Whetstone request.

[TheGrimace]

I was thinking about posting this in the request homebrew sticky, but deemed it inappropriate because it would take too many posts.

Essentially, what I'm looking for is a system where weapons take damage over time, and lose effectiveness. Something as simple as sharpening should enable them to continue dealing full damage, but it takes craft checks to actually repair damage (so something that just keeps being sharpened can still be sundered easily)

Ideally, these rules would also be used for seeing if an arrow or throwing axe can be used a second time.

If someone wants to tackle this; Great!
If someone wants to give ideas: dandy!
If someone wants to make good jokes: fine... I guess...

[bluish_wolf]

If I remember the base rules properly, magical weapons never dull or rust. Which is why you can use the centuries old +3 sword you found in a crypt without problems. If you introduced weapon degradation, it would make treasure hunting a lot more difficult.

[Tin Can]

For the throwing weapons, arrows and stuff, you could roll a d20, if the roll is higher than 15 the weapon survives, add the weapons enhancement bonus to the roll as well. Add +5 if the weapon is adamantine as well.

For other weapons, for every weapon that is used in combat(accually used to hit something) roll a d20 again if the roll is under 5 the weapon loses 1 HP. Add the bonuses from what was listed above to the roll as well.

If a weapon is at 1/2 HP or less it takes a -2 penalty to attack and damage rolls.

The craft check to fix a weapon could be equal to whatever the DC to craft the weapon was minus 5.

[jagadaishio]

I rather like the idea of a weapon potentially taking some damage if it deals more damage than it has hardness. This would introduce the mechanic of breaking a quarterstaff in half over someone's head.

[TheGrimace]

and breaking a quarterstaff by hitting someone "so hard" is something every player has tried to do at some point in their career.

[chormin]

The big problem I see with a system like this would be whining uberchargers. Personally, I think it would add realism, although I think that it should not be simply Damage dealt-hardness=damage to weapon, as weapons are designed to hit things. Maybe, 1 damage per year of inactivity [pending failure of Fort mod or something if its magical] and (Damage Dealt)/(crit multiplier)-hardness, rounded up=damage to weapon.

So basically a wooden quarterstaff with hardness 5 [iirc that is the hardness of wood] will never break on a regular hit until a +5 damage modifier is added. Hitting for 6+5=11, 11/2-5=.5 rounded up is 1 damage. At average strength someone would need to hit critically and max damage to damage the weapon, and do it 10 times to break it.

I suppose the repair aspect could run like the heal skill, just based off craft(Woodcarving, weaponsmithing, whatevercraft is appropriate to the weapon)

Well, thats my 2 cents, and remember each +1 of enhancement adds 2 to the hardness.

[Lord Tataraus]

Oh man, this brings back memories. I made a system for this exact same purpose as my first successful homebrewed houserule. It worked really great except for one thing, its a bookkeeping nightmare. The players didn't won't to keep track of it and its just too much for the DM to even tally the damage and see what state the weapon was in. At first it was really complicated, take a function of the armor vs. the weapon material to get the wear on both. I simplified it to more of a 1 wear point per hit on armor and weapons, weapons had 5 wear points per hardness and armor had 10. Once hardness dropped to half, -2 penalty on ACP or damage. Once hardness dropped to 0, the weapon/armor broke. A DC5+wear points craft check removed all wear, but healed 1/2 the hardness loss. A DC20+hardness loss to completely repair and usually required equipment.

I handwaved magic weapons as immune to wear and thus relieved myself of the bookkeeping, though this did actually make hardness something to pay attention to, but I doubt it was worth it. You can try it out, but be warned.

[Mando Knight]

You could run it up like Fire Emblem, giving each weapon type and material separate values for how much durability they have, so that some larger weapons get ruined more quickly...

I think that the material's hardness should remain the same even as the weapon is worn down... using a sharp implement doesn't seem to make it softer, just less sharp.