3.5 Weapons Revamp (House Rules In Progress) PEACH

[Naaman]

A little background first (skip down if not interested):


I've always felt that the weapons in D&D didn't quite matter enough when it comes to making decisions about how to equip a character. After analyzing the RAW weapons, I noticed the formula that the designers used to classify weapons.

No matter how I looked at it, I found that it never made much sense to use an exotic weapon, and the reason for this seems to be in the way that weapons are designed.

It seems that the two basic classifications are ease of use (simple, martial, exotic) and effort to use (light, one-handed, two-handed). It also seems that both of these use the exact same criteria to determine a weapon's classification. If you upgrade one of a weapon's stats, it must either become harder to master (simple -->martial -->exotic) or harder to wield (-->light -->one-handed -->two-handed).

Another thing that always bothered me was the Rogue's weapon proficiency text (3.0), which explains that the rogue is proficient with "weapons suitable for sneak attacks," while the rules make no effort expand upon this concept.

All of that to say that I decided to rework the weapons in 3.5 to address two basic problems:
1) Exotic weapon proficiency (as a feat) is generally not useful.
2) Uses for weapon types/sizes are not meaningfully differentiated within the rules.

I decided to use the good old bastard sword as patient zero to experiment with some homebrew, since it was the weapon that got me started on this topic. It became clear to me that one-handed weapons were "too good" compared to two-handed weapons, and that the bastard sword, while being a marginally better one-hander than a longsword, was in all ways inferior to a greatsword as a two-hander. Once we add power attack into the mix, even the greatsword becomes questionable in relation to the longsword after gaining a couple of levels.

I figured that, among "heavy blades," the bastard sword should be the king of versatility, having some advantages over both the longsword and the greatsword (both of which are martial weapons). This lead me to completely redesign weapons categories (light, one-handed, two-handed) as well as add an additional category ("utility" weapons). I also eventually gave ranged weapons a similar treatment, breaking them into three categories (projectile, hurled, and thrown... it was the javelin that I took issue with in this case).



After seeing some of the awesome solutions that others have come up with, I decided to share mine.

Anyway, without further ado, here are the house rules:


Utility Weapons
Utility weapons are typically small and easily concealable. They have the following special rules:

Add your dexterity modifier to attack rolls with utility weapons.

Add half your strength modifier to damage rolls with utility weapons.

May be drawn as a free action. If you have the quick draw feat, a utility weapon may be drawn as an immediate action (or as a free action if drawing from concealment).

+2 bonus on sleight of hand checks made to hide the weapon on your person.

+2 bonus on bluff or sleight of hand checks to feint in combat. You may use sleight of hand instead of bluff to feint with a utility weapon.

Gain no benefit when used two-handed.

Count as light weapons for purposes of attack roll penalties when fighting with two-weapons.

Cannot gain a damage bonus from the power attack feat.

If attacking a flat-footed opponent with a sneak attack, add +1d6 to damage (the target must have the flat-footed condition, not merely be denied his dexterity bonus to AC).

The ubiquitous dagger is an example of a utility weapon.



Light Weapons

Light weapons are handy and quick. Dexterous characters favor them. They have the following special rules:

Add either your strength or dexterity modifier to attack rolls with light weapons.

Add your strength modifier to damage rolls with light weapons.

Gain no benefit when used two-handed.

The maximum damage bonus from power attack is equal to half the weapon's maximum die result (+2 damage for 1d4; +3 damage for 1d6, etc.). The attack roll penalty remains unchanged.

The short sword is among the most well known of light weapons.



One-Handed Weapons

One-handed weapons are versatile and functional. They are useful to warriors of all types. They have the following special rules:

Add your strength modifier to attack rolls with one-handed weapons.

Add your strength modifier to damage rolls with one-handed weapons. If wielding the weapon in two hands, add 1.5 times your strength modifier, or add +1 (whichever is higher) to the damage roll.

The maximum damage bonus from power attack is equal to the weapon's maximum die result (+6 for 1d6; +8 for 1d8, etc.). If wielding the weapon in two hands, the maximum damage bonus is equal to 1.5 times the weapon's maximum die result (+9 for 1d6; +12 for 1d8, etc.).

