5.1 Melee Weapons
Weapons deal physical damage and can be used as part of the attack action. Every weapon has three primary stats: Attack DC, damage profile, and range.
- Attack DC. An attack hits if the d6 attack roll result is equal to or greater than the weapon attack DC.
- Damage. How many points of health damage an attack deals on a hit.
- Range. To make an attack the target must be within the weapon range.
Weapons are grouped into three general categories – Light, Medium, and Heavy.
Light Weapons
Light weapons are easy to wield and conceal. They are the easiest to hit an attack with, but deal the least damage. All light weapons have a 3+ attack DC and deal 1 point of health damage on a hit.
Medium Weapons
Medium Weapons are more difficult to use, but deal more damage than light weapons. All medium weapons have a 4+ attack DC and deal 2 points of health damage on a hit.
Heavy Weapons
Heavy Weapons are large and unwieldy, but deal the most damage on a hit. All heavy weapons have a 5+ attack DC and deal 3 points of health damage on a hit.
Weapon Traits
Weapons have additional traits that modify how they act. Traits will always be stated in all caps and brackets, e.g. [TRAIT]. Every weapon will have a damage type trait.
Damage Types
[BLUDGEONING]
Bludgeoning weapons pummel your foes leaving them dazed. When you hit an attack that deals bludgeoning damage against a target of the same size that target is dazed and the next attack against that target gains +1 to the attack roll.
[PIERCING]
Piercing weapons can inflict grievous wounds. On an unmodified result of 6 on an attack roll, the attack deals an extra point of damage.
[SLASHING]
Slashing weapons are easier to hit with. Slashing weapons have passive reroll 1’s on attacks.
Other Traits
[FINESSE]
Weapons with the [FINESSE] trait can be used to make attacks with Fortitude or with Reflex.
[PARRY]
Weapons with the [PARRY] trait reduce your dodge check DC by 1 for each weapon wielded.
[RELOAD]
Ranged weapons with the [RELOAD] trait requires ammunition and reloading actions to fire again. For example [RELOAD 2] requires two actions to reload the weapon before it can fire again.
[REND]
Weapons with the [REND] trait increase the Health check DC of the target on a hit. For example [REND 2] increases the health check DC of the target by 2 points.
[SWEEP]
Melee weapons with the [SWEEP] trait can be used to make a special attack against every target in a 180 degree arc as a single action. Roll one die for each target to determine if the attack hits.
[THROWN]
Weapons with the [THROWN] trait can be used to make a ranged attack within the [THROWN] range. Weapons with a [THROWN] range do not apply the disadvantages of weapons with a range greater than 1”.
[LARGE]
Weapons with the [LARGE] trait require two hands to use and cannot be used by [SMALL] creatures.
[VERSATILE]
Weapons with the [VERSATILE] trait can deal multiple damage types. When making an attack within a [VERSATILE] weapon, choose one of the listed damage types. For example, a longsword is [VERSATILE (P/S)] so the attack can choose to make an attack using piercing damage or slashing damage.
Melee Weapon Table
| Weapon | Traits |
|---|---|
| Dagger | [LIGHT], [P], [THROWN (4”)], [FINESSE] |
| Staff | [LIGHT], [B], [LARGE], [FINESSE], [PARRY] |
| Shortblade | [LIGHT], [VERSATILE (P/S)], [FINESSE], [PARRY] |
| Handhammer | [LIGHT], [B], [THROWN (4”)] |
| Handaxe | [LIGHT], [S], [THROWN (4”)] |
| Mace | [LIGHT], [B], [REND 1] |
| Javelin | [LIGHT], [P], [THROWN (8”)] |
| Spear | [MEDIUM], [P], [REACH (2”)] |
| Battleaxe | [MEDIUM], [S], [REND 1] |
| Longsword | [MEDIUM], [VERSATILE (P/S)], [PARRY] |
| Morningstar | [MEDIUM], [REND 2] |
| Rapier | [MEDIUM], [P], [FINESSE], [PARRY] |
| Saber | [MEDIUM], [S], [FINESSE], [PARRY] |
| Warhammer | [MEDIUM], [VERSATILE (P/B)], [REND 1] |
| Greatsword | [HEAVY], [LARGE], [VERSATILE (P/S)], [SWEEP], [REND 1] |
| Greathammer | [HEAVY], [B], [LARGE], [REND 3] |
| Greataxe | [HEAVY], [S], [LARGE], [SWEEP], [REND 2] |
| Glaive | [HEAVY], [S], [LARGE], [REACH (2”)], [SWEEP] |
| Halberd | [HEAVY], [VERSATILE (B/S)], [LARGE], [REACH (3”)], [REND 1] |
| Pike | [HEAVY], [P], [LARGE], [REACH (3”)], [REND 2] |
| Scimitar | [HEAVY], [S], [LARGE], [FINESSE], [REND 1], [SWEEP] |
Special Conditions
Dual Wielding
Wielding an additional weapon in an offhand allows a character to make an additional attack as part of the attack action. Only light weapons can be wielded in an offhand.
