Delineation of Martial Arms, Part I: Swords. A.K.A. The Weapon List

    When I first got into D&D, it was with 5e, and I, at the time, had a very limited concept of the different types of "medieval" weapons that existed.  I of course knew the basics of what most weapons listed in the Player's Handbook were, though it was a persistent question that I sought to answer in terms of what the specific details were that separated similar weapons from each other.  

    It should be said that the 5e weapon list is, at the least, confusing, which is something both myself and others have observed.

    So, in search of creating a better weapons list, I attempted at least three different times to revise the list, resulting in frankly terrible lists, hundreds of weapons, some superfluous, and none improved in any way.  This ineptitude came from a blind confidence in what little knowledge of weapons I had at that point.  Following this failure, as I soon recognized it to be, I learned what what I could, both from this failure, and by ingesting a great many pieces of information on historical arms and armor, see Metatron and Shadiversity if you haven't already.

 Swords

     Ah, swords, what can't be accomplished with the use of good, old-fashioned swords?  And old-fashioned indeed.

    In 5e, there are 4 primary swords (including the dagger, while excluding the rapier and scimitar).

  • The Dagger, 1d4, one-hand, finesse, light, thrown, perfectly serviceable, no problems here.
  • The Short Sword, 1d6, one-hand, finesse, light.  This is a fair summation, assuming it is meant to represent a sword smaller than an Arming Sword, which, by the name at least, could be surmised.
  • The Long Sword, 1d8, one hand, Versatile for 1d10.  No.  A Long Sword is meant to be wielded with two-hands, and though you could use only one hand, it would be wholly less effective.  Though, if this were changed to a Bastard Sword, the statistics given would fit perfectly.
  • The Great Sword, 2d6, two-hand, heavy.  These statistics, would, in turn, better fit a Long Sword, whereas a Great Sword should have Reach, as this is the primary quality of the weapon, in reality.

    In 1e, there are 6 primary swords (again including the dagger, while excluding anything else without "sword" in the name)

  • Dagger, 1d4 against small or medium, 1d3 against large, higher chance to hit unarmored opponents.  Again, serviceable.
  • Short, 1d6/1d8 and higher chance against most opponents, but particularly unarmored.  Still makes sense.
  • Broad, 2-8/2-7, higher chance against unarmored.  This is a bit strange, considering that the 1e DM's guide starts with bell curves, meaning that if this is supposed to mean 2d4/1d3+1d4, it would mean introducing a bell curve, while any other system of generating 2-8 would be needlessly complicated.  Though from context, I can only interpret this to mean a bell curve was intended.  Which, for now, raises the question of why a bell curve on a Broad Sword?
  • Bastard, 2d4/2d8, highest against lightly armored foes.  The damage would seem to establish a pattern, except for what comes next, and the preference against some armor, but not unarmored, makes little sense to me.
  • Long, 1d8/1d12, higher chance against unarmored.  Considering that the Bastard Sword is essentially a worse version of the Long Sword in real life, the fact that it does less damage seems incorrect, unless, of course, the term "Sword, long" does not refer to what would be considered a Longsword historically, but rather, to a sword that is simply longer than a Broad sword, yet shorter than a Bastard sword.  This is confirmed by table listing weapon length, and would also explain the next entry, as Longswords were Two-handed, yet there is a separate entry for Two-handed swords.
  • Two-handed, 1d10/3d6, highest against light armor.  If referring to actual Longswords, it would be accurate.

 TL;DR: The 5e list is a mess, and the 1e list is somewhat confusing.

 

 Weapon List

     On account of this, I have constructed a list of weapons, not necessarily better, but which suits my style of play.   