If performing a sneak attack, roll only half your sneak attack dice (round down to the nearest whole die, minimum 1d6) if using a one-handed weapon (regardless of whether you're wielding it in one or two hands).

The longsword and heavy mace are popular one-handed weapons.




Two-handed weapons are capable of devastating damage. The strongest warriors prefer two-handed weapons. They have the following special rules:

Add your strength modifier to attack rolls with two-handed weapons.

Add double your strength modifier to damage rolls with two-handed weapons.

If your base attack bonus is at least +1, a two-handed weapon can be drawn as a free action as part of a move (or as part of a charge) as normal for any weapon. Otherwise, drawing a two-handed weapon is a standard action. If you have the quick draw feat, drawing a two-handed weapon is a move action.

There is no limit to the damage bonus from power attack (other than the limitations of the power attack feat, itself).

If performing a sneak attack, you take a -3d6 penalty to your sneak attack damage. In addition, the maximum amount of sneak attack damage you can deal with a two-handed weapon is +1d6 (for example, a 6th level rogue gains no sneak attack damage when using a two-handed weapon. Later, at 7th level and on, the rogue may add +1d6 to the damage roll when performing a sneak attack, regardless of how many sneak attack dice she actually has).

The greatsword and long spear are examples of two-handed weapons.



Projectile weapons typically require two-hands to load. They tend to be more accurate and longer ranged than other ranged weapons. They have the following special rules:

Add your dexterity modifier to attack rolls with projectile weapons.

Drawing ammunition for a projectile weapon is a free action.

The maximum range of a projectile weapons is 10 range increments.

You take a -2 penalty on attack rolls for each range increment beyond the first.




Hurled weapons are cast using the power of the upper body and are generally too large or heavy to be fired as projectiles. They have the following special rules:

Add your dexterity modifier to attack rolls with hurled weapons.

Add 1.5x your strength modifier to damage rolls with hurled weapons.

The maximum range of a hurled weapon is 5 range increments. However, increase the range increment by a number of feet equal to 5 times your strength modifier (a character with 15 strength [+2 modifier] increases the range increment of his weapon by 10 feet).

You take a -4 penalty on attack rolls for each range increment after the first.

You must draw each hurled weapon before throwing it (normally, this means you can only hurl one weapon per turn, unless you have the quick draw feat).

When performing a sneak attack with a hurled weapon, subtract 1d6 from your sneak attack damage dice. In addition, the bonus damage from sneak attack only applies to targets within one range increment or within 30 feet, whichever is shorter.

The javelin, spear, and throwing axe are examples of hurled weapons.




Thrown weapons are small and easy to conceal or throw in rapid succession. They have the following special rules:

Add your dexterity modifier to attack rolls with thrown weapons.

Add half your strength modifier to damage rolls with thrown weapons.

Drawing a thrown weapon is a free action. If you have the quick draw feat, you may draw a thrown weapon as an immediate action (or as a free action from concealment).

You receive a +2 bonus on sleight of hand checks to conceal a thrown weapon on your person.

The maximum range for a thrown weapon is 2 range increments.

You take a -2 penalty on attack rolls beyond one range increment.

Some thrown weapons can be used to make a volley attack as a single action. See the weapon description for details on how many weapons can be thrown with each volley. Roll separately for each weapon in the volley. Any special effects delivered by a volley (such as poison or magical effects and critical hits) are applied for each relevant hit (a volley that includes one poisoned weapon and one standard weapon applies the effects of poison to the poisoned attack only; critical hits are resolved only on the attacks which scored them, etc.). Sneak attack damage applies only to the first successful hit in a volley.
A volley may target multiple opponents, however, each attack in a volley must be at the same range increment. For example, Lidda has a base attack bonus of +9/+4. She wants to attack three goblins that are 10 feet, 15 feet, and 30 feet away from her, respectively. Since the closer two goblins are within one range increment, she takes no penalty on the attack rolls against them. Against the farther one, she takes a -2 penalty because it is more than one range increment away. She decides to throw a total of 4 darts. Against the closer two goblins (both within one range increment), she may split the volley attacks between them, since they are both within the same range increment. Against the farther one, she must allocate both darts for that attack since there are no other targets at the second range increment.

