fired at them. The target is counted as flat footed unless he knows of this ability.

In a high magic world these would be enchanted with the ability to set any bolt alight to cause further confusion and chaos in the enemy ranks after it fires.

Squad Crossbow, 500 gp , (M) 2d12, 19-20/×2, 200 ft. 20 lb, Piercing

Quad-bow

Contradicting the usual design philosophy for the Illuminati, these ranged weapons are far from elegent. If one were not careful it would appear more like a hunk of wood than a weapon, but in the right hands it is deadly. Upon pulling the trigger four bolts are shot out and strike with alarming accuracy for such a crude looking weapon.

When rolling to hit with this weapon it is a little complex. Skip the next block of text if you don't like rolls clogging up you're combat. (this is converted from a different system where armour works differently).

First roll to hit once. If a hit is made and would have hit regardless of any dexterity modifiers, roll to hit with the other three missiles as if the target was flat footed. If the first bolt misses but would have hit if the armour modifier were not applied, act as above.
However, if the first bolt misses and would not have hit without the armour modifier applied then all four bolts miss the target.
This is to simulate that while the armour may deflect one bolt, the other three may still pierce the armour although a good dodge or outright miss will mean all four will miss because they are close together in the air.

If you don't like that, either roll all four seperately or roll once and say either they all hit or missed.

In a high magic world this would be enchanted by a spell allowing the user to magicly reload all four bolts in one round as opposed to four.

Quad-bow, 300 gp , (M) d8(x4), 19-20/×2, 80 ft. 8 lb, Piercing



Thank you! More to come if I get enough responses, and comments welcomed. Preferably ego-boosting ones ;D

Brickwall
2006-07-24, 08:56 PM
Okay, I will do this part-by-part:

It's not "adou", it's "ado". Read more Shakespeare.

Guardblade: What I see is a lngsword that requires an extra feat to use. Try giving it an ability. Also, the High Magic property should not come without an enchancement bonus. Flavor is nice.

Raptar: It has the advantages of a rapier and a scimitar and the disadvantages of neither. It should be Exotic at the very least. I would never allow it anyway, but at the very least.

Squad Crossbow: Crossbow's big! Yeah, yeah, yeah! It's not small! No, no, no!
Okay, why would this be used in favor of a ballista or caber (log you roll at grouped soldiers) for its current purpose? And how do you pull the big trigger?

Quad Bow: Silly and unreasonable. The four bowstrings you'd need to pack in a tiny space to do this just wouldn't fit and be able to gain enough tension. Heck, you never even explained how to load or fire it. Just get rid of it.

Soniku
2006-07-24, 09:08 PM
Brick, did you not see my little discalaimer at the top?

"Because it was made by someone with very little balanceing ability or common sence, they may well be a bit unbalenced/weird/totally stupid."

But still, to answer your questions/criticisms:



Guardblade: What I see is a longsword that requires an extra feat to use. Try giving it an ability. Also, the High Magic property should not come without an enchancement bonus. Flavor is nice.

Pretty much. The reason it's exotic is because it has a cool line of feats, and in game it's balence is tricky to get used to because of the extra handle. I don't use the enchantment bonus rule so feel free to stick in a +1



Raptar: It has the advantages of a rapier and a scimitar and the disadvantages of neither. It should be Exotic at the very least. I would never allow it anyway, but at the very least.

Yeah, I wanted to show how Illuminati craftsmanship was better than human stuff while not just makeing something more powerful, so I made a hybrid of two weapons that did both of their jobs just as well.



Squad Crossbow: Crossbow's big! Yeah, yeah, yeah! It's not small! No, no, no!
Okay, why would this be used in favor of a ballista or caber (log you roll at grouped soldiers) for its current purpose? And how do you pull the big trigger?

It never made a real appearence as a weapon in my game so I only had the concept, but basicly this is easier to carry and set up. When Illuminati attacks come they come fast so they need something that can pack a punch while not being too big to bring out and fire before they are overrun.



Quad Bow: Silly and unreasonable. The four bowstrings you'd need to pack in a tiny space to do this just wouldn't fit and be able to gain enough tension. Heck, you never even explained how to load or fire it. Just get rid of it.

I was going to explain it, but I have a way of getting an idea in my head that I can't quite put into words. I will probly check back later to explain ;D

Mike_G
2006-07-24, 09:27 PM
Okay, I will do this part-by-part:

It's not "adou", it's "ado". Read more Shakespeare.


I think you're making much of it.

About nothing.




Raptar: It has the advantages of a rapier and a scimitar and the disadvantages of neither. It should be Exotic at the very least. I would never allow it anyway, but at the very least.



It's not that great.

The stats are the same as Rapier, but it does slashing damage. Or Scimitar, but you can use Finesse. Big deal.

I mean, it's fine for flavor, and not particularly powerful, I mean, 1d6, finesseable, 18-20 crit. That's a slashing rapier. Or a finesseable scimitar.

So the dexy character can use a 1d6 weapon with Dex instead of Str bonus. Big whoop. It's not nearly as overpowered as a lot of weapons. Not abuseable with Power Attack, or Monkey Grip or any similar stuff.

It's less unbalancing than a greatsword, or a spiked chain, less silly than a double axe. Why not have a curved, slashing light weapon? Look at the Mameluke style sword from North Africa.

