Thread by @OrdoaleaP

Ok so weapons and skill, or why all weapons in a #ttrpg should deal the same damage... The thread!

*gets coffee before that, this will be a long one*

I will be talking about this a BOTH a ttrpg designer but also as a martial artist.

All weapons are made for one purpose: To wound and kill. That's about it. They are tools who depend on the capability of the user itself.

Some weapons are easier to learn, some aren't.

All in all I would say that you could become somewhat proficient enough with all weapons to effectively use them in combat in a few months.

People come to my club and constantly ask me:
Hey what's the weapon you can teach me the fastest?

It's simple: Staff or mace.

But the trick here is the fact that it's the same time I would need to teach you the long sword (technique! not weapon).

Now the tricky part comes to actual techniques and more "advanced" stuff.

But let's say shield and weapon? Easily done in a few months.

So what's my take? Weapons should do the same damage, no matter weapon type. Now trough training you could get access to more additional stuff that a weapon can do.

I will explain by taking 3 weapons that I think are the "closest" in use but have different stuff!

We will be talking about the Axe, the Mace, and the Pick!

3 most UNDERRATED weapons in all #ttrpg!

Why so?

No matter the type, they are long hafted weapons, mostly 1m-1.25m hardwood handles tipped with a 1000g-1200g head. Making the weapon MAXIMALLY 1500-1700g in total.

What makes them different? Ways that they dissipate force on impact!

Wait wait I was talking about damage? Yes I was. Now I'm talking about force on impact?

Yeah those are two different things. Damage is an abstraction. Wounds are not.

No matter the wounds, the damage stays the same!

That's why these 3 weapons are IDEAL as comparison!

So, let's compare them!

The Axe
It's main use of force is the wedge, used to create gashes and cleave things. It centres its force in a single line, creating quite deep, but also relatively small wounds.
Adding a bearding effect it gives it a finer point making impact more intense on the initial point.

The Mace
It's main use of force is an area, used to tear instead of cut, and to transfer the force deeper into the body. It does not centre its force but dissipates it over an area. By doing so it affects a larger area, but in the end doesn't cause visible damage.

The Pick
It's main use of force is a point, used to puncture and reach deep into the body. It's main use is to puncture hard targets and reach the insides and wound a lot of things in it's path. Wounds done by a pick are utterly graphical!

But but but but... What does that mean for games?!

Well it would mean that if we take the dragon game. I would say all these weapons do d4 damage for a begginer.

Why? We get to the training part now!

You're using a weapon, it's not intended to look flashy, it's intended to do it's job in a way that follows these basic 3 ideas (Note I'm taking about this as a HEMA-ist):

1 - Offence
2 - Defence
3 - Void

Offence is the actual damage you deal on your opponent. It's primary function is to disable your opponent by wounding their hands or outright killing them.

Defence is the function of the action to mitigate the risk from taking the enemy's offence.

Void is the function of mitigating the enemies Nach or transition.

So the first thing you'll learn in my club (we focus on the long sword mainly) is to hew (throw a cut) at the enemy's head.
This has 2 reasons:
1) It's the best target
2) Psychological effect to shield the attacker!

That is also the same way I would teach the Axe, Mace, and Pick

Using a shield in tandem, I would teach people to use the shield to cover their attacking arm, shoulder, head. And to strike with only the exposed part of the weapon, the head.

With that we covered the first 3 theories of attack: offence, defence, void!

Drill that a few months and you have your basic "weapon proficiency"!

So that's your d4!

How do we increase to d6, d8, 2d4, 2d6, 3d4?

Trainig, more training. Or in this example, raising the proficiency.

I had a 3/3.5/PF idea early on to do attacks (they used a BAB) as a skill. The higher your skill the more damage you would do.

0+ point in the Weapon skill? d4
4+ Points? d6
7+ Points? d8
10+ Points? 2d4
13+ Points? 2d6
16+ points? 3d4

That's a neat little advancement there.

Ok but what about the force of impact I was talking about?

Well yeah that's also important to notice. If weapons do more than just damage, it makes the choice of weapons IMPORTANT in a ttrpg!

So I'll explain from how I do my own stuff here!

And yes this is a #FallingStarIsels and #CotSWRPG shoutout here.

As these #TTRPGs use the Rending, Concussive, and Piercing weapon profiles.

So what do those do?

Rending weapons generally tear tendons, cleave flesh, and cause nasty wounds. They add effects that disable use of limbs, and later on sever them. These weapons are mostly useful for lightly armoured opponents and beasts alike. Being able to do horrendous gashes.

Concussive weapons tend to disable opponents by shock. They break bones, cause concussions, and disarm opponents by numbing their senses form the pain they cause. They are good also against armoured opponents from transferring the force of the blow.

Piercing weapons tend to cause wounds that heal slow, cause internal damage and bleeding. They generally don't disable opponents, but can bring on a long and painful death. Furthermore they are capable of wounding even when the opponent is fully armoured.

Where's the trick in all of this? Well basically every effect any weapon has, including damage, is a setup towards a killing blow.

Believe me, ANYONE can "sense" when a killing blow comes. If you fight, you'll notice it sooner or later.

So dealing enough damage should make the opponent ready to be dealt with.

The more skilled you are, the earlier you can do that.

Which basically means that the abstraction of HP should happen on a single digit scale, and all weapons dealing just 1 point of damage.

That's enough. Basically to mark that damage has been dealt.

But what about training? If training makes you easier to attack? Defence?

Well yes, but in the end it doesn't increase the "damage" you can take... It just makes it harder to inflict damage.

Also that's what armour is for. And yeah armour is better than training. Sorry for that!

That's why my idea is that armour shouldn't make it harder to hit you.

In the terms of the dragon game... Armour should add to your HP.

Well that's about it from me today. Mainly as If I continue I'll write rules for the Dragon Game.

Liked this little writeup... My club starts it's work tomorrow. Why not donate a bit?

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Muting this. Please tag me if you have questions.

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