Dart, daggers, shuriken are examples of thrown weapons.




Balanced
Balanced weapons are excellent for both attacking and defending. When fighting defensively, increase the dodge bonus to AC by +1. If using the total defense action, increase the dodge bonus by +2. If you have the combat expertise feat, increase the dodge bonus provided by that feat by +1 (you may take a penalty of 0 to gain a +1 dodge bonus to AC).

(Most balanced weapons are swords. The quarterstaff is also in this category.)

Close Combat
Close combat weapons tend to be useful in tight confines or when movement is otherwise restricted. They have the following special rules:

Close combat weapons have a threatened area of 0 feet unless you are fighting defensively. If you are fighting defensively and your opponent provokes an attack of opportunity from you, you may ignore the penalty on attack rolls for fighting defensively when you make your attack of opportunity with a close combat weapon other than an unarmed strike. You may make attacks of opportunity normally against an opponent who attempts to enter your space, or who makes and unarmed attack (including an unarmed touch attack, such as when starting a grapple or making a trip or disarm attempt) against you.

You may wield a close combat weapon (other than a shield) in a grapple without suffering the normal penalty for wielding a weapon in a grapple. You must still succeed at a grapple check to make attacks during a grapple.

(These weapons are usually utility weapons or weapons with unusually short reach, such as the sickle or tonfa).

Double
A double weapon can be used to make extra attacks as part of a full attack action. A character wielding a double weapon is treated as though he is attacking with two one-handed weapons. If the character is not proficient with the weapon, an additional -4 non-proficiency penalty applies to the attack roll. If the character is proficient with the weapon, reduce the penalties on attack rolls by 2. You may further reduce the penalties on attack rolls by taking the two-weapon fighting feat. Essentially, when wielding most double weapons with which you are proficient, your attack rolls are penalized as though the off-hand weapon were light, but both ends deal damage as a one-handed weapon. A double weapon may be wielded as a two-handed weapon. If so, only one end of the weapon may be used.

Double-Headed
These weapons are usually hafted weapons with a striking head on the leading and trailing edge of the weapon. Axes, hammers and picks are some of the most common weapons built with a double head. An attacker may attack with either head of the weapon each time he makes an attack. The head may be symmetrical or it may have an alternate means of attack (such as a warhammer with a piercing head on the back which functions similarly to a heavy pick). If crafting a weapon as a double-headed weapon, first select the weapon type (such as a warhammer). Then, select an alternate damage type for the secondary head. If you select a different damage type for the secondary head, that head deals less damage than the primary head; reduce the die type by one category (from 2d6 to 1d8 or from 1d8 to 1d6, for example). Alternatively, you may reduce the critical threat range by one (from 19-20 to 20, for example), or the critical multiplier by one (from x4 to x3, for example). The threat range cannot be made worse than 20, and the multiplier may not be made worse than x2. A warhammer with a piercing head on one side would deal 1d8 bludgeoning damage with its primary head. Its piercing head's damage could be 1d6/x3 or 1d8/x2.
Typically, a double-headed weapon costs twice as much as its standard single headed counterpart.

Finesse
When wielding a weapon with this property, add your dexterity modifier (instead of your strength modifier) to attack rolls with the weapon. This weapon gains no benefit from being wielded in two hands (unless it is already a two-handed weapon, in which case, all of the normal rules for fighting with two-handed weapons apply). Note that some one-handed weapons may allow a character to add his dexterity modifier to attack rolls without having the finesse property. The main difference is that such weapons may be wielded in two hands and receive the normal benefits to their damage rolls.

Hafted
Hafted weapons transmit the force of an attack better than other weapons. You may take up to a -1 penalty on your attack roll with a hafted weapon to increase the damage by +1. If the weapon is two-handed (or a one-handed weapon wielded in two hands), the bonus is +2 instead. If you have the power attack feat, increase the total damage bonus provided by that feat by +1 or +2 respectively (you may take a penalty of 0 on your attacks to gain a +1 or +2 bonus on damage). Also, the damage bonus from the hafted property does not count against the maximum damage bonus that power attack can provide. For example, a hand axe has a power attack damage bonus limit of 4 instead of 3, while a battleaxe wielded in one hand has a damage bonus limit of 9 instead of 8. If wielded in two hands, the battleaxe's damage bonus limit is 14 instead of 12 when using the power attack feat.