Peregrine
2006-07-24, 11:40 PM
*opens up weapons table* The Raptar fits right... there. Like Mike said, it's a slashing rapier or a finessable scimitar. I guess Brick's problem might be that it might render the scimitar and rapier redundant.

Assuming equal availability, for a Str-based swordsman the raptar and scimitar are exactly equal. The rapier and scimitar are not: the rapier deals piercing damage, which I'm given to understand is usually less advantageous than slashing (for damage reduction and the like). So again, assuming equal availability, then for a Dex-based swordsman the raptar is generally better than the rapier.

I say 'assuming equal availability' because that seems the obvious balancing factor for the weapon as described. Sure, maybe these 'Illuminati' do use raptars, never rapiers or scimitars, but the rest of the world is still left with the standard two weapons.

As for the guard blade, I see your point on the feat tree making the EWP worthwhile, but keep in mind you're competing against the two-weapon fighting tree -- the existing 1d8 exotic slashing weapon is the two-bladed sword. The feats should be that good or a little better.

Soniku
2006-07-25, 04:51 AM
As for the guard blade, I see your point on the feat tree making the EWP worthwhile, but keep in mind you're competing against the two-weapon fighting tree -- the existing 1d8 exotic slashing weapon is the two-bladed sword. The feats should be that good or a little better.

The feats (which I will get round to posting) are made for some rather annoying NPCs and not spesificly for players and there is also a PrC based around the guard blade and when combined with the feats it's pretty powerful.

Artisan
2006-07-25, 05:50 AM
Okay, I will do this part-by-part:

It's not "adou", it's "ado". Read more Shakespeare.

Actually, it's adieu. French meaning 'farewell' or 'so long'. Ado means fuss/bother (thus "much ado [fuss] about nothing").

Anyway, I quite like the squad crossbow

Peregrine
2006-07-25, 06:14 AM
Ah, but the original error was:

So, without futher adou (which I will be suprised if I spelt right) here are the weapons!
Thus, 'ado' is correct. ('Without further fuss', not 'without further farewell'. ;))

[/pedant]

Artisan
2006-07-25, 06:15 AM
Yes, I realise that now. To be fair, I've gotten, like, 3 hours sleep in the past 3 days. I'm all befuzzled

Soniku
2006-07-25, 07:23 AM
I hear you there Artisan *rubs eyes*

Well, time for a couple more.

Heavy Blade

One mystery about the Illuminati is that while they appear graceful like the elves the majority of their armed forces wield blades larger than themselves. While this would be nearly impossible for any other race the Illuminiatis innate levitation magic can be cast on their weapons and make a blade retain its weight for power while still makeing it possible to lift and wield effectively.
In addition, the speed at which the Illuminati are able to use these weapons due to their natural reflexes and grace is very supriseing to many new soldiers unfortunate enough to face one in battle.

Unless a character has 22 str or uses some other means to lighten or lift it this weapon is useless in battle as most soldiers cannot lift it off the ground, let alone fight with it.

In a high magic world these blades would have a range of enchantments, since Illuminati are usually encountered in squads of three it will add to the unpredictability of the group.


Martial Weapon, Two handed, 120 gp , (M): 2d8 , 19-20 x2, Weight varies , Slashing.


Tamborine

Often disguised as the instrament it is named after, the Tamborine is a favored weapon of the few assassins who know if its existance. A wooden or metal ring, often brightly coloured and decorated, with a number of jagged metal rings half way out at regular intervals along the side. Naturally there is a handle where one ring would be.
This weapon is paticularly fiendish because of the creative ways in which it has been hidden, one famous female assassin posed as a harem girl of the wealthy man she was hired to assassinate with an illusion spell on her weapon of choice to make the edges of the blades appear smooth and completely mask its danger.

If anyone not proficient in the weapon tries to use it and misses, roll again. If they miss again they score a hit on themselves instead due to the very tricky to use design of the weapon.

+4 on disguise checks to make the weapon appear part of your costume. +2 on sleight of hand to hide it as it is often overlooked as an instrument.

Exotic Weapon. 40 gp , (M): d6 , x3, Weight 2lb , Slashing.

Were-Sandwich
2006-07-25, 07:57 AM
A killer tambourine? Seriously, what were you smoking? ;)

I like the Guardblade and the quad-bow, although I have trouble visualising how it would work.

Tallis
2006-07-25, 10:38 AM
Hehe, killer tambourine.
I love it! Probably reduce damage to d4 though, the blades would have to be pretty small.

Tengu
2006-07-25, 10:54 AM
Heavy blade is a two-handed weapon, right? And I think it should be exotic, which'd basically mean it's 3.5's fullblade with a strength requirement (which is not really in the rules of 3.x).

Soniku
2006-07-25, 12:42 PM
Two handed, oops. Edited.

And it's d6 not because of the size of the blades but the number of them. If there was just one it would be d4 but at least three will hit on a good solid hit, which is what a hit in D&D is supposed to be.

I think


Oh, and its Martial because to anyone who is strong enough to wield in my campaign world (low level, low magic) would have to be large and then it would be similar to a greatsword to them. And the Illuminati generally learn how to use it as basic training, makeing it martial rather than exotic.

Still, this is just how I do things ;D