 

Notes:

  •  System: This was created as a halfway point between 5e and 2e, not optimal I understand, but, it can be used in any edition of D&D, or any D&D-like game.  For those wanting such a list, it is here.
  • Critical Range and Modifier: You may notice that this has returned from 3e, and it is used for diversification of weapon statistics, however, if you seek a simpler list, then see below.  Critical modifiers are left off of ranged weapons intentionally.
  • Range: 
    • All melee weapons which cannot effectively be thrown are listed as Melee, with the number appearing beside this describing the reach of the weapon.
    •  All thrown and all ranged weapons are listed with two numbers, the first number is the weapon's normal range in feet, and the second indicates the weapon's long range.  When attacking a target beyond normal range, you have disadvantage on the attack roll.
    •  All ranged weapons without the thrown property require ammunition.  Each time you attack with the weapon, you expend one piece of ammunition.
  •  Weight:
    • Light. Light weapons are always one-handed.  When you are wielding two light weapons, you can choose to attack with both weapons, suffering a -2 to hit on the attack roll made with your primary weapon, and a -4 to hit on your secondary weapon.  When using two weapon fighting, instead of attacking with your secondary weapon, you can choose to either gain advantage on your next melee attack against a single opponent, or give a single opponent disadvantage on his next attack.  This still imposes a -2 to hit on your primary weapon.  When attacking a creature smaller than a halfling with a light weapon, the weapon’s damage die increases by one step, when attacking a creature larger than man-sized, the weapon’s damage die decreases by one step.
    •  Medium. Medium weapons can be one-handed or two-handed.
    •  Heavy. Heavy weapons are always two-handed.  In the case of bows, this becomes a property that refers to the draw weight of the weapon.  When attacking a creature smaller than a halfling with a heavy weapon, the weapon’s damage die decreases by one step, when attacking a creature larger than man-sized, the weapon’s damage die increases by one step.
  • Properties: Heavily modified from 5e
    • Finesse. When making an attack with a finesse weapon, you use your choice of your Strength or Dexterity modifier for either the attack roll or damage roll.  If the Finesse Weapon you are wielding is also a Light Weapon you can replace your Str Mod with your Dex Mod on both your attack and damage rolls.
    •  Loading. You can only fire a maximum of one piece of ammunition from this weapon per round.
    •  Special. A weapon with the special property has unusual rules governing its use, explained below.
    •  Thrown. If a weapon has the thrown property, you can throw the weapon to make a ranged attack.  If the weapon is a melee weapon, you use the same ability modifier for that attack roll and damage roll that you would use for a melee attack with the weapon.  For example, if you throw a hand-axe, you use your Strength, but if you throw a dagger, you can use either your Strength or your Dexterity, since the dagger has the finesse property.
    •  Two-Handed. This weapon requires two hands when you attack with it.
    •  Versatile. This weapon can be used with one or two hands.  A damage value in parentheses indicates the damage when the weapon is used with two hands.
  • Weapon Abbreviations and Gashing, Hacking and Rending damage: Taking some inspiration, and running with it:
    • B - Bludgeoning
    • P - Piercing
    • S - Slashing
    • G - Gashing damage is a damage type combining piercing and bludgeoning, a creature has to be resistant/immune to both types to be resistant/immune to gashing.
    • H - Hacking damage is a damage type combining slashing and bludgeoning, a creature has to be resistant/immune to both types to be resistant/immune to hacking.
    • R - Rending damage is a damage type combining piercing and slashing, a creature has to be resistant/immune to both types to be resistant/immune to rending.
  • Special:
    •  Lance: You have disadvantage when you use a lance to attack a target within 5 feet of you. Also, a lance requires two hands to wield when you aren't mounted. 
    •  Gauntlet: When wearing a gauntlet, the gauntlet cannot be disarmed, and any weapon being held in a gauntleted hand has advantage against being disarmed.
    •  Quarterstaff: When using a quarterstaff, you can treat the other end of the quarterstaff as a 1d6 B light weapon.
    •  Net: A Large or smaller creature hit by a net is restrained until it is freed. A net has no effect on creatures that are formless, or creatures that are Huge or larger.  A creature can use its action to make a DC 10 Strength check, freeing itself or another creature within its reach on a success.  Dealing 5 slashing damage to the net (AC 10) also frees the creature, ending the effect and destroying the net.


Crits Removed

Conclusion?

    After years spent trying to create an ideal weapon list, I feel that I have reached the 90% mark in terms of what fits my style of game.  Though, even in the time it took to write this, I made further revisions to the list, that revised version being currently in this post.  If any of this is of interest, feel free to use it for your games.


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