Melee Weapons with Range
Melee weapons with range beyond 1” may make attacks against targets within their stated range. Attacks against targets within the weapon range have -1 to hit.
Multiple Parry Weapons
Dual wielding two weapons with the [PARRY] trait reduces your dodge DC by two. A character cannot benefit from more than two [PARRY] weapons.
Weapon Mastery
Some classes allow a character to select a weapon mastery. A weapon mastery reduces the attack DC for that weapon by 1. Classes with multiple weapon masteries cannot select the same weapon more than once.
5.2 Ranged Weapons
Ranged weapons are used to make attacks against targets at a significant range. Most ranged weapons require ammunition to fire, and require an extra action to load before they can be fired again.
Ranged Weapons Table
| Weapon | Traits |
|---|---|
| Sling | [LIGHT], [B], [RANGE 8”] |
| Shortbow | [LIGHT], [P], [LARGE], [RANGE 10”] |
| Longbow | [MEDIUM], [P], [LARGE] [RANGE 20”], [REND 1] |
| Crossbow | [MEDIUM], [P], [LARGE] [RANGE 15”], [REND 2] |
| Arbalast | [HEAVY], [P], [LARGE],[RANGE 20], [REND 3] |
Ranged Attacks
Attacks at Long Range
Ranged weapons can make attacks against targets at a distance up to double their listed range. Attacks made at distanced greater than their listed range have -1 to hit.
Attacks in Melee Range
Making ranged weapon attacks in melee range incurs opportunity attacks.
Design Note – Balancing ranged and melee combat styles
In any game containing both ranged and melee combat styles, ranged combat will often be better as it allows you the opportunity to deal damage while mitigating the risk of taking any damage in return. Here i am attempting to balance this by incurring a larger action cost for ranged attacks (loading) and allowing Fortitude based character to increase damage on melee attacks.
Ranged characters will still need to invest somewhat in fortitude to be able to effectively use loading weapons (anyone who has tried to fire a longbow knows this is true), but they will be able to land shots more reliably using stacked rolls.
5.3 Armor
Armor increases a character’s durability by decreasing your health check DC. There are three types of armor – Light, Medium, and Heavy.
Light Armor
Light armor decreases your health check DC by 1, does not reduce reflex, and does not have a minimum Fortitude requirement.
Medium Armor
Medium armor decreases your health check DC by 2, has a minimum Fortitude requirement of 2, and reduces your max Reflex by 1 point.
Heavy Armor
Heavy armor decreases your health check DC by 3, has a minimum Fortitude requirement of 4, and reduces your max Reflex by 2 points. This cannot reduce your Reflex below zero.
Shields
A character can use a shield in their offhand which reduces both their Health check DC and Dodge check DC by 1.
4.5 Math – Combat
Damage Profiles
How much average damage do weapons do?
Armor
How effective is armor?
Dodging vs. armor
Action Economy
How does action economy work?
Stat Point Economy
How does stat point economy work? What are the baseline assumptions for spending points?
3.4 Summary
- Yada yada