(Typically axes, hammers, and maces as well as some pole arms).

Jointed
Jointed weapons can strike around shields or cover. Against an opponent with a shield, you may feint in combat, adding a +2 bonus on the bluff check. If you succeed, in addition to the normal effects of feinting in combat, your opponent may not add his shield bonus to AC against the next attack you make before his next turn. If your opponent is behind cover, you instead gain a +2 bonus on your attack roll (offsetting the benefits of his cover).

You also gain a +2 bonus on opposed rolls to disarm an opponent.

One-handed or two-handed jointed weapons can be used to make trip attacks. If you are tripped during your own trip attempt, you may drop the weapon to avoid being tripped.

(Basically flails, nunchakus, and chains/whips).

Pole Arm
When wielding a pole arm, you have three options:

You may wield the weapon normally.

Or, you may increase your reach by 5 feet for a single attack. If you do, you provoke attacks of opportunity from foes who threaten you.

Or, when fighting defensively, you may increase the area you threaten by 5 feet. You take all the normal penalties for fighting defensively on all attacks (including attacks of opportunity).

Reach
A weapon with reach threatens an area 5 feet further than your normal threatened area, but does not threaten any adjacent squares.

Volley
Some ranged weapons are capable of making volley attacks. When this is the case, the entry will indicate the number of attacks possible with a single volley. When making a volley attack, you may score multiple hits with a single attack. You must have enough ammunition or weapons available to make a volley attack, and all shots in the volley must be with the same weapon (such as bolts fired from a double crossbow) or kind of weapon, (such as using multiple throwing knives).




Once these changes were made, I realized that other aspects of the rules that interact with weapons needed to be addressed. I modified some weapon-related feats to make them better "help" to express a character concept alongside weapon choice.

A quick example is that weapon finesse by RAW becomes useless. So I redesigned it so that if taken, it applies to all one-handed weapons (it might be "better" to make it apply to one-handed weapons for which the character has weapon focus... we'll see).

If there is enough interest, I'll post more on the additional changes.

I'll end by including my rewrite of the bastard sword:

Bastard Sword
Handling Category: Balanced
Damage: 1d10
Critical: 19-20/x2
Type: Piercing or Slashing
Special: The bastard sword may be wielded in two hands as a martial weapon. If so, treat it in all ways as a two-handed weapon (essentially, it is a weaker version of a greatsword). A character with the exotic weapon proficiency feat for the bastard sword gains the following benefits:
You may wield the bastard sword in one-hand, as normal for a one-handed weapon.
If you wield the bastard sword in two-hands, you may add double your strength bonus to damage, and there is no limit to the damage bonus gained from power attack (other than the limits of the feat itself). In all other respects, the bastard sword is a one-handed weapon for you, even when wielded in two-hands (you draw it as a move action, sneak attack damage applies as for one-handed weapons, you may apply the weapon finesse feat, etc.).

[H_H_F_F]

Okay, so I like this more than I expected to. I usually find weapon redesign to feel like an extra system added on top of the existing one, and overcomplicating combat. This approach feels very grounded in the existing ruleset of 3.5, which is excellent, while still delivering on making different weaponry feel distinct - to an extent. I do have a few pointers - some of them more specific in scope, others more generalized. They're arranged in no particular order:

hurled range increments: as things stand, you've increased the range increments of hurled weapons depending on strength. I have a couple of issues with this approach. First, and less significant, is that it'll overtake bows with enough strength - even though the same logic should apply to composite bows, one would think.

Second, and more significant - I feel like increasing the range increment doesn't really represent what you're going for. Sure, the stronger you are, the further you can throw it - but right now, it doesn't just mean you can throw it further, it mostly means you're more accurate at range. I'm assuming for a moment that a throwing axe is a hurled weapon. Someone throwing it from 10 ft away or from fifty would do the same damage either way if they hit - so it's not like the attack has lost momentum or something.

However, if we have person A with 24 Dex / 10 Str, and person B with 10 Dex / 24 Str, and they're both throwing at someone 45 feet away, person B would be more accurate, everything else being the same. I don't think that's what you meant to go for here, really.

