One of the more disappointing mechanical conceits of older D&D is the overly complex weapon system, where weapon access is limited by class or proficiency. Now admittedly some of these do have something remotely approaching logic (i.e. classic wizards spending all their time learning spells rather than swordplay) but even those break down when you look at them too hard or change part of the setting, like clerics being restricted to blunt weapons when the major religion is say a Norse pantheon. Secondly having damage variation by specific weapon is a detail that I don't feel actually helps the game, even when it doesn't inspire munchkins (ahem 2e katanas..) as your just as dead if the sword blade thrust through your chest is 2.5 feet long as you are when its 3 feet long. So to simply damage and allow cooler roleplaying characters and choices Ive knocked up a little table.
| Weapons | Small | Medium | Large | Two Handed |
| Warrior | 1d6 | 1d8 | 1d10 | 1d12 |
| Rogue | 1d4 | 1d6 | 1d8 | 1d8 |
| Warrior | 1d4 | 1d6 | 1d8 | 1d10 |
| Mage | 1d3 | 1d4 | 1d6 | 1d8 |
Dual wielding roll for each weapon and pick one.
This hopefully will allow the sword wielding mage or the cleric with an axe, as weapons are only mechanically important for how big the they are and leave the specific weapon up to the player to roleplay.
And anyone know how to fix the big gap ahead of my table?
That table would still be a bit much for me personally. (I use d6 for all weapons, period.)
ReplyDeleteHowever, that is an extremely elegant way to handle dual wielding, and it works perfectly with your system as written. Might steal it.