I feel like a better way to represent it would be allowing more range increments for higher strength. An absolute brute can hurl something across the lake, but he won't be able to hit anything with that throw, unless he just got very lucky.

Hurled Strength feels kind of weird that you by default, add more strength to a hurled weapon than to a one-handed weapon. Unless all hurled weapons are thrown two-handed? That brings me to my next point:

Hurled/Thrown: You don't give any examples for which is which, and that's sort of a weird choice. You've given me examples for weapons in categories that already exist, and you don't help me make a distinction here.

Volley Rules: Why are they in the thrown weapon section, and not the volley section?

WHY NO SHIELD: feels like shield usage belongs here. Even if you don't bother with reworking the basic rules for shield (which come on, we know we should), I feel like shield bash requires a reference, at the very least. You hint that they're Close Combat weapons, which kind of means you can only shield bash when fighting defensively - which is kind of a weird interaction.

Drawing While Moving is something allowed by the rules for anyone with +1 BaB. I think two handed weapons require some reference to this rule - probably that they can't be drawn as part of a move action, unless you have quick-draw?

Piercing or slashing for all swords (I guess?) is a real change to game balance. Consider reconsidering?

Level-Specific Design: I think this is my biggest gripe here, perhaps. You use to methods of weapon limitation here. One is a flat increase/decrease. You gain a sneak attack die, you lose a sneak attack die, you gain a +1 to dodge, you gain the ability to take a -1 to-hit for extra damage.

The other method is capping weapon options. You can't gain more than X sneak attack / power attack on this weapon.

Method one is far more impactful at low levels rather than high. A utility weapon in the hands of a 1st level rogue, or a hafted weapon in the hands of a first level (Power attacking) fighter, mean a lot more than they do in the hands of 20th level versions. That's... fine, but is something to consider.

Capping, however, is a wholly different game. A fighter can spend their entire career switching between weapons, until at level 8 or so they're just forced to stick with a two-handed weapon, no matter what. I'm not a fan.

I'd have ideally liked to see a way to make weapon choice both significant and non-compulsary at all levels, and I feel like here that's not really the case.

The right weapon for the task?

So, this isn't something you really came out as wanting to do, but I still wanted to refer to it. I feel like a lot of the time, these redesigns aim at having you draw the right weapon for the task. Sometimes a greatsword is the better choice - other times, it's the shortsword.

I feel like the closest you've come to achieving that goal is the drawing time on weapons - at low levels, if you need to charge right now and you haven't a weapon in your hand, it'd often make more sense to take out a non-close-combat melee utility weapon (if such a thing exists), rather than spend an action taking out your greatsword. If you get jumped without a drawn weapon, it'd make the most sense to grab a one-handed weapon. I believe that a melee fighter up to level 3 or 4 has good reason to walk around with three melee weapons. However, sneak attack or dex-based fighters have no such incentives, and even for the Str-based fighter, nothing other than a two handed weapon makes sense at high level - and it stops mattering whether it's hafted, balanced, or what have you. I feel like that's sort of the opposite of what we want.


Well, that's it from me. Overall, I like it and appreciate the effort. I feel like replacing capping with more flat-bonuses/maluses and changing hurled weapons will solve half the issue here, while the other half would take much more work.

[Naaman]

Okay, so I like this more than I expected to. I usually find weapon redesign to feel like an extra system added on top of the existing one, and overcomplicating combat. This approach feels very grounded in the existing ruleset of 3.5, which is excellent, while still delivering on making different weaponry feel distinct - to an extent. I do have a few pointers - some of them more specific in scope, others more generalized. They're arranged in no particular order:

hurled range increments: as things stand, you've increased the range increments of hurled weapons depending on strength. I have a couple of issues with this approach. First, and less significant, is that it'll overtake bows with enough strength - even though the same logic should apply to composite bows, one would think.

Second, and more significant - I feel like increasing the range increment doesn't really represent what you're going for. Sure, the stronger you are, the further you can throw it - but right now, it doesn't just mean you can throw it further, it mostly means you're more accurate at range. I'm assuming for a moment that a throwing axe is a hurled weapon. Someone throwing it from 10 ft away or from fifty would do the same damage either way if they hit - so it's not like the attack has lost momentum or something.

However, if we have person A with 24 Dex / 10 Str, and person B with 10 Dex / 24 Str, and they're both throwing at someone 45 feet away, person B would be more accurate, everything else being the same. I don't think that's what you meant to go for here, really.

I feel like a better way to represent it would be allowing more range increments for higher strength. An absolute brute can hurl something across the lake, but he won't be able to hit anything with that throw, unless he just got very lucky.

Hurled Strength feels kind of weird that you by default, add more strength to a hurled weapon than to a one-handed weapon. Unless all hurled weapons are thrown two-handed? That brings me to my next point:

Hurled/Thrown: You don't give any examples for which is which, and that's sort of a weird choice. You've given me examples for weapons in categories that already exist, and you don't help me make a distinction here.

Volley Rules: Why are they in the thrown weapon section, and not the volley section?

WHY NO SHIELD: feels like shield usage belongs here. Even if you don't bother with reworking the basic rules for shield (which come on, we know we should), I feel like shield bash requires a reference, at the very least. You hint that they're Close Combat weapons, which kind of means you can only shield bash when fighting defensively - which is kind of a weird interaction.

Drawing While Moving is something allowed by the rules for anyone with +1 BaB. I think two handed weapons require some reference to this rule - probably that they can't be drawn as part of a move action, unless you have quick-draw?

Piercing or slashing for all swords (I guess?) is a real change to game balance. Consider reconsidering?

Level-Specific Design: I think this is my biggest gripe here, perhaps. You use to methods of weapon limitation here. One is a flat increase/decrease. You gain a sneak attack die, you lose a sneak attack die, you gain a +1 to dodge, you gain the ability to take a -1 to-hit for extra damage.

The other method is capping weapon options. You can't gain more than X sneak attack / power attack on this weapon.

Method one is far more impactful at low levels rather than high. A utility weapon in the hands of a 1st level rogue, or a hafted weapon in the hands of a first level (Power attacking) fighter, mean a lot more than they do in the hands of 20th level versions. That's... fine, but is something to consider.

Capping, however, is a wholly different game. A fighter can spend their entire career switching between weapons, until at level 8 or so they're just forced to stick with a two-handed weapon, no matter what. I'm not a fan.

I'd have ideally liked to see a way to make weapon choice both significant and non-compulsary at all levels, and I feel like here that's not really the case.

The right weapon for the task?

So, this isn't something you really came out as wanting to do, but I still wanted to refer to it. I feel like a lot of the time, these redesigns aim at having you draw the right weapon for the task. Sometimes a greatsword is the better choice - other times, it's the shortsword.

I feel like the closest you've come to achieving that goal is the drawing time on weapons - at low levels, if you need to charge right now and you haven't a weapon in your hand, it'd often make more sense to take out a non-close-combat melee utility weapon (if such a thing exists), rather than spend an action taking out your greatsword. If you get jumped without a drawn weapon, it'd make the most sense to grab a one-handed weapon. I believe that a melee fighter up to level 3 or 4 has good reason to walk around with three melee weapons. However, sneak attack or dex-based fighters have no such incentives, and even for the Str-based fighter, nothing other than a two handed weapon makes sense at high level - and it stops mattering whether it's hafted, balanced, or what have you. I feel like that's sort of the opposite of what we want.


Well, that's it from me. Overall, I like it and appreciate the effort. I feel like replacing capping with more flat-bonuses/maluses and changing hurled weapons will solve half the issue here, while the other half would take much more work.



Wow. Awesome feedback.

Yeah, it's a work in progress. Shields are one of the reasons I felt a redesign was needed. My gut tells me that shields "should" provide WAY more AC, and perhaps armor should provide DR... but, as you mentioned in your feedback, I wanted it to be "grounded" in the existing rules.

I feel that, if I can get shields right, it may "make the case" for one-handed weapons beyond 8th level (or whatver).

You really make a great point about hurled weapons. The idea with a hurled weapon was that you use a significant amount of bodily coordination to cast the weapon at a target: a lot more muscle groups involved in hurling a weapon than in flinging one ("thrown" such as a shuriken or a dart). Also, composite bows essentially make obsolete all other weapon choices for "martial" characters (something I feel is indicative of a shortsighted system design; for example, it seems to me that a javelin within it's effective range should do more damage than an arrow fired from a bow--even a composite one).

I think the idea of more range increments is a better way to express what I'm going for. Thank you.

EDITED TO ADD: Regarding close combat weapons, the threatened area of 0 feet was meant to apply only to the ability to make attacks of opportunity. The way I read RAW, it seemed like the term "threatened area" only applies to AoOs, while "reach" indicates how far you can make attacks (that is, normally, you "threaten all squares within your reach"). If I'm wrong, I may need to reword that bit.

The "volley" idea is one of the newer parts of this system. I haven't had much time yet to think of many "what-ifs." In general, it seemed like weapons that are propelled by a "flick of the wrist" could be fired a volley, while other weapons could not reasonably do so. Anyway, that's where I'm at for the moment.

Regarding drawing two-handed weapons: I deliberately left the "draw on the move" alone. If you move/charge, you may draw your two-handed weapon for free. Not sure if I'm misunderstanding what you mean here or if maybe you skimmed past it in the write up?

As for the capping/limitations, I see what you mean. Not really sure what the answer is without "unbalancing" the game or inadvertently creating a "best" weapon (similar to how many say that the scimitar or falchion by RAW are the "best" weapons if one discounts the spiked chain).
EDITED TO ADD: One of the other reasons I put a cap on one-handed weapons (and I've considered something similar for two-handers) was to address the issue many people point out: at higher levels, the "only" thing that really matters about a weapon is its threat range. For a character who does not take power attack, this may be an appropriate way to select a weapon. However, it didn't seem right to me that, for example, a higher level paladin would turn his nose up to a longsword or warhammer in favor of a scimitar or rapier. It also didn't feel right to recategorize the rapier and scimitar to light weapons. But with the cap based on damage die (which makes a kind of physics-based sense to me), it ensures that for ~90% of your attacks, a long sword has what may be a meaningfully greater damage potential than a rapier (this seems to be an actual consideration in real life sword fighting: a rapier may land the first strike, but it likely will not incapacitate quickly enough to stop a longsword wielder from lopping off a the limb--or head--of the rapier user).
One other thing I considered was to make the power attack bonus +2 per point regardless of one- or two-handed use (but still allowing for a bigger cap on two-handed use, while letting actual two-handed weapons enjoy an unlimited bonus). The damage cap might do a good job of keeping one-handed weapons from outstripping two-handers that way, while allowing mid-level characters to make the most out of higher damage weapons (for example, taking a -5 on an attack roll to max-out a one-handed bastard sword instead of -10). But this is also something I worry might be too much.

Piercing and slashing for swords feels right to me. Also, as part of the project, I've been reading up on medieval weaponry, and come to realize that almost every weapon is (or can easily be) designed to deal two (or more) types of damage. The double-headed section makes this available to almost all hafted weapons. In most cases, the "alternate" damage type is lowered by 1 die type (so a warhammer with a spike on the back does 1d8/1d6/20/x3). You could put a blunt head on the opposite side of your battle axe and it would do 1d8/1d6/20/x3, etc.).

I also included "spiked" versions of weapons that really should do piercing damage in addition to bludgeoning (such as the great club and flail).

I definitely would like to create a "right tool for the job" approach to weapon selection; however, I also don't want to diminish the value of equipment selection with respect to expressing a character concept. I'm not sure where the threshold is on that...

I do have all the weapons listed in tables and have written out all the descriptions with special rules where applicable... but I thought it would be too much to put in one post.

Ultimately, what it MAY turn out to be is giving each weapon (or weapon group, such as "heavy blades," "light blades," "picks & hammers," etc.) it's own subset of special rules to balance it all out so that the rules contribute to creating a different feel to each type of weapon/fighting style. An example of what I mean would be figuring out a way to express the superior reach of a rapier (if we are talking about historical rapiers) without stepping on the toes of the longspear.

Thanks again for the thoughtful feedback. It really goes a long way in helping me work this all out.

[Naaman]

Sample Revision of a Core Weapon

Dwarven Urgosh
Effort Category: One-Handed
Handling Category: Hafted or Double (see below)
Damage: 1d8/1d6
Critical: x3
Type: Slashing (1d8) or Piercing (1d6)
Special: This weapon looks like a battle axe with a spear point on the butt end. Any character proficient with a battle axe may wield the urgosh without penalty using the axe head. If wielded in two hands, the same character may make attacks with the spear point at no penalty, but he may not treat the urgosh as a double weapon. A character with the exotic weapon proficiency feat for the urgosh gains the following benefits:
You may wield the urgosh as a double weapon. If you do, you must wield it in two hands.
Whether you wield the urgosh in one or two hands, you may use the spear point as a close combat weapon in circumstances which would be advantageous for you to do so.
You may set the spear point against a charge by readying an action. If you do, you deal double damage against a charging character if you hit.
You may treat the urgosh as a battle axe for the purposes of feats and effects specific to a battle axe (such as weapon focus, improved critical, etc.), but only when attacking with the urgosh's axe head.

My Thoughts on the Urgosh
When looking at the urgosh, I felt like the point of the design (in the game world) would be to create tactical flexibility for the wielder. But in the game rules, we are left with something "weaker" than using two martial weapons for two-weapon fighting, and not much else. Because of the added handling categories in this experimental system, new tactics can be added to a weapon like the urgosh.

Essentially, the spear point adds lethality to the "butt stroke" of the battle axe. If a character (or more likely, a creature) attempts to grapple the user, he has an immediate option for fighting back. He can also switch seamlessly between two-weapon fighting (getting more potential hits) and two-handed fighting to make better use of power attack or charging attacks. I did not allow the spear point to be treated as a pole arm (optionally extend reach by 5 feet) because it felt too cumbersome to do with an axe head on the back. To make this make sense, I changed the urgosh to a one-handed weapon, allowing it to simulate a modified battle axe in all ways (which seems like the intended purpose of the weapon).

Basically, with many exotic weapons including this one, I took a page out of some of the source books and allowed for overlap between specific martial weapons of similar function, treating the exotic weapon proficiency feat more like a specialized way of fighting with a variant weapon, than actually having to completely re-learn "how to fight with an axe-like weapon" when you already know how to fight with a axe.

Once my post count is high enough, I'll add some artwork showing how I imagine a few different smiths might craft/design an urgosh.

[Naaman]

Sample Replacement of a Core Weapon

Dire Axe (replaces Orc double axe)
Effort Category: Two-Handed
Handling Category: Hafted or Double (see below)
Damage: 1d12/1d6
Critical: x3
Type: Slashing
Special: This weapon resembles a great axe, but with in inverted axe head attached to the butt of the axe. You must have a strength score of 15 or higher to take the exotic weapon proficiency feat for the dire axe. A character with the exotic weapon proficiency feat for the dire axe gains the following benefits:
You may wield the dire axe as a double weapon. If you do, you treat the primary end as a one-handed weapon wielded in two hands and the secondary end as a light weapon.
You may wield the dire axe as a two-handed weapon, using either end.

My Thoughts on the Dire Axe/Orc Double Axe
When looking at the double axe, I just see something that looks... useless. I tried drawing my own version of the weapon to see if I could render something that seemed to make some kind of sense, but I just could not come up with anything that seemed like it would make an effective weapon. The biggest problem with the double axe is the wielder slicing himself up with one end while trying to attack with the other.

Eventually, I came up with an axe head mounted "upside down" (think of a Viking bearded axe with the beard pointing away from the hands), and facing the same way as the axe main axe head. It looked actually useable, and exotic enough that I decided to stat it out. I didn't like the term "double axe" so I changed that, as well.

As for it being a double weapon, I felt that double weapons needed a bit more variety. So some of the double weapons I've created have asymmetrical properties. This is an example of what I mean. For maximum power, a wielder might want to use it like a greataxe. But for slaying hoards of minions, the double-wield is more effective (hopefully).

I've considered reducing the primary head's damage to 1d10 (so as not to overshadow the greataxe too much), and reducing the strength requirement to 13. My two-bladed sword variant works the same as this weapon, but with 1d10/1d4 for its damage (I've also kept the RAW two-bladed sword, and proficiency with one is proficiency with both).

One more post and I can start including images of the artwork to go with the weapons.